Customer Reviews

Truth: Red, White & Black

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I didn't read comic books as a kid and so have no fond memories of how comics ought to be. When I saw the stark cover of Truth -- and from across the room, the intended effect of seeing a flag in red, white, and black really works -- I was compelled into a world outside my comfort zone. The cover says it all: Truth/ Red, White, & Black, confirming what I already knew, because even when we won't admit it, the truth is evident.

I can see why some readers would find the story unsatisfying -- for a time I wished I'd picked up something lighthearted, like Scrooge McDuck. But when I finished reading this tense, compact, and nuanced story about a group of disparate soldiers, whose only common denominator is the color of the skin (the first section develops a cast of characters you can't imagine would ever occupy the same space willingly, and indeed, it takes the military to unite them) I was amazed and grateful for the read.

"Truth" is not for everyone. There's no sugar-coatings about race relations; the enemies are not always the folks you want to root against; the ideas are deep. It's Fiction with a capital F, and like all great works, that kind of original and difficult thinking inspires controversy. Well done, Marvel Comics and Robert Morales and Kyle Baker.

As far as Captain America stories go this is one of the better ones i've read in years. "Truth" spins some realistic tones about the treatment of colored soldiers during world war 2 into the captain america mythos. Just the book addressing the fact that in those days the government injecting a white/blonde/blue eyed man with an experimental drug that was not tested on humans,would have been ridiculous. Then showing the many failed black super soldiers that died or were horribly disfigured due to the testing of earlier prototypes of the serum was shocking. Steve Rogers reaction after unearthing this hidden and horrible information that preceded in him becoming Captain America and his actions after the fact, shows why he's one of the most enduring and respected characters in the Marvel U. This book is hard to find cheap, but well worth it.

Many folks here just don't get it: the TRUTH about TRUTH is that its an allegory for the TRUTH that diasporan Africans in America have been both the innovators and the guinea pigs for and in America for some time now.

Given the extension of the COnstitutional franchise by things like Abolitionism and civil rights, not to mention the Tuskeegee experiements, it makes eminent sense that both the first test subjects were black, and that the first, best Captain America sprung from that heritage.

This work of storytelling is great, in every sense of the word; it rightly throws an art form sorely lacking in compelling stories of non-whites (even BLACK PANTHER - under Priest - is told from the perspective of the white male observer, however humourously!) that make sense.

The idea behind this story - that African-American soldiers were experimented on to develop the "super soldier" formula that created Captain America - is brilliant. Unfortunately, the end result is a great disappointment. The style of the artwork is the first problem. At times it is quite "cartoony" and not at all in keeping with the stark realism of the premise. The biggest flaw, however, is the story, or lack of one. What should be at the heart of book - the experimentation and development of the formula - is dealt with in just a few pages. Then we have these "super soldiers" going on a mission where most of them killed, killing each other, reading Captain America comics (that one really threw me - but then I'm not a regular comics reader so I'm not sure which "universe" we're in here, and what does and doesn't exist), getting captured and interrogated by Hitler, and so on. What could have been a wonderful piece about race in America is instead a mish-mash of political commentary and action-adventure. Too bad - this could have been a classic.

"Truth: Red, White & Black"
Written by Robert Morales
Illustrated by Kyle Baker
(Marvel Comics, 2004)
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I enjoyed this book. The scratching below the surface of the old Captain America origin story was intriguing and it made sense: the medical breakthroughs of Dr. Reinstein's research weren't going to come out of nowhere, and this particular tack, of tying it to the (actual, historically verified) medical experiments that were conducted on African-Americans in the WWII era, bring a depth and honesty to Cap's origin that will resonate with many. (Readers who are critical of this "cheapening" and politicization of the Captain America brand are encouraged to read the early-1970s run of his book, where various socially-conscious themes were brought to a culmination with the Watergate-era resignation of the Marvel universe's President... As well as more recent stories by Ed Brubaker, et al.)

Some readers are also critical of the artwork by Kyle Baker, but I think it's fine. Not every super-book has to have fetishistic bulgy-veined, steroid-pumped hyper-muscularity or other "realistic" elements. It's okay for artwork to be impressionist or cartoony, even slapdash in its appearance; such non-literal graphics may actually bring out emotional responses to the text that are entirely unexpected. Our definition of "good" comicbook art can be more flexible... I thought Baker's work here was fine, and was made in service to the story.

Anyhoo, this is an interesting book, particularly if you're a Captain America fan. The Isaiah Bradley character is kinda cool: he became part of the "regular" Marvel continuity as the grandfather of the Patriot character, in the "Young Avengers" title. PS: Make Mine Marvel! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

The Truth gives Captain America, the World War II Marvel superhero, a generous dose of reality. What if, it asks, the serum that turned blonde, blue-eyed Steve Rogers into a superman was tested first on black soldiers? What if the first Captain America was black, and the success of the second was built on exploitation of the first? The series opens with a evocative glimpse of the black urban experience in 1941, then follows a handful of soldiers, men from diverse backgrounds, who have been conscripted -- they are not volunteers -- into the superman experiment.

This is the collection in a single book of a seven-issue Marvel Comics mini-series, written and drawn by the sophisticated writer/artist team of Robert Morales and Kyle Baker, whose daring, trenchantly political collaborations first appeared in Vibe nearly a decade ago. Morales has a razor wit, a superb ear for dialog, and a genius for ironic juxtaposition. Baker, himself a witty writer and a versatile illustrator, designed and drew the series with a deceptively comic line, and a use of form and color that brings to mind Jacob Lawrence and Paul Gauguin.

It is a re-examination of the backstory of a comics icon; it invites the reader to evaluate the relationship between comic books and life. A remarkable work, charged with compassion and committment.

As the other reviewers have pointed out, this is about the notion that the super-soldier serum which created Captain America in the 1940's was first tested on African American soldiers a la the Tuskegee Airmen. This is a FANTASTIC idea, and I was really excited about it when I heard about it on NPR. Particulalry when I learned Kyle Baker was doing the art. I've been a fan of his since he worked on the re-vamped Shadow for DC in the 80's and collaborated on the woefully unknown Instant Piano (The Eltville Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror/Roleplaying and Comic Book club is still one of my all time favorite strips). This book should have tied in well with the current Captain America storyline, in which Cap is questioning his past and the government which made him.

But...

What the heck happened? This book is so slapdash and uninvolved it smells of a project that was rushed like heck. Baker's art looks like a series of unfinished breakdowns, and the colors are splashed on with little regard for the mood or content. The exagerated proportions of the characters confused me, as at times I couldn't tell what was the monstrous result of the unpolished super serum and what was meant to be their natural characteristics. Most of the characters are rendered so as to be nearly indistinguishable from each other (except for the Sarge - what the heck is that thing on the side of his head, though?). If that was a stylistic choice I might not have minded, but the characterizations don't help. They are just plain...awful.

The first issue was promising, showing one man with socialist tendencies (possibly inspired by Native Son?) and a demoted hard as nails Sarge, but the minute they jump to the military they lose their identity. Again, this sounds like a clever stylistic choice, but while you're reading it, it doesn't come out that way - just sloppy. What follows is mostly hurried. The US military guns down an entire platoon (how do they explain THAT away?) of black soldiers, Hitler and Goebbels show up, there is a confusing bit in which the proto-supersoldiers are reading Captain America comics and actually see Captain America, the black soldiers attack each other, and...well, it goes from there.

The last two issues pick up a bit, when in present day, Steve Rogers discovers the existence of Isaiah (the surviving black Captain America) and Isaiah resists the temptations of Hitler and Goebbels, but its not enough to elevate this book to classic status. That bland middle part is just too much to swallow. This is sad example of something you really wish could've been better. Excellent concept, poor execution.

It's worth reading, just for the end of the book, the FACTS that this story was based on. Let's find out about the TRUTH !!! I don't really care about the comic book itself, it's what's behind the curtain that matters. We're not talking about a comic book, we're talking about History ! Read it and start to seek more infos about its subject, if you're not scared ...

For all the major and minor faults mentioned in prior reviews, the premise of this story is pretty good, and it was definitely a step in the right direction for Marvel, a company that is guilty of some of the worst retcons ever (Jean Grey's resurrection [the FIRST of many], the Spider-Clone, etc.). The sad fact is, for a story with such a serious tone and heavy message, Kyle Baker's sloppy and rushed art gives it the look of a Disney cartoon traced by a 5-year-old (that's being generous), and editor Axel Alonso deserves a smack in the head for accepting this garbage. Baker is an extremely capable artist, but this is absolutely horrible.

So on to my biggest problem: the ending. As writer Robert Morales shows us, the creation of Captain America harbors a horrible secret. So how is it that Steve Rogers, THE Captain America, knew nothing about it when it's apparent that so many prominent figures were obviously VERY aware of the truth? Or perhaps I'm misinterpreting the ending? It was very touching, but it makes no sense.

This book really could have been a classic. The artwork seems to have been drawn by someone who is very inebriated, and watching too many cartoons. It's very distracting. I had to flip back to early in the book several times just to tell who is who. The story is very bland. You don't know any characters enough to even care about them. Also, I thought the professor who created the super-soldier serum was named "Erskine", or something close to that. And wasn't the serum only effective if it was combined with vita-rays. Without the rays they would have gone insane. Why didn't Isaiah age? Cap seemed to be older than Isaiah. The bottom line is there was a black Cap, but he was treated like trash and thrown away. If you see this book; buy something else.