{"id":1097,"date":"2017-11-13T23:07:05","date_gmt":"2017-11-13T23:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/arts-culture\/latino-comics-expo-celebrates-artists-writers-and-culture\/"},"modified":"2017-11-13T23:07:05","modified_gmt":"2017-11-13T23:07:05","slug":"latino-comics-expo-celebrates-artists-writers-and-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/latino-comics-expo-celebrates-artists-writers-and-culture","title":{"rendered":"Latino Comics Expo Celebrates Artists, Writers and Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Photos by Angel Carreras.<\/em><\/p>\n

WHAM! BANG! POW! Chingao!<\/p>\n

The Latino Comics Expo returned with thunderous aplomb this past weekend in Long Beach, bringing with it more comics, creators, and fan attendance than the little-convention-that-could has seen in it\u2019s relatively brief existence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta say, this particular year, for me it\u2019s been different,\u201d said Javier Hernandez, cofounder of Latino Comics Expo (LCX), now in its seventh year. \u201cAll I\u2019ve been doing is interviews. It\u2019s been cool, man. From street-level guys like bloggers and the like to El Rey network and Univision, Telemundo tomorrow\u2026 it\u2019s good. The word\u2019s getting out.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the word has indeed gotten out.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s convention managed a melange of artists\u2019 and creators\u2019 tables stretching the seams of MOLAA\u2019s walls, mirroring Hernandez\u2019s interviews, getting first-time creators as well as industry veterans like the legendary Hernandez Brothers (no relation) and filmmaker Alex Rivera.<\/p>\n

So, just how did the word get out? For what some (severely ignorant people) might call a niche convention with limited appeal, perhaps a social media whiz advertised very well? Maybe canvassing neighborhoods, or, who knows, flying a blimp flashing LED lights that reads \u201cLATINO COMICS, PLEASE COME BY!\u201d?<\/p>\n

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For a vast majority of the artists and writers at the Latino Comic Expo, first-hand relationships with Hernandez and LCX cofounder Ricardo Padilla brought them to Long Beach for this convention. The two created the weekend-long event to spotlight Latino artists, writers, and culture, hoping to diversify a rather un-colorful comics industry.<\/p>\n

Hernandez said he and fellow artists\/writers at his expo stand out from mainstream comic publishers due to their counter-programming of sorts. Whereas mainstream companies like DC and Marvel tirelessly attempt to reinvent their characters, Hernandez and company have a fountain of perpetual ideas\u2014their unique upbringing and backgrounds, not beholden to comic book continuity or company mandates.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go to the big shows and yeah, it\u2019s fine,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cBut a specialty show like this, you know what it is going in, the name is pretty simple. If you\u2019re not interested, I guess don\u2019t come. But look at this turnout, look at all these great folks here. Bags full of books, they want to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drawing upon the art of hagiography, Dia de los Muertos\u2019 sugar skull theatricality, and Aztec imagery, writers and artists at the LCX use whatever ethnic threads are unique to them to weave an amalgamation of imagery and storytelling.<\/p>\n

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Writer Eric M. Esquivel at the Latino Comics Expo.<\/em><\/p>\n

One such writer is Eric M. Esquivel. Born in Gurnee, Illinois, Esquivel ended up in Los Angeles due to his love of Hernandez\u2019s comic, El Muerto.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in Tucson, Arizona, just writing bad Batman fan-fiction before I read El Muerto,\u201d Esquivel said, recounting his experience. \u201cIt changed my entire life. It inspired me to write about my own experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representation is central in Esquivel\u2019s work, ranging from the hyper-violent Black Terror (imagine an African American version of The Punisher taking on the KKK and alt-right), to more subtle ways of showing how our differences shouldn\u2019t cause a fissure between people, as shown in his all-ages run in Adventure Time.<\/p>\n

Esquivel notes the difficulties of bringing his culture and experience to the stands, a battleground for diversity in which he has no intention of relenting his fight. Esquivel recounts an experience of a publisher telling him he was \u201ctoo radical\u201d for constantly pitching stories with non-white characters.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMind you, it wasn\u2019t like, MEXICAN GUY, or PUERTO RICAN GAL, it was characters fighting robots and vampires, but they happened to be Latino or Hispanic, and that influences your worldview. Just like Clark Kent being Protestant in the Midwest influences his worldview or Daredevil being Irish-Catholic is very important to Daredevil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Esquivel states that, until recently it\u2019s been a mark against him that he pitches Latino-centric ideas. However, with the help of conventions like LCX, \u201cthere\u2019s whole viable connections\u201d where editors and companies see Latinos supporting each other, enabling them to take more chances on minorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love seeing these types of shows\u2014Latino, Black, Asian, Queer conventions,\u201d Hernandez adds. \u201cPeople think it\u2019s not inclusive or separate, but no, it\u2019s putting a spotlight on these cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Artist Amber Padilla at Latino Comics Expo.<\/em><\/p>\n

Asked if the reception and ever-increasing attendance of creators and fans has surpassed Hernandez\u2019s wildest dreams for the event, Hernandez stated he wants to go bigger. \u201cNot to be greedy, but yeah, I want more. Bigger venue, more people, more artists, more financing\u2014I\u2019d LOVE to get artists from across the world, my big want is George Perez. Sergio Aragones, a lot of people on my wishlist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Events at this year\u2019s expo included screenings, panels, arts and crafts, meet and greets, a food truck, and comic book superfan himself, Mayor Robert Garcia, proclaiming Sunday, November 12th Latino Comics Expo day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Latino Comics Expo returned with thunderous aplomb this past weekend in Long Beach, bringing with it more comics, creators, and fan attendance than the little-convention-that-could has seen in it\u2019s relatively brief existence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":66562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[605],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-latino-comics-expo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1097"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1097"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}