America #1 Review

You can believe in America!

America #1 Review Image
Mainstream comic book publishers still have a ways to go when it comes to promoting diversity, but clearly things are headed in the right direction if we're seeing Marvel publish an ongoing superhero comic featuring a queer Latina heroine and helmed by Latinx creators. Nor is America #1 an attempt to tick off some boxes on a checklist and call it day. This issue proves that American Chavez deserves her own series, even with her starring role in The Ultimates 2.

America strives to be a very different comic than The Ultimates 2, even as America's ties to that team are explored in these pages. This series is more about following the Hawkeye mentality - "What America does when she's not saving the world" - though with a more serialized story structure. Here, writer Gabby Rivera and artist Joe Quinones bring America back to terra firma and have her confront a foe more terrifying than any alien or supervillain - college.

The result is a fun, irreverent superhero comic very much cut from the same cloth as books like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and The Unstoppable Wasp. It's not an approach that's going to win over everyone - especially those who crave a more traditional superhero adventure - but it's one that definitely suits this character. Rivera makes the jump from YA fiction to comics deftly. She takes a very introspective, character-driven approach to this issue, one that emphasizes America's personal relationships and her yearning for her lost parents.

That's where this first issue finds most of its success. Marvel has plenty of goofy fun comics at the moment, and while it never gets old seeing America play the sarcastic, butt-kicking young heroine, that only gets you so far in a solo comic. But Rivera really nails the pathos driving this young woman as she strives to better herself and build new connections in a world that wasn't originally her own. There's a moment between America and her girlfriend, Lisa, that hits a sour note, but otherwise the characterization feels spot-on.

It's the art that really makes the series sparkle, though. Penciller Joe Quinones, inkers Joe and Paolo Rivera and colorist Jose Villarrubia all join forces to craft one eye-popping, colorful, dynamic comic. Quinones somehow manages to make the series seem both over-the-top and down-to-earth at the same time, which has probably as much to do with Villarrubia's refined colors as anything else. His expressive facial work is always on display, as is his unique eye for fashion. America seems to change outfits every few pages, and each new look is as trendy and colorful as the last.

The Riveras stand out as they create a very unique effect with their line-work. They tend alter their line weight to give superhero characters like America and the Ultimates heavier black outlines relative to the ordinary civilians in the panel. Not only does this highlight the key players, it further reinforces the sense that America is someone who doesn't quite fit in among the ordinary inhabitants of the Marvel Universe.


If there were any doubts that Miss America truly needed her own comic, America #1 should put them to rest. This new series features an engaging take on the adventurous America Chavez, one that emphasizes goofy humor and grounded character drama over superheroics. Anyone who enjoys The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl or Hawkeye will feel right at home here.

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Publishers:Marvel Comics
Release Date:March 1, 2017
America #1 Review
America #1 Review
America #1 proves that The Ultimates 2 alone isn't enough to contain America Chavez's wild antics.

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