WARNING: The following contains spoilers for America Chavez #2 by Kalinda Vazquez, Carlos Gomez, Jesus Aburtov & VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.
When America Chavez debuted in Marvel Comics, her family was from the Utopian Parallel, with her two mothers sacrificing themselves to save her. However, it turns out that Chavez had another family, one that she left when she was a teenager. When America arrived on Earth, a couple found her on a beach, alone and confused. This family took her in and raised her as their own child, naming her America Santana.
America has gone back to her family to save them from a fire that engulfed their home. While there, her adoptive mother Cecilia Santana showed her a note left at her apartment that revealed the arsonist used the fire to send a message to America Chavez. This angered Cecilia, who told America that as long as she worked as a vigilante she always put those she loved in danger. Her exact words were that she knew they would pay the price for the life America leads. It was clear there was strife between America and her adoptive mother, which came to a head when America tried to find the arsonist.
When Cecilia and Javier chose to adopt America and raise her as their own, the little girl had no memories of who she was, where she came from or what happened to her before she washed up on shore for the Santana's to find. However, all her memories came back at once while she was at school, and she remembered her mothers and that she has powers. America Chavez showed her powers to her parents and then decided she wanted to help people, patrolling the streets of Washington Heights as a teenage vigilante.
Through it all, Cecilia did everything she could to convince America not to act as a vigilante. Anyone who followed America Chavez's career knows that telling her not to do something is the best way to ensure she does the opposite. Cecilia said that people like them stick out, and it is better to lay low and not put themselves at risk because even the police endanger their lives. Cecilia accused America of only thinking of herself, her adoptive mother countered with the assertion that she thinks about everyone except her family. When they gave her the choice of choosing life as a hero or life in their family, America left, saying she is America Chavez and that America Santana never existed.
Often, there is a complaint from those who are not heroes that anyone who wears a mask and hides their identity can't be trusted. However, more and more, it is proven that being a hero with a public identity is dangerous to anyone who loves them. It is a situation that Spider-Man, who appeared in this issue, always faces when people learned his identity: those he loves pay the price.
This fire proved that fact for America Chavez, and it also shows that Cecilia had every right to be afraid of her adoptive daughter working as a vigilante. However, at the same time, America is someone who knows her place in the world, and when it comes to choosing between doing the right thing and hiding, she will always be a hero.
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