I sat in on a panel for Latinos in comics and while the panel focused on artists talking about what it was like to work in comics as Latinos, it was taken over midway by the question of a lack of representation that Latino comic fans feel in superhero comics. Sergio Aragones (Creator of Groo the Wanderer and Mad Magazine cartoonist) said that the wide diversity of Latinos all over the world makes this difficult, Latinos in Los Angeles have different problems than Latinos in Mexico City and Latinos in Mexico City have different problems in Bolivia, etc... He went on to talk about the importance of good writing versus just pandering to Latino comic fans. The audience seemed a little disheartened at his answer but I thought it was right on the money.
I want my comic to have a broad appeal not because she happens to be Latino or a girl, but because she is an awesome character with compelling and fun stories that people want to read. More importantly, stories that I want to read and make. The idea that there is a huge desire for superheroes that the Latino population can call their own was exciting for me. I would be an idiot to not bring this up when I pitch my comic but marketing towards a demographic is for the ad-wizards, I want to make awesome comics.
Francisco Herrera and Humberto Ramos (the artist for Spider-Man) both seemed to really like my designs and the overall concept of my comic, but I was also encouraged by the number of others that showed great interest from the audience of the panel. One guy said to me “this is exactly what I am looking for”. He had this look of gratitude and excitement on his face and that inspired me more so than anything else I think. This comic has developed a life of it’s own and it feels now that the story is telling itself.
Anyhow, below is a drawing out of my sketchbook of Carla that I will probably use in some form or another for a cover. I will eventually play around with angles and poses to come up with the most exciting version.
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