America Chavez: Made In The USA (2021 series) #1

Each issue in this series intersperses current action with an exploration of America Chavez' past on Earth. I'm going to separate the 2 strands. They usually begin with a bit of the past but I'm going to describe the present day 1st.

This issue and next also have a mystery voiceover. Here it claims that America doesn't remember her real past before she came to the USA. And it's years since she left her New York home.

In the present Chavez and her best friend Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) are fighting giant spiky moles in Los Angeles when 1 of her super-punches 'fizzles out' and the mole is able to toss her away. She brushes off Kate's concerned questions. A young super-fan tries to do an interview for her school's news channel and helpfully gives us a rundown on America's history. She asks about her early life in the other-dimensional Utopian Parallel, then New York and now LA. She describes how Chavez can fly, super-punch and create portals to other dimensions. She's 'romantically linked' to fellow West Coast Avenger Ramone Watts. Then the fan asks if she misses her family. America says she misses her 2 mothers in the Parallel, but the fan throws her by mentioning the Santanas. They defeat the moles and get rid of the fan. Hawkeye mentions a rumoured secret Hydra bioengineering lab downtown. Then a lot more moles erupt from underground. But Ramone as Alloy joins them in her vibranium super-suit. More whack-a-mole ensues and Ramone reminds America that she's going to meet her parents for the 1st time for dinner next week. She's worried because America lost *her* parents. But Chavez is more worried because her powers fade again and she gets knocked out when she falls out of the sky.

The moles are dealt with and the other 2 take America back to her apartment. Hawkeye goes off to hunt down the Hydra base and Ramone waits for her girlfriend to recover. America wakes up on her bed (and we notice a little blue plush hippopotamus toy on her bedside table). She brushes off R's concern (again) and heads for the roof where she's relieved to find that she can fly again. And then she punches the rooftop harder than she meant to. She finally admits that she worried because the power-outs keep happening. But then an app on her phone alerts her to a problem in her old NY neighbourhood Washington Heights where a hemispherical forcefield has appeared centred on her old home. Chavez creates 1 of her 5-pointed star portals to get her there.

When she gets there her flight power fails again and Spider-Man has to rescue her from a dumpster. He tells her the barrier is impassable and its power source must be inside. America is more concerned that the people inside will run out of oxygen, so she smashes a star-shaped hole in the forcefield and walks in. People start to stream out and Spidey stays outside to guide them. Inside she finds her family block ablaze, and a neighbour tells her that her family is trapped inside. Chavez smashes her way in and finds her adoptive parents Javi & Ceci and brother Berto, now grown up with his own wife and kid. She breaks a hole through the roof and empties a water tower down it to put the flames out.

Someone's watching her, and the voiceover says they've waited a long time to see and talk to her again. America clears the way out for her family. Ceci passes her a note that was pushed under the door before the fire started. It says "You should keep a closer eye on your family, America".

13 years ago a couple and their young teen son are stargazing on Jones Beach, New York when they spot a young (6 years old) girl floating on a piece of debris. She's wearing something like a super-costume with the word America on a shoulder-pad. She's not very responsive to their questions so they assume that's her name. And they note she has 5-pointed stars on each wrist. They drive her home to the Santana family Bodega in Washington Heights. Father Javier (Javi) persuades his wife Cecilia (Ceci) that they should look after her until they can find her family, rather than handing her over to the authorities where she'll just get lost in the system. But the girl remains quiet until son Alberto (Berto) offers to be her friend and introduces her to his blue hippo toy Juanchiz who he says is a good listener.