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  • Writer's pictureJames Quinn

Comic Book Quickie: Truth: Red, White, Blue




Happy Juneteenth Part 2, everyone!

Marvel comics has been offering free digital comics on Marvel Unlimited from black writers and creators. Taking advantage of this gift (thanks Marvel!), I stumbled upon a lesser-known title called Truth: Red, White, Blue, written by Robert Morales and art by Kyle Baker. The one-shot series is about a group of African American soldiers that used and tested for the super-soldier serum until only five were left. These five black super soldiers went on secret missions, and identities were kept secret from the public. Ultimately, they were test subjects to see how successful the super-soldier serum would work before volunteer Steve Rodgers (Captain America) who would also get injected with the same serum. Out of all the five soldiers, Isiah Bradly, goes on to be known as the “Black Captain America” when he steals the red, white, and blue uniform for a covert mission.

I had read this during veterans day, and it was a timely read to honor the black lives wasted in war. Robert Morales said that he based the events of the story on the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments; these were clinical studies in 1932 that subjected 201 black men to syphilis, let them die without treatment, and took their bodies to learn the effects of the disease. Even by 1972, when Penicillin was created, the head of the study Dr. Raymond Vonderlehr still refused to treat these black men. On top of that, many people that were in contact with these black men, such as women and children, were infected by syphilis as well. Morales used white people’s obsession with black bodies as an inspiration for a story in which the U.S government take 300 African American soldiers and use them to test out a drug that enhances strength and stamina. Towards the end, a military general admits to Steve Rodgers that the program was primarily encouraged to kill off a good portion of the black male population. The same reasoning I’m sure justified the Tuskegee experiments as well.

Truth makes for good speculative fiction because it takes a fantastical idea such as drugs that give soldiers super-strength and uses that mirror the real-world realities and atrocities of the U.S government. In the real world, the American government has had an obsession over the black body and has used black bodies for their means of production and war; this would be no different in the Marvel universe. If there’s one complaint I have about the one-shot series, it’s that Kyle Baker’s art can sometimes be a bit too cartoony and sometimes undercuts scenes that are meant to be taken seriously. At it’s best, though, Baker’s art adds beautiful color and levity to a story about black soldiers dying for a government that doesn’t care about them. Overall, Robert Morales and Kyle Baker offer us an educational and heart-felt story about black soldiers.

If you want to learn more about the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment, check out my linked sources at the bottom. It’s an atrocity that isn’t taught in detail or even at all in public schools, and I didn’t know anything about it until I researched this graphic novel. For black and other races, it’s essential to know our history to learn how much the U.S. government has misused its power.

I will also link Marvel Unlimited where you can also read free digital comics by black authors.


Sources:


Marvel Unilimated:

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