by Robert Morales & Kyle Baker
Collects Truth: Red, White and Black #1-7
This book has been on my list, but I wanted to read as soon as I watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Truth is, as its name suggests, unsettling and hugely important. Morales and Baker reveal the first Black Captain America, Isaiah Baker, and his fellow Black soldiers were experimented on without their consent, unlike Steve Rogers. It redefines Captain America’s legacy, as it should. Morales based the story on the Tuskugee Study, a horrific medical experiment on Black men which ran for 40 years.
Morales’ story is straightforward, heartbreaking, and quickly fills seven issues – it easily could have gone on twice as long. Even though it ends in a dark and tragic place, there is still some hope, and it’s powerful to see Steve’s revelations and reactions to what has been hidden from him for literal decades.
A lot of folks on Goodreads didn’t like the art, calling it “cartoony.” I feel the need to push back here, because this is clearly very intentional. Truth’s art is not meant to look like other superhero comics. It’s deconstructing superhero comics – not just by redefining Cap’s legacy, but causing us to ask ourselves – are our heroes really the heroes? At whose expense, and whose erasure? And then, we arrive at deconstructing what (Captain) America stands for,
In my opinion, anyone who dismisses the art isn’t looking closely enough – as uncomfortable as it may be – at what Morales and Baker are trying to say.
Truth is a must-read for comic book fans, and I hope we see more of Isaiah’s story in the MCU adaptation.
Reading Art 