Miss America (America Chavez)


America Chavez, also known by her moniker Miss America, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta, Chavez is the second character to use the moniker Miss America, after Madeline Joyce. Chavez first appeared in Vengeance #1 before starring in her own ongoing series, America, in March 2017 by writer Gabby Rivera. She is Marvel's first Latin-American LGBTQ character to star in an ongoing series.

Publication history

America Chavez first appeared in the 2011 limited series Vengeance by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta. Chavez later appears in the 2013 Young Avengers series by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie and in the 2015 series, A-Force, by G. Willow Wilson, Marguerite Bennett and Jorge Molina. Beginning in October 2015, Chavez has appeared in Ultimates by Al Ewing and Kenneth Rocafort as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative. At the 2016 New York Comic Con, Marvel announced that Chavez would receive her first solo series—simply titled America. That series, written by Latin-American LGBTQ novelist Gabby Rivera, launched in March 2017 and was canceled in April 2018. In August 2018, Chavez joined the West Coast Avengers in a series by writer Kelly Thompson and artist Stefano Caselli.

Fictional character biography

America Chavez was raised by her mothers in the Utopian Parallel, a reality that is out of time and in the presence of the being known as the Demiurge. She appears to have inherited or absorbed some or all of her superpowers from the Demiurge's ambient magical presence. When America was approximately six years old, the Utopian Parallel was threatened by destruction. America's mothers sacrificed themselves to seal the black holes resulting in their particles being smeared across the Multiverse itself. Wanting to prove herself as a hero and knowing Utopia didn't require salvation, America ran away from her home and her responsibilities. She traveled across different realities, eventually adopted the moniker of Miss America, and began covertly acting as a superhero.
Miss America eventually joined the Teen Brigade and served as co-leader with Ultimate Nullifier. With the Teen Brigade, she freed the In-Betweener from the government confinement center, Groom Lake Adjacent in Nevada. With information from the In-Betweener, the Teen Brigade set out to prevent the Young Masters of Evil from disrupting the balance between chaos and order. To stop the Young Masters from recruiting Kid Loki, Miss America broke into the Metropolitan Art Museum, but Loki used the Screaming Idol to send her to the Sixth Dimension. There she fought Tiboro, and was later rescued by the Last Defenders, She-Hulk and Daimon Hellstrom, under the direction of the In-Betweener. She rejoined her teammates in Latveria where they fought the Braak'nhüd, Young Masters and Doctor Doom. The battle was ended when Ultimate Nullifier shot the In-Betweener. While the smoke cleared, the Teen Brigade covertly departed. Miss America would later part ways with the Teen Brigade due to "musical differences".
After leaving the Teen Brigade, Chavez eventually traveled to Earth-212 and was later approached by the teenage trickster Loki. He pretends to try to persuade Miss America into killing Wiccan for the good of the Multiverse. Disgusted with the proposition, Miss America fights with Loki and decides to protect Wiccan. On Earth-616, Miss America stopped Loki from magically attacking Wiccan in his home. Hulkling intervened, but Miss America and Loki quickly fled with little explanation. Miss America later rescued Hulkling, Wiccan, and Loki from the Mother, an inter-dimensional parasite awoken by one of Loki's spells. They all escape aboard Marvel Boy's ship, and aided them in the final face-off with Mother's forces in Central Park. Later, in Young Avengers #15, she reveals offhandedly to the team that she is not interested in men, and writes off her one-time kiss with the male teen superhero Ultimate Nullifier as experimentation.
During the 2015 Secret Wars storyline, Chavez appears as a member of the A-Force, an all-female team of Avengers. Her fans formed a gang La chiquitas and changed their hair to Chavez symbols including fan Sydney Walker. When the island-nation of Arcadia is attacked by a megalodon, Chavez throws the shark across the Shield, the wall that separates Arcadia's borders, thus breaking the laws of King Doom. She is subsequently arrested and sentenced to spend the rest of her life protecting the Shield.
After the events of Secret Wars, Chavez joined the newly formed Ultimates team after being invited by Blue Marvel. Chavez also attends Sotomayor University as a student, where she also shares a class with former Young Avenger teammate Prodigy.

Powers and abilities

Chavez possesses superhuman strength and durability, and the power of flight. Chavez also has the power to kick open holes in reality, allowing her and her teammates to travel through the multiverse and into other realities. Miss America is also able to move at superhuman speeds, since she is able to catch up to and nearly exceed the speed of light as observed by Spectrum in her light form. Chavez has developed the ability to make an enemy burst into tiny star fragments with a punch. In moments of extreme duress, she has also been shown to project a large star that releases a powerful energy blast, capable of injuring the likes of Captain Marvel.

Other versions

In a possible future depicted in the second volume of the Hawkeye series, an adult America Chavez is a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., and has taken on the mantle of Captain America.

In other media

Television