America is a 2017 comic book series from Marvel Comics. It's written by Gabby Rivera, initially with art by Joe Quinones, Joe Rivera and Paolo Rivera. Color art is initially by José Villarrubia.
Set in the shared Marvel Universe, it stars the eponymous America Chavez, a queer Latina superhero who's been on multiple hero teams and saved countless worlds. But now, she's hanging up the cape to focus on her studies at Sotomayor University.
Unfortunately, danger is always around the corner. And it seems to be specifically targeting her. To make matters more complicated, America is dealing with a break-up, the evolution of her powers, her own past, her flaws, and a mysterious ally in the form of a woman called the Madrimar. Luckily for her, past team mates and old friends are there to help her figure things out.
America provides examples of the following tropes:
- Academy of Adventure: Sotomayor University has a ridiculous amount of amenities, despite apparently being an arts college. This includes a chamber that can create Hard Light technology for simulations. The school also accepts people from other dimensions, as well as people with superpowers.
- Bad Boss: Exterminatrix is keen to remind her surveillance expert that if he can't find America, he will have failed her for the very last time. Just to drive the message home, she grabs his shirt and lifts him out of his chair while delivering the threat.
- Big Bad: The Exterminatrix, Oubliette Midas, is behind almost everything that happens.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: The book throws in a lot of Spanish. While it usually makes sense, the grammar is often shoddy.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: Issue #5 establishes that America trained as a boxer for several years, even though she's a Flying Brick and doesn't strictly need such skills.
- Cast Full of Gay: America, Lisa, Magdalena, her family, X'andria and Monae are all lesbians, while Prodigy is bisexual.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Issue #5 shows that America developed feelings for her childhood friend, Magdalena. Although it seemed like it wasn't reciprocated, it was later revealed that Magdalena did have feelings for her, and still does.
- Creator Cameo: The first issue opens with a page of Vox Pops offering very positive views on America herself. One interviewee is clearly drawn as the comic's writer, Gabby Rivera, and states that "America is our future."
- Dance Battler: The girls of Leelumultipass Phi Theta Beta are dancers. They're shown using dance moves to fight off an army of evil robots.
- Forced Prize Fight: In issue #6, America is forced into a deadly boxing match against Magdalena, her childhood friend.
- Forgot About Her Powers:
- America breaks up with Lisa in the first issue because she doesn't want to do a long distance relationship. However, she has portals, which would not make this an issue.
- America has to fight Magdalena in order to appease the villains, because they are using Magdalena's father as a hostage. They have to fight, because they can't rescue her dad when they don't even know where he is, and they could kill him long before they could ever find him. Which would be a legitimate cause for concern, except America recently gained and mastered the ability to find missing people through thought and feelings, and can time travel with no problem.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Granted, America is latina, but the Spanish in the book is actually pretty bad at times, with serious grammar or spelling errors.
- Hard Light: Sotomayor University has a hard light hologram system (provided by Holotech Ed. Inc.) that's used for simulations in lessons. Professor Douglas warns America that any mishaps within a simulation - such as being hit by a poison arrow or falling into a frozen screen - will have some real consequences, but students will then be teleported to the nurses's office.
- Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: When she travels back in time to World War II, America is quick to assault Hitler the first chance she gets. This ends up ruining Peggy Carter's plan to capture Hitler and end the war.
- Hypocrite: The eleventh issue has David preach for the removal of security cameras in the school, because the villains were able to hack them and use them against the students. He says that he knew this when he hacked into the security cameras, which he then used to help save the school. He decries cameras as a tool for evil, despite praising them in the same breath as a tool for good. Somehow, the fact that they helped the students doesn't matter in the slightest to his argument.
- Latino Is Brown: A large portion of the cast consists of Latinas, and America's backstory shows her going through various places in Central and South America. Every one of these people are brown-skinned.
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Every non-white antagonist is only acting in a negative manner because of circumstances — the Guerillas only kidnapped Lisa to get America's attention and have her save Malixta, and Magdalena only kidnapped America because Arcade was using her father as leverage. This even extends to La Legion, whose presence on Fuertona was not meant to be malicious, and simply lacked the ability to communicate their goals to the natives.
- Plot Hole: The crux of La Legion's plight is that they had no way of communicating their peaceful wishes with the natives of Fuertonas, as they didn't speak the same language. The same issue that revealed this earlier showed them possessing Madrimar and communicating in plain English through her. So they have no way to communicate with others, except for their way of communicating with others.
- Shout-Out:
- Sotomayor University, the fictional Academy of Adventure introduced in the first issue, is named for Sonia Sotomayor
, the first woman of color appointed to the United States Supreme Court. There's a hologram of her projected above the main gate. - The name Leelumultipass Phi Theta Beta is a reference to the Multipass scene in The Fifth Element.
- Sotomayor University, the fictional Academy of Adventure introduced in the first issue, is named for Sonia Sotomayor
- Stern Teacher: Professor Douglas is critical of America, and says that she only cares about the effort America puts out in class. But she just wants America to prove that she takes her classes seriously, and is shown to care deeply for America outside of class.
- Token White: So far, Kate Bishop is the only major white character to appear and not be an antagonist.
- Vox Pops: The first issue opens with a page of interviewees talking about America Chavez. They include Storm, Miles Morales, Loki, the Black Cat, Kate Bishop and a Creator Cameo by writer Gabby Rivera.
