If gods of media ever initiate me into their secret Mount Olympus fraternity and I could only adapt one comic book into a movie or TV series it would be so difficult to choose. Grant Morrison’s “The Invisibles” would be a no brainer, but I’m operating under the optimistic assumption that the rumors are true that this will eventually be birthed onto the small screen. The 90s punk kid living inside me would want something obscure, defiant, and bizarre like Milligan and McCarthy’s psychedelic Indian comic “Rogan Gosh” or the exploits satirical superhero “Paradax!” But the part of me that hungers and thirsts for justice and equality and just plain good intricately woven yarn would “Truth: Red, White, and Black,” and highlight super soldier Isaiah Bradley.
Written by Robert MoralesCover by Kyle Baker
Illustrated and Colored by Kyle Baker
Lettered by JG and Comicraft’s WesIn the tradition of ORIGIN, Marvel reveals the shocking secret history of Captain America! In 1940 there was a man who had many of the same qualities as Steve Rogers – save for one, the color of his skin – and TRUTH is his story!
But you might say Devin, didn’t Isaiah Bradley get enough small screen love in Disney+’sThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier? True, he was an integral part of the show. Without him, something essential would be missing, but he didn’t nearly the attention he deserves. He deserves his own stand alone series or movie, ideally animated, and particularly with the distinct character designs Kyle Baker created in this comic. The art is unlike anything I’ve ever encountered, particularly in a superhero book. I am glad Marvel let the artists literally color outside the lines and tell an unconventional exciting and compelling story.
There is a weird David Lynch vibe for some of the characters, and I’m here for it. Some of the designs are so exaggerated and intricate they almost remind me of one of those caricature artists set up on the Santa Monica pier on a sunny Sunday afternoon, cigarette dangling from his mouth as he quickly tries to capture as many features as possible in the shortest time possible. But you can completely tell Baker and co. put an enormous amount of time into this comic. The caricature comparison is just a cursory glance, but upon further careful inspection, the art puts proper introspection in the mind of the reader. If the art was more “realistic,” it wouldn’t feel right. Something about the caricature-but-not-really-caricature style humanizes the victims of these heinous experiments and gives them each backstory context beyond just narrative storytelling, which you would think it would have the opposite effect. Sargent Lucas Evan’s sunken cheekbones and skinny elongated limbs points to the fact he’s lived a tough life, is fearless, and takes no shit from anybody; these are all features that make him a good leader.
Maurice Canfield is from a wealthy family. His features are understandably softer and the lines are more curved and warm, less angular than Sargent Evans, but he’s used his influence to fight for justice and equality. Our hero Isaiah Bradley is given warm purple tones to counterbalance the broad, boring military uniforms.
The white authority figures in this are trash human beings who treat the black soldiers like trash because they regard them as trash. To me, you’re only as good as how you treat others and peering into the dusk dewy eyes of another person is like looking into a massive mirror. At one point, one of the scientists says he heard Dr. Reinstein say that black blood is no different than white blood; every scientist should know this. Later on, Colonel Walker Price says to a grunt that black blood might save his life on the battlefield.
The teenager says he’d rather die with a horrified look with cross-eyed, frozen pond colored lifeless eyes. The deformities resulting from the experiments is captured in a way only Baker’s style can do justice. Sarge (a veteran of the First World War) is asked what his biggest battle was. He said it was right here in the US during the historically accurate Red Summer, where a armed groups of black men around the country acted in self defense against the genocide that has systematically been enacted against them since they were brought here against their will starting in 1619.
It is this kind of revolutionary spirit and commitment to justice that makes this book a heady and transformative experience. It will make you uncomfortable, especially if you’re white, and I think this is by design. The moment we feel comfortable with systemic racism and injustice or the moment talking about race becomes easy we have taken our eyes off the prize and lost our way. That may be uncomfortable for some of us to hear, but it is worth pondering. A good comic tackling our broken system does most of the work through story and characters. And this is especially true of “Truth: Red, White and Black.”
Like much of the book, the backgrounds are pared down with minimal details which brings the focus to these human characters who are being treated like lab animals when all they wanted to do was punch Nazis. And who doesn’t want to do that? Fascism, nationalism, and racism are triplet clones of each other. The fight against fascism is the fight against racism and vice versa. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
