When it comes to indigenous representation in media, it’s few and far between. I remembered growing up only seeing a handful of Native Americans represented. One of those was in the Lone Ranger and Tonto cartoon, which I used to watch every Saturday morning. The other was in the G.I. Joe which featured the character Spirit, who exhibited every stereotype that Americans saw of Native Americans.

Other than those representations, I remember watching Westerns with my grandfather and seeing a different type of representation. One that I would find out was wrought with negative portrayals infused with incorrect perceptions and lacking truth in most cases. Even today, the representation is sparse, and is now only being really seen in shows like Reservation Dogs and Rutherford Falls. It’s only a start and it still is not enough.  In the second season of Marvel Voices, we get Marvel Voices Heritage #1, where we get to see how Marvel portrays its indigenous heroes.

The issue features a nice mix of characters and creators involved. In ”The Unexpected”, Warpath and few of the Native American X-Men fight off a threat to a reservation showing the world they will go wherever they are needed. In “SnowGuard: The Tuurngait’s Song”, Snowguard calls on some long dormant guardians to fight off an ancient evil. In ”American Eagle:  Not Dead Yet”, a retired hero, finds out he still has some fight in him, when he breaks up a robbery and proves his mettle. In the last story ”River: A Friend In Need”,  River has a special power and it has to do with dead people, something that often gets him in a trouble but one that leaves a boy missing.

Overall, Marvel Voices Heritage #1 is an excellent collection of stories that shines the spotlight on these underrepresented characters. The stories by the different creators are entertaining and enlightening. The art  by the different creators is astounding. Altogether, a must buy even if you think you know these characters, you have never seen them like this before.

Story: Nyla Innuksuk , Jim Terry, Steven Paul Judd, Rebecca Roanhorse
Art: Natasha Donovan, David Cutler, Shaun Beyale
Color: Brittany Peer, Rachelle Rosenberg, Paris Alleyne, Morry Hollowell
Ink: Natasha Donovan, José Marzan Jr., Belardino Brabo
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

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Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW