Reviews

Truth: Red, White & Black by Robert Morales

tora76's review

5.0

I wish I could give this more than five stars. This is such an amazing story. Wow. Really, just...wow.[return][return]What this is is a retcon history of Captain America. The story of Captain America is that he was a guy who didn't qualify for the army in WWII, and volunteered for a government experiment that would turn him into a super soldier and allow him to fight. This comic comes up with a backstory for that. What if Captain America was not actually the first Captain America? What if others were experimented on first? And who, in actuality, did the government like to experiment on? Based on the reality of things like the Tuskeegee Experiment, it makes sense that the government would test their super soldier serum on black men (though I also agree with one reviewer I read, who said, but would the government really want to take the risk of having black super soldiers around?). This is the story of those men, especially the one survivor, Isaiah Bradley.[return][return]The story is very powerful and I highly recommend this even if you never read comics and know nothing about Captain America. I haven't read American comics since I was a kid, and never knew anything about Captain America before this. It's unnecessary. The comic gives you all the info you need to know, and believe me, you will not regret reading this, though it is a very hard story to read.[return][return]My one complaint would be the art, which is very, very cartoony and doesn't really fit the tone of the story that well (as well as not really being to my taste, but American superhero comic art is not to my taste, period; I actually think I prefer this cartooniness slightly to the usual superhero style). [return][return]Also, personally, it was hard to get used to reading the right way, as I'm used to reading manga and thus my default for comics is top right to bottom left.

kristinjaques's review

5.0

4.5 / 5

amalelmohtar's review

5.0

I'm sad that I only came across this as a consequence of Robert Morales' recent passing. It's an incredible and harrowing book that provides a crucial context to Captain America as a character and as an entity in comics.

To go from seeing THE IRON PATRIOT in Iron Man 3 to seeing Isaiah Bradley was to be reminded (if one can be reminded of something so constant) of how the abuse of black people in America is barely even history at this point in at least two respects: it is not history because it is rarely acknowledged or spoken of in its particulars, and it is not history because it is pervasive, ongoing, and insidious.

Kyle Baker's cartoonish art style made for an astonishing counterpoint to the content and storytelling. It's really just tremendous.

noysh's review

3.0

While the execution is a little awkward at points and the art might be enough to turn some readers off, this is an extremely important both American and Superheo text. Truth is an glimpse into an uncomfortable past for America and on whose shoulders many of our heroes actually stand.

pennwing's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

xanderbernhard's review against another edition

4.0

I've been wanting to read this for a while but it's been hard to get hold of, so Marvel offering it for free currently seemed like too good a deal to pass up. I wasn't disappointed.

josephfinn's review against another edition

3.0

Should be 4 star, but man does the art detract from it.