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A review by letsgolesbians
America, Vol. 1: The Life and Times of America Chavez by Gabby Rivera, Joe Quiñones
4.0
Read this issue by issue, rather than as a single volume. Notes on each issue below.
Issues 1 and 2: Not the same America I loved from a young Avengers, which I'm okay with. Gabby is writing America as lighter, less severe, more comfortable around her people, laughing more. I like it; I like this side of her, and I think it's really important to see POC in their communities, not always surrounded by white people. I'm also loving the self-discovery, and a lot of America's identity stuff (especially regarding her family) reflect my own. I don't love this art (McKelvie will always draw my favorite America), but the close ups are gorgeous.
Issue 3: Definitely my favorite so far, and probably one of my favorite things I've ever read because I relate to it so much.
"After my moms died, I left the parallel. I found spaces on earth where little brown girls blended into the scenery and became part of the family. Once Abuela Santa offered me that first plate of arroz on gandules, I was one of hers. No questions asked. Didn't even know what a Puerto Rican was. I just knew these folks looked like me and let me in."
Listen. (And please don't argue with me about any of this, because I'm speaking from personal experiences and I'm sick of being told my experiences aren't valid.) Not knowing where you come from sucks, especially when you're brown. When you're white and don't know who you are or where you come from, it's also not great, but you can find solace in many, many places. When you're brown and don't know where you come from, there's this added layer of "what am I" on top of the who and the where, and not knowing exactly what identity you are is awful. Not being able to figure things out because the only person (people, in America's case) who can answer your questions and help you is dead is also awful. America finding people who look like her and finding her place in the multiverse that way is amazing and gorgeous and something I wish I could have done, because now I'm stuck in no-woman's-land and have nothing and no ties. This issue made me cry, because I love that Gabby Rivera is allowed to address this type of thing and explore identity and race and that feeling of belonging.
"Still, I was a tourist everywhere. Lifting language and culture from the love of people who weren't my kin but held me as their own. Dove fists first into being a super hero 'cuz it felt right. Like I was honoring my moms, you know?"
Tourist everywhere. That's me. That's why I've left most social platforms--I don't fit anywhere. So I left, fists out.
Issue 4: Not as heavy-hitting as issue 3, but still enjoyable. Also, I need all of America's crop tops. All. of. them.
Issue 5: YOU CANNOT TELL ME THAT AMERIKATE ISN'T END GAME. I know that some people want them to stay friends because we definitely need more strong female friendships in comics (we need them everywhere tbh), but I get my friendships from Doreen & Nancy and Jennifer & Patsy. I need America and Kate to eventually go from best friend soulmates to romantic soul mates.
"...And I could really go on, but what I want right now is a minute to think."
"I'm going to give that to you and anything else you ever want, Kate Bishop. You know that?"
"Always the bride's best archer, never the archer-bride."
GOD. JUST. UGH. (Though I also would give Kate Bishop whatever the hell she wanted because Kate Bishop is my dream girl.)
I need more Amerikate road trips. Time to go write some.
Issue 6: Fuck, I love this cover.
I put this in my Hawkeye review, but I really don't understand why we don't see more crossover between Kate and America--they're both dealing with family stuff, they both ended up in a fight club, and I know Kate is in this issue but the stories themselves aren't intersecting at all. I love that Kate is part of the search and rescue and that she's involved in this to begin with because of course she would be, but some acknowledgement of the fact that they're both being hit with some identity stuff would be great.
"America's mejor amiga" uh huh sure just like they're gal pals, right. I refer to my friends as the Thelma to my Louise all the time /eyeroll
How lucky to have family who can help you figure out who you are.
Overall: I also wonder what the implications of this run are--if America identifies as Latina because when she was a kid and wandering around Earth alone, what does that say about who she is? Does that mean that I can connect with her more than I thought because she just kind of...picked an identity? I know we're getting more of her backstory and her family was Latinx according to what we're seeing, but how do identities and ethnicities change when you're talking about a superhero who isn't originally from Earth? Identities are already looked at differently in the US vs other places on the globe, so how much more different would they be when looking at someone outside of this planet? What if her family had a different ethnicity than the one she picked when she was alone? What does this mean for people who didn't grow up with their culture? Is it more okay for non-white people to pick up on customs and expressions and borrow from each other?
I'm over-thinking this, I know, but America is my favorite and the things Rivera has brought up in this run are interesting and have made me think a lot.
Issues 1 and 2: Not the same America I loved from a young Avengers, which I'm okay with. Gabby is writing America as lighter, less severe, more comfortable around her people, laughing more. I like it; I like this side of her, and I think it's really important to see POC in their communities, not always surrounded by white people. I'm also loving the self-discovery, and a lot of America's identity stuff (especially regarding her family) reflect my own. I don't love this art (McKelvie will always draw my favorite America), but the close ups are gorgeous.
Issue 3: Definitely my favorite so far, and probably one of my favorite things I've ever read because I relate to it so much.
"After my moms died, I left the parallel. I found spaces on earth where little brown girls blended into the scenery and became part of the family. Once Abuela Santa offered me that first plate of arroz on gandules, I was one of hers. No questions asked. Didn't even know what a Puerto Rican was. I just knew these folks looked like me and let me in."
Listen. (And please don't argue with me about any of this, because I'm speaking from personal experiences and I'm sick of being told my experiences aren't valid.) Not knowing where you come from sucks, especially when you're brown. When you're white and don't know who you are or where you come from, it's also not great, but you can find solace in many, many places. When you're brown and don't know where you come from, there's this added layer of "what am I" on top of the who and the where, and not knowing exactly what identity you are is awful. Not being able to figure things out because the only person (people, in America's case) who can answer your questions and help you is dead is also awful. America finding people who look like her and finding her place in the multiverse that way is amazing and gorgeous and something I wish I could have done, because now I'm stuck in no-woman's-land and have nothing and no ties. This issue made me cry, because I love that Gabby Rivera is allowed to address this type of thing and explore identity and race and that feeling of belonging.
"Still, I was a tourist everywhere. Lifting language and culture from the love of people who weren't my kin but held me as their own. Dove fists first into being a super hero 'cuz it felt right. Like I was honoring my moms, you know?"
Tourist everywhere. That's me. That's why I've left most social platforms--I don't fit anywhere. So I left, fists out.
Issue 4: Not as heavy-hitting as issue 3, but still enjoyable. Also, I need all of America's crop tops. All. of. them.
Issue 5: YOU CANNOT TELL ME THAT AMERIKATE ISN'T END GAME. I know that some people want them to stay friends because we definitely need more strong female friendships in comics (we need them everywhere tbh), but I get my friendships from Doreen & Nancy and Jennifer & Patsy. I need America and Kate to eventually go from best friend soulmates to romantic soul mates.
"...And I could really go on, but what I want right now is a minute to think."
"I'm going to give that to you and anything else you ever want, Kate Bishop. You know that?"
"Always the bride's best archer, never the archer-bride."
GOD. JUST. UGH. (Though I also would give Kate Bishop whatever the hell she wanted because Kate Bishop is my dream girl.)
I need more Amerikate road trips. Time to go write some.
Issue 6: Fuck, I love this cover.
I put this in my Hawkeye review, but I really don't understand why we don't see more crossover between Kate and America--they're both dealing with family stuff, they both ended up in a fight club, and I know Kate is in this issue but the stories themselves aren't intersecting at all. I love that Kate is part of the search and rescue and that she's involved in this to begin with because of course she would be, but some acknowledgement of the fact that they're both being hit with some identity stuff would be great.
"America's mejor amiga" uh huh sure just like they're gal pals, right. I refer to my friends as the Thelma to my Louise all the time /eyeroll
How lucky to have family who can help you figure out who you are.
Overall: I also wonder what the implications of this run are--if America identifies as Latina because when she was a kid and wandering around Earth alone, what does that say about who she is? Does that mean that I can connect with her more than I thought because she just kind of...picked an identity? I know we're getting more of her backstory and her family was Latinx according to what we're seeing, but how do identities and ethnicities change when you're talking about a superhero who isn't originally from Earth? Identities are already looked at differently in the US vs other places on the globe, so how much more different would they be when looking at someone outside of this planet? What if her family had a different ethnicity than the one she picked when she was alone? What does this mean for people who didn't grow up with their culture? Is it more okay for non-white people to pick up on customs and expressions and borrow from each other?
I'm over-thinking this, I know, but America is my favorite and the things Rivera has brought up in this run are interesting and have made me think a lot.