Black History Month: 29 Days of Power Volume 5

The heroes in our comics should reflect the world around us—and that means they should be diverse in their backgrounds, genders, preferences, and ethnicities.

In that spirit, we continue the 29 Days of Power, where we’ll be celebrating Black History Month by honoring Black characters in comics history for the month of February.


Isaiah

Isaiah Bradley/Captain America

First appearance: Truth: Red, White, & Black #1 (Marvel, 2003)
Created by: Robert Morales, Kyle Baker, Axel Alonso
Alter ego: Isaiah Bradley

Isaiah Bradley isn’t just the first Black man to take up the stars and stripes as Captain America—he’s also the most historically important.

Just prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, three hundred Black men were enlisted—unknowingly and unwillingly—by the United States military during World War II to take part in Project: Rebirth, an effort to recreate the super-soldier serum that had turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. Death notices were issued to the men’s families, they were taken to a secret location where experimental drugs were used and surgeries were performed, resulting in the deaths of all but five men. Losing his compatriots to various field missions, Bradley emerges as Project: Rebirth’s sole survivor, and is dispatched to Germany—under duress from the U.S. Government—to assassinate one Dr. Koch, a German scientist trying to recreate the serum for Hitler.

Bradley’s story draws from the tragic reality of the 1932 Tuskegee experiments, in which a total of 600 Black men—made up of sharecroppers in an impoverished rural community in Alabama—were routinely injected with syphilis, despite being told they were being treated, just so the U.S. Public Health Service could study how the disease progressed through a community. This went on until 1972, well after it was commonly accepted that penicillin was effective in treatment of the disease, and only after a whistleblower leaked details of the study to the press, leading to major changes in U.S. regulations in regards to ethical standards and protection of participants in research events.

His existence also shines a light on the historical segregation and systemic racism of the United States military, where Black men were often viewed as cannon fodder and less valuable than their white counterparts. Bradley completes his mission, gets captured, becomes a POW, is disavowed, tortured and further experimented on in an effort to reverse engineer the serum. He’s eventually saved by allied German insurgents and upon his return to the United States is court martialed for going AWOL and impersonating Captain America. Until his pardoning by Eisenhower in 1960, he’s imprisoned at Leavenworth, where they U.S. Government uses his DNA in an attempt to create another super-soldier—his son Josaiah X. Bradley’s contribution to the war effort and allied victory is erased from any official record, he’s sworn to secrecy and becomes an underground legend within the Black community, receiving visits from Black cultural leaders like Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Colin Powell, and Angela Davis.

Even Steve Rogers was unaware of his existence. Discovering the truth, he’s ashamed and shocked by Bradley’s mistreatment, attempting to atone by visiting a now brain damaged Bradley and returning to him the Captain America suit he wore in his final mission.

With Isaiah Bradley, Robert Morales and Kyle Baker set the stage for a more inclusive Marvel Universe by exposing the lack of depth in the portrayal of Black characters in mainstream comics. Bradley’s legacy lives on with his grandson Elijah, also known as the hero Patriot, the leader of the Young Avengers.


Monica Rambeau

Monica Rambeau

First appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 (Marvel, 1982)
Created by: Roger Stern, John Romita Jr.
Alter ego: Captain Marvel, Photon, Pulsar, Spectrum

What’s in a name? Ask Monica Rambeau—she’s been through just about every code name in the book.

A lieutenant in the New Orleans Harbor Patrol, Rambeau gained superpowers when she tried to stop the creation of a dangerous, extra-dimensional energy weapon that would’ve wiped out most of the Gulf Coast. From there, she goes to New York City in search of the Fantastic Four—who she believes can help her explain her new abilities, such as light speed travel and energy conversion—only to find their headquarters totally destroyed. Ben Grimm helps her contact the Avengers, and Iron Man is able to help get her powers under control. Taking up the name Captain Marvel, she becomes an Avenger—becoming the first Black woman to join the roster—and goes on to lead the team after the Wasp resigns.

Rambeau held onto the Captain Marvel name until relinquishing it to Genis-Vell, Kree alien and son of Mar-Vell—the late, original Captain Marvel—out of respect and taking the name Photon. Now, that would’ve been well and fine, except, somewhere down the line, Genis decides he likes the name Photon, too, causing Rambeau to take up the name Pulsar—Genis-Vell is an entitled jerk. Later, after some time out of the limelight, she joined Luke Cage’s new Avengers team—a non-profit team of heroes that offered their services either for free or for a charitable donation—under the monicker Spectrum.

Perhaps the best depiction of Monica Rambeau, however, is in Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen’s stellar series Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., where, under her own name, she leads a team of lesser-known superheroes against a massive, international terrorist threat. The series portrayed Rambeau as a take-no-guff, capable leader and a force to be reckoned with, but tempered that with an intelligent sarcasm that spoke to her humanity as a character.

Despite the constant flux of name changes, the truth is that Rambeau has been written as a total, hardcore badass from her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16, where—before we even know she has powers—she takes out a bunch of muggers completely by herself, rendering Spider-Man’s assistance essentially unnecessary. And when you consider her power set—she can transform herself into literally any form of light-based energy, allowing her to travel at the speed of light, absorb massive amounts of energy, and travel through space—she’s one of the most powerful women in the Marvel Universe. Additionally, you’d be hard pressed to find another superhero in mainstream comics whose identity is as informed by both her unapologetically Black-positive attitude and feminist background.

So what’s in a name? Not much to Monica Rambeau. She knows who she is no matter what you want to call her and doesn’t care what you think about it.

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