One of these days, Saturday Splash Page will actually get to Tim Truman's Scout - some day, maybe - but for today, the other of the 2 mini-series set in the gap between Scout and Scout: War Shaman (the first being Swords of Texas.)
New America follows the rise of Scout's old acquaintance Rosa Winters from soldier, to general, to, at the very end, President of the new United States of America. Each issue centers around a single operation. Most of them are collaborations between the coalition government Rosa's working for and Israel, and serve as sort of window into the state of the world in this timeline. In issue 1, Rosa convinces the priest brother of a dead revolutionary to take up the cause and spur the people of Baja into revolt after the Communist Mexican government agrees to sell the province to Japan in exchange for munitions factories.
In the second issue, Rosa and the Mossad squad wipe out the royal family of the Kingdom of Alaska in such a way that both Russia and Canada (the two larger powers that flank the kingdom and which it uneasily plays) think the other is responsible. The third issue is a rescue mission of the Pope, held captive in Colombia by a drug lord that runs the country.
The course of the story is that Rosa grows hardened against loss or betrayal. Father Galvez is assassinated during a speech in issue 1, but Rosa catches a glimpse of one of the Mossad agents slipping away with a sniper rifle in the chaos. Dead martyrs are easier to control than live ideologues. Rosa has no qualms killing the sniper when the opportunity presents itself during the liquidation of the Alaskan royal family in the second issue, or at killing the rest of the squad at the end of issue 3 to ensure the Pope stays in America's hands rather than Israel's. Earlier in that issue, one of the Israelis had mentioned that Rosa was their friend, but the other squadmembers are their family, as is their country. And so, when she kills them, Rosa explains that her country is her family, and friends come second to that.
Politics may make strange bedfellows, but never one you sleep with your back to, apparently.
This hardening of the soul, the shearing away of compassion or mercy, is mirrored in her external appearance. She loses a hand in the first issue, replaced by a cybernetic one with guns built in. It's those she uses to kill her former friends and allies, the guns responding to her thoughts, something she explained required a lot of practice and control to use properly. Which is true; she doesn't take the hand off while she sleeps, so imagine the potential risk if your head rested on your hand and you had the wrong stray thought?
The final issue begins with her appearing to die, shot down in an ambush brought on by Israel selling her out to President Bill Loper. Because Israel gets the Pope back in exchange, though neither side has any illusions about this being some long-term partnership. Just as Mexico and Japan each thought their arrangement was the key to the eventual conquest of the other. The end result is, Rosa becomes leader of what's left of the opposition, but now both hands are cybernetic, along with one eye and ear.She keeps her face hidden now, behind sunglasses and a bandanna, beret pulled low.
She hires the gun-runners from Swords of Texas to act as a lure for Loper's tank forces, so she can ambush them with what's left of her army. There's no qualms about letting Banner's people sweat for a bit while surrounded by enemy tanks, because it's the best way to make sure the ambush works. And for that battle, Rosa's pilots a specially-modified tank that she can plug her hands into and control with her mind. (The way Kwapisz draws it, she reminds me a little of that member of the X-Men foes the Reavers that has a tank for a lower body.) Loper flees, and Rosa pursues him all the way to his broadcast station, where she murders him in the middle of a televised plea to the nation.
Appeals to the populace are a big part of this mini-series. Galvez is killed during a speech encouraging the workers of Baja to unionize and resist both the Mexican and Japanese governments. The pope brings about his own rescue with a public address, which Mossad makes sure isn't interrupted, that announces he's held prisoner by the drug lord and probably going to be killed. Loper goes for a similar approach, though it feels more like a man on his deathbed, pleading with his Maker. But the Pope and Galvez were true believers in their causes. Loper might be religious, though it feels like the bullshit, mega-church televangelist type, but he just wants to save his own neck.
Issue 2 lacks that angle, but it's also the issue where Rosa spares the youngest daughter of the Alaskan royal family, ultimately adopting and renaming her after the President Rosa served before Loper had her killed. It's the little bit of mercy and kindness she's demonstrates, her one action in the mini-series that isn't motivated by political maneuvering or revenge.
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