Hispanic Hertiage Month - Read These
While Hispanic Heritage Month may be over, you can still celebrate and discover some great, lesser known Latino comic book superheroes. Here are three comic books to look into:
Aztek (pictured above)
Written by famed authors Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, JLA Presents: Aztek is the story of Uno. Raised by a secret organization, he is selected to be the champion of Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of light. Bestowed with a magical suit of armor and trained to be at peak human abilities, Uno enters the United States under the alias of physician Curt Falconer.
Aztek comes to adopt Vanity City as his hometown and makes it his mission to uphold justice and serve humanity. Along the way, he meets others superheroes and villains of the DC universe.
Created as a response to the darker comic books of the 90s, this book is accessible to all ages.
Arana
A story of secret societies, assassins, and high school, Arana is the story of Anya Corazon, a half Mexican, half Puerto Rican teenager from Brooklyn who finds herself bestowed with powers by a mystical clan called The Spider Society. Granted a spider-shaped tattoo and subsequently, spider-like powers, Anya decides to become a superhero.
In Heart of the Spider, Anya must fight the Sisterhood of the Wasp, adversaries of The Spider Society, protect her family from assassins, and maintain her secret identity.
In her follow up series, Spider-Girl: Family Values, Anya has taken on the mantle of Spider-girl and is again trying to balance the life of a teenager and a superhero as she deals with new villains and friends.
Blue Beetle
This incarnation of Blue Beetle is not really lesser known, but his books deserve to be read. Seen in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Smallville, and the short lived (and much missed) Young Justice, teenager Jaime Reyes inherited the blue scarab from Ted Kord. With his alien suit of armor, Jaime does his best to protect the world and control his mischievous suit of armor that has grafted onto his spine.
Of note in Blue Beetle: Shellshocked is the Reyes family. Their portrayal shows a dynamic range of positive Latino characters who support Jaime's decision to be a superhero. As this story arose from Infinite Crisis, however, it may be a bit confusing. For those new to the character, check out Blue Beetle: Metamorphosis from DC's New 52 line up.
These are just a few of the Latino characters out there, and we want to know - who's your favorite? Sound off below or on our Facebook page.