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50books_poc2009-03-10 12:45 am
kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com) wrote in 50books_poc2009-03-10 12:45 am
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Truth: Red, White & Black by Robert Morales and Kyle Baker
Robert Morales and Kyle Baker "Truth: Red, White & Black" - 5/5
I wish I could give this more than five stars. This is such an amazing story. Wow. Really, just...wow.
What this is is a retcon history of Captain America. The story of Captain America is that he was a guy who didn't qualify for the army in WWII, and volunteered for a government experiment that would turn him into a super soldier and allow him to fight. This comic comes up with a backstory for that. What if Captain America was not actually the first Captain America? What if others were experimented on first? And who, in actuality, did the government like to experiment on? Based on the reality of things like the Tuskeegee Experiment, it makes sense that the government would test their super soldier serum on black men (though I also agree with one reviewer I read, who said, but would the government really want to take the risk of having black super soldiers around?). This is the story of those men, especially the one survivor, Isaiah Bradley.
The story is very powerful and I highly recommend this even if you never read comics and know nothing about Captain America. I haven't read American comics since I was a kid, and never knew anything about Captain America before this. It's unnecessary. The comic gives you all the info you need to know, and believe me, you will not regret reading this, though it is a very hard story to read.
My one complaint would be the art, which is very, very cartoony and doesn't really fit the tone of the story that well (as well as not really being to my taste, but American superhero comic art is not to my taste, period; I actually think I prefer this cartooniness slightly to the usual superhero style).
Also, personally, it was hard to get used to reading the right way, as I'm used to reading manga and thus my default for comics is top right to bottom left.
I wish I could give this more than five stars. This is such an amazing story. Wow. Really, just...wow.
What this is is a retcon history of Captain America. The story of Captain America is that he was a guy who didn't qualify for the army in WWII, and volunteered for a government experiment that would turn him into a super soldier and allow him to fight. This comic comes up with a backstory for that. What if Captain America was not actually the first Captain America? What if others were experimented on first? And who, in actuality, did the government like to experiment on? Based on the reality of things like the Tuskeegee Experiment, it makes sense that the government would test their super soldier serum on black men (though I also agree with one reviewer I read, who said, but would the government really want to take the risk of having black super soldiers around?). This is the story of those men, especially the one survivor, Isaiah Bradley.
The story is very powerful and I highly recommend this even if you never read comics and know nothing about Captain America. I haven't read American comics since I was a kid, and never knew anything about Captain America before this. It's unnecessary. The comic gives you all the info you need to know, and believe me, you will not regret reading this, though it is a very hard story to read.
My one complaint would be the art, which is very, very cartoony and doesn't really fit the tone of the story that well (as well as not really being to my taste, but American superhero comic art is not to my taste, period; I actually think I prefer this cartooniness slightly to the usual superhero style).
Also, personally, it was hard to get used to reading the right way, as I'm used to reading manga and thus my default for comics is top right to bottom left.
finally, a chance to use my Captain America icon appropriately!
It's odd that I've never read this, considering that Robert Morale came up with the Best Quote EVAR in an interview around that time:
RICHARD: A number of people felt you betrayed the concept of Captain America, indeed America itself, in Truth with what some saw as crude exaggeration. Is your work more caricature than satire?
"BOB: Those people are stupid, Rich. I'm not responsible for stupid people. I'm aware of them, though, and I plan my travels accordingly."
Ever since then, I have used "Those people are stupid, and I'm not responsible for stupid people" as a daily mantra. It makes life so much easier.
Re: finally, a chance to use my Captain America icon appropriately!
I did go back and forth on the art, and there are definitely some panels I like a lot, but overall I just wasn't that thrilled.