Kamen America is a character and franchise that is making a big impression on people. Partly because it started from somewhere people are willing to fight over. But also for some comments by a loud voice from a label that franchise opponents thought it shared. Today, we’ll be going over the origins and appeals of a series that challenges everything around it.
Kamen America (Character and Controversy) Origins
The title character Carly Vanders debuted in Wall Might a political parody series for Antarctic Press. It essentially combines the aesthetics of My Hero Academia with Donald Trump wordplay. So where does Carly fit in; she appears as the superhero Warhen. As some comic fans will notice, Carly is a parody of Carol Danvers. But “her” first appearance is under the influence of an evil Bernie Sanders’ parody. “Carl” Vanders is essentially a parody on comments about Captain Marvel’s design looking androgynous. The loudest comment comes from someone who will not be named!
Carly eventually reverts to her original appearance alongside Squirrel Girl and Ice Man parodies. An epilogue reveals that she speaks with Juanpool, a Gwenpool parody with a stance against cancel culture warriors.
As you can see, Carly alone is under suspicion of being under a certain banner. Especially since her creators NinjaInk (Timothy Lim and Mark Pellegrini) have a reputation of being Trump supporters. For example, a couple of their other characters debuted in a series from a couple blacklisted from Twitter for that label. As well as the several Trump parodies they created. And for the cherry on top, a campaign used to sing praises of them.
Disclaimer Time!
Which is why I have to point that Tim Lim at the very least has distanced himself from that campaign. At this point I’m going to have start calling people by name because I can only censor so much.
You see, Lim’s freelancing under Cecil Jones wasn’t stable. Lim cites the trollish influencer attitudes of ComicsGaters like Jones as one of the reasons he left the Cash Grab project. Something that echoes former ComicsGate creative Mike S. Miller leaving the campaign. As for Pellegrini, he’ll go wherever Lim does.
So Lim and Pellegrini get together with publisher Iconic Comics while building off of their personally owned copyrights. Starting in Black Hops is the beginning of a shared universe; Kamen America is where Carly gets character development. As well as things people will probably start a fight over.
Like Carly’s grade school teacher’s aggressive progressivism or how one of Carly’s best friends owns a gun store. In fact, one of the background threats is commentary on Liberal Capitalism. But the real focus is Carly Vanders herself, not shoehorning her into an ideology.
Meet Carly Vanders
Carly Vanders’ main motivation is being true to herself, never wanting to be something she isn’t or force that way onto people. It’s a familiar message that complements a modern dilemma. What’s the point of authenticity and achieving dreams when it’s not fulfilling? Sometimes you gotta reinvent yourself while throwing off what you hate. Like a greedy agent exploiting her and the trends for short-term profit.
But again why should anybody care about someone from dubious origins? Well that’s because Kamen America is more than just a fun name, it’s a compelling story of striving for independence.
Let’s look at the name; Kamen might come from a certain Japanese franchise that exploded in popularity stateside, but Carly thought it just sounded cool. Kind of like how she named her pet capybara Badger. As for the America part, it’s Carly’s belief in the Dream. Not the idea of exceptionalism or instant wealth, but putting in the effort to find value even with the odds stacked against her.
And those odds are grounded in an all-too-real reality. Feeling like you’ve wasted your dreams, missed opportunities, cutthroat competition, the constant hustle, and above all else self-worth. Especially when those efforts and acts of good will go unappreciated or harm a brand.
The Corps of Kamen America
While Carly experiences doubts and stresses on her worth, there are times when her example becomes aspirational. First there’s Kamen Comet, a mercenary heiress who by all accounts seems like your typical evil counterpart or rival. But when Carly reaches an understanding with her mid-fight, Carly finds that she and Misha Lovacova actually have a lot in common. To make an even better subversion, Misha defects from her private military family to start a new life.
Another point comes up in Kimiko Kaneko, an ramen empire heiress with business talents. But she was miserable doing that so she hopes to achieve her dreams in radiology while helping the family business. So she follows Carly’s example as Kamen Ramen to try and balance her passions with responsibility. Even though Carly struggles with that too.
Besides being aspirational isn’t always glamorous. Like when Carly’s ex-agent Niro Lansky uses her waning popularity to his advantage to strike several blows at once. All while trying to monetize everyone else’s fifteen minutes of fame. For a while he had the perfect partners.
A Rival Knows Best
Sylvia Prestige feels like your typical rich girl, spoiled by her father’s money and an attitude that makes her look pretentious. For example, back in high school, Sylvia won the best dressed award for an expensive dress she imported from Paris. This naturally frustrated Carly who worked hard to make her own dresses that a lot of their classmates wore.
But at the same time NinjaInk shows that Sylvia felt isolated from others. She genuinely wants to help people but her lack of awareness puts her at odds with them. Like when she gives Carly a French fashion magazine to add to Carly’s designs. Sylvia thought that she was helping Carly, but Carly saw this as Sylvia rubbing the best dressed award in her face. Sylvia in turn thought Carly was acting high and mighty. In reality, Sylvia wanted to be more like Kamen America.
Sylvia’s not the only one; that applies to Carly’s other best friend Vicki Kaminski too. Unlike Carly who defied pressures to join societal trends, Vicki took the path of least resistance. But she was unsatisfied with her life. Vicki felt like she not only wasted her life by not really trying, but she felt stuck in Carly’s shadow. You’d feel that way too if everybody just called you somebody’s friends. Vicki got powers from the same place as the Kamen Corps along with a little extra from a Golden Ranger wannabe. But unlike Carly, Vicki used her powers to push herself into her dormant passion: sculpting. As well as craft the villainous alter-ego Vermillion Masquerade, driven by her insecurities.
The Best Parts of Kamen America
The web of character dynamics definitely gives this franchise its strength. But it’s when they’re pushed to their limits that it all becomes something memorable. It helps that they combine subversion with metacommentary.
Let’s start with how Carly gives an old homeless woman her scarf out of kindness. Only to get berated by her agent when a news cast reveals this act, causing the investments in Carly’s agency to drop. The next chapter reveals that this beggar was actually her aggressively progressive grade-school teacher. Now Ms. Wormwood wasn’t homeless just because of how she delivered her ideology, there were plenty of background reasons. You know high rent and what-not. But Ms. Wormwood never really had any friends, acknowledging she was too full of herself to make any meaningful connections to support her. Despite dying alone, Ms. Wormwood died happy with some warmth to at least say sorry to Carly for her poor treatment.
The next came from a full reconciliation between Carly and Sylvia. When the Kamen Corps are fighting against Vermillion Masquerade, their powers reached their limits. Worse, the news crew covering the scene were going to label them as cowardly for their retreat. Soon Sylvia comes in to provide support in a new battle suit using Carly’s mask to pose as Kamen America. Despite Carly’s agreement to it, she was still concerned Sylvia was trying to steal not just the spotlight, but the identity she built for herself. Only for Sylvia to come in and say that Kamen America isn’t a costume or a legacy mantle, it’s who Carly is. Sylvia’s act was just a cover to keep the news people off Carly’s back. She’s building her own identity as Kamen Victory.
Best Battle
Finally there’s the Kamen Corps’ final battle with Vermilion Masquerade. Before this confrontation, readers see from Vicki’s point-of-view on how the signs were around and that it could’ve been avoided. They feel Vicki’s frustrations and how she hit Carly and co. with the intention to demoralize her in petty payback. Carly tried to reach out to her, showing the outfit designs Vicki came up with were always part of the process. But Vicki, high on her escape power fantasy enhanced her tendency to hide her emotional vulnerability. Throughout the fight, Vicki claimed that Carly held her back.
Only for Carly to put her foot down and turn Vicki’s arguments around. Vicki always had the option to change her life’s course, she just spent more time blaming what she couldn’t control. Something that’s still true even with her arrest, as seen in the crossover with Black Hops and Soulfinder. But that doesn’t take away how helpless Carly felt in the aftermath. Carly still failed her best friend who helped get her so far and she’s going to have to live with that weight.
Kamen America: For Girls…and Otherwise
The best parts of this series are also what got people’s attentions in the worst way. Ethan van Sciver, the poster boy of the ComicsGate campaign called this series “for girls” and that it wasn’t for him. This got a lot of people to react badly to the tweet, mainly because of EVS’s reputation. The less said, the better. If anything, the followup tweet is what justifies Lim cutting ties with the campaign. In trollish fashion, EVS said that Kamen America only got popular because of his reaction.
I can name a lot of problems with that, but the main one is the “For Girls” label. I may not be the biggest follower of shojo (girl’s) manga, but one of their appeals is evoking emotions as the hero discovers themselves. Even the late Kentaro Miura was inspired by shojo manga to make grounded stakes in Berserk. The same applies to Young Adult novels where emotional, socioeconomic, and psychological needs are at the core.
Besides long before this tweet, Kamen America was already recognized. Like when she was a mascot for a 2022 Texas comic convention. And not only is Antarctic Press publishing physical copies of this series’ books, the title character crosses over with its other characters like Tomorrow Girl. Plus the two webtoon spin-offs are pretty successful in their own right. This franchise never needed some loudmouth who can’t read the room.
Kamen America: More Than A Reputation
Kamen America is a franchise dedicated to looking beyond the labels. No matter where something starts, putting character over reputation should be what matters most. That’s what creates such memorable moments in your favorite comics, regardless of what people think.
There’s so much to talk about this franchise, I might have to make more posts. Either on here or my Substack.
While you’re at it, mind considering following/backing the second omnibus?
Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.