Weshoyot Alvitre

An Indigenous boy feels pride and joy in having traditional braids.

“Braids are brave,” begins Alvitre’s (Tongva) book about hair, heritage, and resilience. The child, who narrates, explains that his long golden-brown hair is both a source of ancestral honor and a target for bullying by unkind classmates. The boy draws strength from his father, grandpa, and great-grandpa, who all lived through different eras of discrimination and cultural genocide. In the face of these traumas, the show more narrator’s father emphasizes the child’s right to wear his hair long. Alvitre’s striking, cartoon-style illustrations fill the page, relying on rich colors and details to connect multiple generations of the protagonist’s patrilineal family. Some of the story’s examples of bravery may put off some readers. In one instance, the narrator praises his grandfather for suppressing emotion—“They cut his hair. He did not cry. He showed no fear”—which hews close to “boys don’t cry” messaging. Still, Alvitre’s poignant narrative primarily focuses on encouraging younger generations of Indigenous children to “feel loved and comfortable with who you are”—particularly for the courage that they demonstrate when confronting anti-Indigenous prejudice. This story has much to teach Native and non-Native kids alike about the painful history of assimilation and the power of familial affirmation.

A tender tale woven with themes of resilience, courage, and love for Indigenous men. (Picture book. 4-8)

-Kirkus Review show less

One of those anthologies that is awesome in concept but a bit disappointing in execution as we are given shallow little glimpses of a lot of characters. A couple of the longer stories offered are first issues of mini-series where the rest of the story will be continued elsewhere.

There are a few gems that make it worthwhile to flip through it though.

The Watcher ~ 3 stars

Uatu provides a roll call of all the Marvel heroes with Indigenous roots. I'd forgotten about some of these characters, so show more it was nice to get a reminder right off the top.

Hitting Back ~ 2 stars

Echo gets called to help an alien race defeat a swamp god who is terrorizing him. A martial artist vs. a god? "Super easy, barely an inconvenience." More a prelude to developments in Maya Lopez's life than a story.

Multifaceted ~ 3 stars

New Mutants Mirage and Wolfsbane do the standard X-Men thing, showing up to help a new mutants whose first display of power has gotten him in trouble with the local authorities. Nicely done, though, with charming character interactions.

Blue Moon ~ 2 stars

In the distant past Silver Fox and Trigo, a wife and husband of the Blackfoot Confederacy, sabotage a fort so it will fail and slow down white settlers. Dark and depressing for many reasons.

The Unexpected ~ 2 stars

Indigenous members of the X-Men play whack-a-mole with a weird but easily defeated giant thingywhatsit. Less a story, more a statement.

The Tuurngait's Song ~ 2 stars

Snowguard of the Champions returns home to Nunavut to recruit help for her village against some sea witches. Stiff and silly.

Not Dead Yet ~ 3 stars

Set in the 2070s, American Eagle shows us that aging is not the same as being washed up when he stumbles into a bank robbery.

A Friend in Need ~ 2 stars

Another prelude to the upcoming series starring Maya Lopez introduces readers to River -- short for Riverwalker -- a young man who does the old "I see dead people" thing. Meh.

An Interview with Writer Rebecca Roanhorse

Roanhorse complains of "one-dimensional characters where there's always a spirit animal or someone's always changing into an animal." The editor maybe shouldn't have placed this article right before the next two stories.

Champions Annual #1 ~ 2 stars

Snowguard, a shapeshifter, returns to Nunavut for the second time in this collection to deal with still more mythical creatures endangering her hometown. She's a more interesting character this time around, but it's all so earnest it gets a little boring.

Werewolf by Night #1 ~ 2 stars

When he's not protecting his people by turning into a werewolf at night, Jake Gomez works as a janitor at an evil corporation. Seems like those two things are going to collide at some point. And Red Wolf is hanging out in the background keeping his eye on everything. Seems a little generic as far as first issues go, but I might pick up the series collection to see if it builds momentum.

The United States of Captain America #3 ~3 stars

This short excerpt introduces us to Joe Gomez, a Kickapoo construction worker from Kansas, who ends up using a tower crane to battle Bulldozer when the villain attacks his construction site. Gomez's regular guy rising to a moment of heroism is cool. It's a shame they didn't do more with him instead of making him yet another new Captain America in a series that gave us a half dozen or so.

Phoenix Song: Echo #1 ~ 2 stars

Oh, look, here's what those previous two stories about Echo were hinting at. I've seen Maya Lopez in various places around the Marvel Universe, but she never seems to be anything but angry. This first issue from her new mini-series seems to be more of the same at first, but might be moving toward something a little deeper. I'm not totally won over, but I might check out the full collection later.

Honor the Sacred ~ 3 stars

A nice tribute to Red Wolf with some dynamic art and design.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:

• Introduction / Lee Francis IV, writer

Marvel's Voices: Indigenous Voices (2020) #1, cover art by Jim Terry
• The Watcher / Jeffrey Veregge, writer and artist
• Hitting Back [Echo] / Rebecca Roanhorse, writer; Weshoyot Alvitre, artist
• Multifaceted [New Mutants] / Darcie Little Badger, writer; Kyle Charles, artist
• Blue Moon [Silver Fox] / Stephen Graham Jones, writer; David Cutler, penciller; Roberto Poggi, inker
• Afterword / Taboo and B. Earl

Marvel's Voices: Heritage (2021) #1, cover art by Kyle Charles
• The Unexpected [X-Men] / Jim Terry, writer and artist
• The Tuurngait's Song [Snowguard] / Nyla Innuksuk, writer; Natasha Donovan, artist
• Not Dead Yet [American Eagle] / Steven Paul Judd, writer; David Cutler, penciller, José Marzan Jr., inker
• A Friend in Need [River] / Rebecca Roanhorse, writer; Shaun Beyale, penciller, Belardino Brabo, inker
• An Interview with Writer Rebecca Roanhorse / Angélique Roché

Champions Annual (2018) #1, cover art by R. B. Silva
• [Snowguard] / Jim Zub and Nyla Innuksuk, writers; Marcus To, artist

Werewolf by Night (2020) #1, cover art by Mike McKone
• [New Wolf Rising, Part 1] / Taboo and B. Earl, writers; Scot Eaton, artist; Scott Hanna, inker

The United States of Captain America (2021) #3, cover art by Gerard Parel
• [Excerpt featuring Joe Gomez, the Captain America of the Kickapoo Tribe] / Darcie Little Badger, writer; David Cutler, penciller; Roberto Poggi, inker

Phoenix Song: Echo (2021) #1, cover art by Cory Smith
• [Phoenix Song: Echo, Part 1] / Rebecca Roanhorse, writer; Luca Maresca, artist

Marvel Comics (2019) #1000
• Honor the Sacred [Excerpt featuring Red Wolf] / Taboo and B. Earl, writers; Jeffrey Veregge, artist

• Marvel's Voices Essay / Darcie Little Badger, writer
• Marvel's Voices Essay / Karla Pacheco, writer
• We Are Here! Indigenous Presence and Imagined Futures / Amanda R. Tachine, writer
• Variant Cover Gallery / David Mack, Afua Richardson, Jeffrey Veregge, Roy Boney, Jim Terry, Bill Sienkiewicz, Babs Tarr, and Maria Wolf, illustrators show less

I generally prefer more polished work, but the rawness to the pieces in this anthology help communicate the primal anger and righteous outrage over the treatment of Native American women. It is important that a book like this exists, and I hope to see more like it in the future.

I do wish that a book that sports five editors and assistant editors would have had better proofreading though.

I love the art and even the concept, but I'm not a big fan of picture books that choose to just celebrate and inspire without telling an actual story. I want people doing something, not people sitting around and talking about people who did something. And I imagine a lot of children feel the same way.