America Chavez Made in the USA #1: America from the Block (SPOILER FREE ADVANCED REVIEW)

Despite having a somewhat familiar story, orphan child of another world becomes a powerful earth hero, we’ve seen very little development on America’s arrival and raising on earth. Made in the USA provides a  grounded focus that opens up the character in a way that bypasses the more complicated aspects of her origin. The series takes America’s purposely vague and idealistic background of queer Latina from a utopian universe of queer Latinas and begins to anchor it with the Puerto Rican family from New York who found her.

Kalinda Vazquez’s television background shows in the cinematography of the pacing. The flashbacks slot in organically with the present-day plot. The guest appearances of potential scene stealers reinforce the focus on America, efficiently highlighting her personality, relationships, and roll in the Marvel Universe. This is America’s show, and the camera always stays on her.

Artist Jesus Aburtov and color artist Carlos Gomez do a great job showcasing the flashy aspects of America, making the moments when she is subdued more prominent. This goes beyond just her powers, with noticeable body language changes between open and action-ready America and introspective and closed-off America.

Made in The USA serves as a thematic foil of America’s previous solo by Gabby Rivera. It shows us a softer side of America that focuses on what she found on earth instead of what she lost in her old universe. While there seems to be some plot inconsistences about the status of America’s family between the ending of the last series and this issue, it’s still early enough for that to be resolved. More importantly, the creative team is succeeding in telling a story about an America Chavez that looks, acts, sounds, and feels like the America Chavez that I have been following since her introduction.