Right away you can see that we are going the "For every white racist, there is an equal and opposite nonwhite racist" route. American Eagle tries to explain it to the "famously biased" newspaper columnist that knew him from earlier days.

The next day, while the leader of the Movement is giving an incendiary speech at the Washington Monument, the columnist confronts him, and he freaks out and becomes the Peace Monger.

As they fight and the Peace Monger says obvious racist things like Native Americans should join African Americans in the struggle for equality, the Peace Monger alienates his followers, which reduces his strength.

We end with the message that we ought to cut out all these "movements" and "get things done".

No one will say how things will get done without a movement to push them along.

I understand the impulse behind this kind of story. Tawana Brawley would have been in the news around this time. But it just reeks of concern trolling at best. Gee, we'd like to see more racial equality, but acting like that will never help your case. Maybe just be more civil, wait your turn, and surely things will work out ok.

At a minimum, a theme like this needs a lot more exploration and nuance than 8 pages in Marvel Comics Presents could have given it. There isn't really a strong case for American Eagle (tagline: "the moderate super-hero!") in this story either.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A