Tomorrow and Sunday the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach hosts the fifth annual Latino Comics Expo.
Featured artists include POCHO contributor Eric J. Garcia, POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz, New York’s Stephanie Rodriguez and more.
Javier Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame, is the ringleader.
As box office figures can attest, comic books are big business, with successful cinematic adaptations proving that superheroes have made the leap from pop cultural niche to mainstream entertainment. Despite their wide appeal, however, comic books, at least the established titles that usually become big screens franchises, are still predominantly filled with white, male characters, especially in leading roles.
A new exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach, “Artists Assemble! Empowerment and Inspiration in Contemporary Comics,” aims to challenge that narrative by focusing on mainly Latino artists who are using the medium to explore cultural and political issues that have meaning for them.
The first mainstream Latino comic superhero was White Tiger — the alter ego of a Puerto Rican character named Hector Ayala — who first appeared in a December 1975 issue of Marvel’s “Deadly Hands of Kung Fu.” Created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist George Pérez, himself of Puerto Rican descent, White Tiger was a product of both the martial arts craze and increasing multicultural awareness of the 1970s. He fought for justice alongside Spider-Man and Daredevil before being gunned down while trying to flee a wrongful murder conviction. (His sister and niece would later pick up his mantle as later incarnations of the White Tiger).
Stromberg’s piece continues here….
Here’s a toon from Garcia:
Stephanie Rodrigue doesn’t want you mujeres to be a pendeja:
Javier Hernandez’s work always stands out:
And then that Lalo dude:
