REVIEW: ‘America Chavez: Made in America,’ Issue #3

America Chavez: Made in the USA #3 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Kalinda Vazquez, with art by Carlos Gómez, colors by Jesus Aburtov, and letters by Travis Lanham. With her adopted family secure, America Chavez attempted to catch the mysterious figure that seems to be behind the attack. But with her powers on the fritz, America failed to bring in her target. Now, she awakens in a strange room, with someone she doesn’t know. Though they seem certain that they know her.

This review is gonna be a tricky one. Seeing as how America Chavez: Made in the USA #3 is a veritable minefield of spoilers, and I am as ever loathe to spoil a good read on you. But, I will endeavor to bring you my thoughts without such unfortunate repercussions. Ok. Deep breath. Let’s do this.

As we catch up with our hero, America is slowly coming to her senses after losing consciousness at the end of the last issue. As she awakens, she finds that she is not alone and that she has been restrained to a medical gurney. While the straps securing her in place shouldn’t be a problem for America’s super strength, it seems her powers are failing to an even greater degree than previously.

Once our hero is fully cognitive, her captor launches into an issue-spanning explanation about why America has been brought to this place, why it concerns her failing powers, her mothers, and the whole Utopian Parallel. As one would expect, America doesn’t just sit around and politely listen to her captor’s claims, proclamations, and accusations. As if simply being tied down to a chair wasn’t enough to anger America, having so much of herself and her world called into question seems to only further anger our protagonist.

Writer Vazquez does a great job of capturing both characters’ emotions throughout this dialogue. And while America’s rising frustration and outright anger at the situation is certainly palpable through Vazquez’s writing, it is her antagonist that she truly lands perfectly. Vazquez manages to keep this character in a wonderful narrative space throughout America Chavez: Made in the USA #3. This character is kept just menacing enough that the energy given from them builds tension but isn’t so bad that I’m positive this character has truly evil intentions. There is a lot of places the story could take this personality without it feeling like it would be a radical departure from this initial introduction. Vazquez has left plenty of room to maneuver with this character, which keeps the reading guessing as well.

The art here does a great job of bringing the story to life. Artist Gómez brings all the emotion of the issue’s confrontation to bear through these strongly executed panels. But while what is within the panels is handled well, what I really love about this book’s visual presentation is the way the panels are laid out. I love when an artist can take panel layouts and make them something more than just boundaries for the images. Gómez’s paneling actively enhances some of the story’s moments, adding to the visual effect.

Another strong aspect of America Chavez: Made in the USA #3‘s visuals is Aburtov’s colorwork. Through the colors, there are some great examples of how lighting can provide emphasis in an image. The reader’s eyes are often drawn to the key point of an image thanks to the strong lighting from the colors.

Wrapping up this book’s visuals is a strong lettering performance from Lanham. The letters here manage to keep everything running smoothly, despite how wordy some moments in the story are.

When all is said and done, America Chavez: Made in the USA #3 brings some potentially big changes to America’s world. With the story leaving off on a great high note, I’m thoroughly invested in seeing what comes next for our hero.

America Chavez: Made in the USA #3 is available now wherever comics are sold.