America #1

By Gabby Rivera, Joe Quinones, Joe Rivera, Paolo Rivera & Jose Villarrubia

America #1 is the brand new series for America Chavez, who has previously worked very well as part of a team leading The Ultimates and working with the Young Avengers. Now this time for her to branch out on her own and this issue does a fantastic job at putting her in the spotlight and showing readers why she deserves an ongoing series.

For readers who don’t know much about America Chavez, who’s been rapidly building her own fanbase for a while now, America #1 acts as a great jumping on point. It fleshes out the character effectively as well as establishing the status quo with her and where she stands with various characters. The book wisely opts to adopt a focus that’s less plot heavy and more character-centric in order to get readers up to speed. The tone of the issue will appeal to fans of young adult fiction, something that Gabby Rivera has experience in, so it’s no surprise to see that translated across well to the comics medium. It’s also worth noting how much care Rivera writes America with here, dealing with the character in a way that few writers have been unable to in the past.

Joe Quinones’ pencils are excellent. America’s costume design is incredibly detailed with all the characters’ present in this book getting some great attention to detail that keep them diverse and interesting in their own right. This is helped a lot by the inks of Joe Rivera and Paolo Rivera, whose different approaches to each character featured are clear and distinctive. Jose Villarrubia’s colors too are worth mentioning as they feel right at home with the tone of the book, bold and flat and unassuming. If you like the current Hawkeye run or The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, then you’re likely to have a good idea as to what this book is aiming for, but at the same time it manages to capture its own unique voice in both the writing and artistic approach.

Any worries that you may have had about America Chavez being able to sustain her own solo series should be gone after reading this issue. America is quite simply one of the best new comics that Marvel has put out in a while, and it should absolutely be essential reading even if you’ve never read any books featuring the character before.