American Way: Those Above and Below
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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Publisher Description
The Oscar-winning screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave returns for an all-new chapter in his alternate history of The American Way! In 1962 Jason Fisher was given astonishing powers by the United States government—powers he used to defend the nation as the New American. He and his teammates in the Civil Defense Corps were real-life superheroes. Except that it was all a fraud. A conspiracy. And now, 10 years after the CDC was torn apart by racism, infighting and murder, the Corps’ surviving members find themselves pulled in very different directions. Missy Devereaux—a.k.a. Ole Miss—is transitioning from the First Lady of Mississippi into a candidate for governor and defender of a vanishing and hateful way of life. Amber Eaton—formerly known as Amber Waves—has become a domestic terrorist, using her powers to infiltrate and destroy the country’s centers of power. Somewhere in the middle stands Jason Fisher, who has remained a crime-fighter even as evidence mounts that he is accomplishing nothing besides propping up a system that’s rigged against him as a black man in America. In a nation being torn apart, what does it mean to fight for the American way? A decade after the debut of their groundbreaking WildStorm series The American Way, Academy Award-winning writer John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, American Crime) and artist Georges Jeanty (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8) revisit their parallel Earth for a look at its gritty 1970s—a time frighteningly like our own—in The American Way: Those Above and Those Below. Collects issues #1-6.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Academy Award winning screenwriter Ridley has created a thrilling sequel to his 2007 graphic novel, The American Way, a superhero saga based on the racial conflicts of 1960s America. That work, while not requisite reading to dive into this volume, is helpful background, as it sets up the scenario: that a secret program in the U.S. government created an all-white group of superbeings who fight staged battles designed to deceive the public about the administration's ability to respond to supervillain threats. This "wag the dog" spectacle helps keep the government in power. When the President decides to add a black superbeing, Jason Fisher, to placate civil rights leaders, the scheme collapses into a horrific superbeing race war. The sequel picks up in the 1970s, as Fisher remains a supervigilante, though now perceived as a governmental Uncle Tom by other black Americans. Some of the superbeings, such as Amber Waves, a Green Lantern like heroine, are now disillusioned and refuse to continue acting as government dupes. She turns to violent protest, leading a guerilla war for racial justice. Other recurring characters like the Secret Agent, a sharpshooter, are still with team government, and Ole Miss, who can manipulate time, is now a Mississippi politician reluctantly campaigning on a racist platform are joined by new faces like Nikki Lau (daughter of slain Asian-American villain Red Terror), a young revolutionary seeking answers about her father's death. Jeanty's drawings are skillful and dramatic. Ridley has pulled off an action-packed, yet thoughtful, continuation of this powerful series, centered around a cast of superheroes trapped and demoralized by the deadly consequences of their acts. (Apr.)
Customer Reviews
Liked it a lot
Graphics are amazing. Storytelling at its best; leaving you with more questions than when the story begins.