miss-america-joe-quinonesFollowing her awesome runs in team books like ‘Young Avengers’, ‘A-Force’, and ‘Ultimates’, America Chavez is finally ready for a solo adventure. Back at New York Comic Con, we learned that the dimension-shattering powerhouse would star her own ongoing series next year. However, there were no details available regarding the creative team or the premise for the upcoming series at the time. All they had to share with True Believers was a title and an awesome cover from Jamie McKelvie. But now we have a little more to get excited about.

In an exclusive interview with Refinery 29, Marvel Comics revealed that critically-acclaimed YA novelist Gabby Rivera and ‘Howard the Duck’ artist Joe Quinones will team up to tell the continuing adventures of Miss America Chavez. Though she may not have experience writing comics, Rivera certainly is familiar with characters like America. In addition to bringing some similar life experiences to the work with this particular hero, the writer’s popular book ‘Juliet Takes A Breath’ also features a Puerto Rican lesbian as the protagonist. (Not that the two works will be same or that the characters are interchangeable, but rather it’s good to hear that Marvel sought out someone who is better suited to tell a story featuring a character like this, which is not always the case.) 

Set for a March 2017 release, Rivera and Quinones’ book will be titled ‘America’ and will follow the queer Latina heroine “as she plants her feet, punches her way through dimensions, and faces off against an oncoming alien horde all while managing her social life and trying to attend various classes on alternate Earths”. At the same time, the writer says that our hero will be learning a great deal about her powers and herself:

“America doesn’t know how powerful she is, but she’s gonna find out. And the powers she does have are going to be expanded upon and she’s going to learn how to control and develop them. I think some of the really fun Marvel moments are gonna be when we bring in key players like Captain America and Storm. They are going to be able to help America on her journey. And teach her things about her powers or lead her along the way.”

Marvel also debuted a number of variant covers for the first issue of this long-awaited series. In addition to the cover from McKelvie and one from Quinones, there will also be offerings from Cliff Chaing, Marguerite Sauvage, and Tradd Moore. You can check them all out in the gallery below:

What do you think about our first look at ‘America’? Are you excited to see what Gabby Rivera and Joe Quinones will bring to the table with America Chavez? Let us know in the comments.

horizontal lineDespite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.