NS: America Chavez: Made in USA discussion

[leahandillyana]

In this post I would love to hear your opinions on the revelations in the limited series, as the final issue (5th) premiered today. Major spoilers to issue 4 under the cut.

So, Made in USA massively retcons America's backstory. In the new one, she and her newly introduced twin sister Catalina were human girls with a genetic disorder. Given experimental,very illlegal therapy by a mad scientist, the sisters and several other girls were cured and developed the signature dimension hopping powers. Her mothers were killed as they tried to smuggle the girls from the island they were kept in, and Catalina was caught. Thinking her whole family was killed, little America came up with a fantasy of a magical land of superpowered women and was adopted by a human family. The cover of the fourth issue portrays what the change does to America:

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/America_Chavez:_Made_in_the_USA_Vol_1_4?file=America_Chavez_Made_in_the_USA_Vol_1_4.jpg

I personally have mixed feelings about the retcon. Sure, the original backstory was very similar to Wonder Woman's, but an Amazonian society of only women leading perfect lives is a fantasy rarely seen. Utopian Parallel was particularly noteworthy because it was an explicitly lesbian society, while DC is very reluctant to portray its Amazons as queer. The new backstory is kinda like a typical superhero backstory - compare for example some versions of Spider-Woman's backstory, or Jessica Jones' backstory. What's more, while in the original story America has powers because her mothers had powers, here she has powers because a man experimented on her. I feel that a very pleasant girl power fantasy was lost by the way, but that's a subjective opinion. The miniseries itself is a very good read and a palette cleanser after the disastrous first series. What do you guys think?

Comments

[blueprintstyles]

I stopped after issue 3. What's there is written well but the premise of the series felt kind of offensive to me. They took a powerful, lesbian of colour with a vibrant backstory and filled it with tragedy. I feel like every time There's a character that looks like me and isn't bogged down grim and gritty crap the publisher tries to tear them down.

[nyadnar17]

Couldn't have said it better.

Just because we are minorities and real life can be shit doesn't mean ALL our fantasy has to be colored by pain.

[stubbleupdate]

[donnblake]

I think I said something along these lines when some of the relevant scans were posted, but I guess I have a hard time seeing what the retcon adds. As you've said, "morally challenged old white man," isn't something we were lacking for- it's probably right up there with "Dubious radiation science," as far as superhero origins.

Now, a story doesn't have to be new to be well told or worthwhile, but as far as looking at that change in a vacuum, it takes away something relatively rare and worthwhile.

It's somewhat odd to think that, on a non-fictional level, Chavez was created by white men, while this retcon was written by a queer Latina woman, but I don't really know what to take away from that.

[blueprintstyles]

There's a chance this could be editorial-driven. MCU will probably debut Chavez within the next few years in the MCU and this seems like their style.

[christianconnor]

The sad thing is that the MCU seems to be heading in the multiversal weird direction - Chavez' original origin would be perfect for that.

[filthysize]

More like in a few months. She's in Doctor Strange 2.

But historically, they don't share information all that much. And given that Doctor Strange 2 is specifically going to be about multiverse-hopping, it's entirely possible the MCU version will have the original version and it's gonna be very funny when the comics immediately retcons the retcon.

Remember when Bendis and McNiven revamped GOTG in anticipation of the movie, gave Star-Lord a brand new backstory and costume, and then less than a year later the movie came out with Star-Lord using his old helmet, and the comics quickly abandoned those new changes?

[silverhammerman]

Or the new half-Kree original story for Captain Marvel, timed to come out around the same time as the movie... which used more or less a tweaked version of the classic origin story.

For a publisher that so obviously values syngergy, Marvel can be really awful at it sometimes.

[dan_ingram]

Okay, can someone clarify something for me?

What disease is it that America's supposed to have? It's labeled Edge's Syndrome, but all I can find on google is this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meige%27s_syndrome). Which, doesn't sound fun, but isn't lethal either. Doesn't seem worth bathing one's kid in super energy, either.

Overall, I found it all dumb as hell. I wasn't fond of her extra dimensional origins, but this...wasn't a good solution.

[tcampbell1000]

It's probably not a real disease, for reasons you hint at: real diseases sometimes aren't plot convenient.

[lordy_co]

Gosh I hate it. They took a unique, beautiful origin and traded it for a generic, uncreative mad scientist plot. Even as a cis guy I appreciated how America's origins were tied to sapphic love as a creative force, and how she was the daughter of a world free from masculine aggression. Now it's just bland, pseudo-scientific stuff probably trying to make it more "realistic".

[beyondthefringe]

I found this revised origin to be entirely unnecessary and disappointing, especially since it looks like part of the end goal was to limit America's powers.

I mean this series took one of the most powerful heroes around, an ass-kicking lesbian Latina from another dimension, and literally brought her down to Earth by rewriting her origin and dialing back her abilities.

Meh.

[shakalooloo]

It's bullshit, basically. Not every origin story has to cast a character as a victim, Marvel.

[arilou_skiff]

It's not great, but tbh, It kinda feels like par for the course for the character? In that she never quite clicked.

[thehood]

I do like the Santanas as America's adoptive family and that they established that she's of Puerto Rican descent.

[lilacsigil]

Yes, I did like them and also that she really had two mothers, and...that's about all. It's not that I mind the Utopian Parallel not being real, but why take that away to give her the same backstory as so many other characters?

[leahandillyana]

I also liked that part. At least it meant that a ten year old wasn't homeless and without caretakers, hoping from dimension to dimension.

[tcampbell1000]

Retcons like this one make me feel vaguely guilty for ever enjoying "The Anatomy Lesson." There was a time when "revealing" the fantastical elements of a character were canonically fantasy was fresh and new. But by now, we already know superhero stories are unrealistic, and it's not terribly interesting to point it out. I don't read Spider-Man to have someone patiently explain to me that radiation doesn't work that way. "Becoming spider-powered was just the hallucination of a bullied teen as the radiation sickness shut down his body--" Shut up shut up shutup shutup shup.

However, there are silver linings here. Given recent events, it's actually creatively gutsier to have America as canonically Puerto Rican than to have her from Earth-Postracial/The Utopian Parallel. And the power downgrade bothers me less than it bothers some other commenters: it is meaningful that she's doing as much as she can in the face of illness and new limits. IIRC, Carol Danvers went through a period of lessened power as well, and she seems to have been quietly upgraded since. If America Chavez's ass-kicking movie appearances went over well and her power problems just sort of dissipated in the comics soon thereafter, let's just say I wouldn't be shocked.

[blueprintstyles]

I just remembered, Chavez has a grandmother from the Utopian parallel! She was in her last series, America's girlfriend was introduced in the same series. How does this work:?

[thehood]

Her current girlfriend, Ramone Watts, was introduced in the recent West Coast Avengers run. America broke up with her girlfriend from her last solo. So that wouldn't be a problem.

[jeyl]

***MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS SPOILERS***

Good news! I saw Doctor Strange 2 and the Multiverse of Madness and we got to see America Chavez' original origin! The Utopian Paralell (Though not named), her two mothers and the prospect that her mothers may still be alive. Holy shoot! And I thought they changed America's origin so that they could use it in the MCU to make her more mainstream ala like DC did with Wonder Woman.