Latino Comics Expo: Javier Hernandez’s ‘El Muerto’ and beyond

voxxiBy Tony Castro, Voxxi

Ever heard of Weapon Tex-Mex, El Muerto, ManSwamp or Dead Dinosaurio?

They are the creations of Javier Hernandez, a Los Angeles comic book artist, one of several dozen who will be at the Latino Comics Expo at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, Calif., August 17-18, 2013.

This is the Latino version of Comic-Con, with its own growing number of fans and Latino creators.

And no Latino comic artist is bigger than expo co-founder Hernandez, whose El Muerto creation was turned into the 2007 live-action film “El Muerto: The Dead One” starring Wilmer Valderrama.

“It was a true once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Hernandez, an associate producer on the film. He knew he had a phenomenon on his hands when he saw a photo online of a teenage Polish girl wearing El Muerto’s face-paint.

“She was a fan of the movie (released on DVD in Poland), and I wrote her a quick note to thank her for being a fan. She responded with a ‘OMG!’ I thought that was pretty cool.

“I always realized that once the movie had its release on DVD, eventually it would just end up in that great whirlpool of non-stop entertainment that plays on all over the world.”

Javier Hernandez debuts his book at Latino Comics Expo

Javier Hernandez, 47, will be one of the stars of the two-day Latino Comics Expo, premiering his new book “Los Comex Codex,” a 138-page collection of five of his out-of-print comics, published under his own imprint Los Comex.

Included will be “Weapon Tex-Mex vs El Muerto,” “The Coma,” “Man-Swamp,” “Dead Dinosaurio” and “A Day at the Beach” from Manga Muerto Volume 1.

“My long-term dream is to start taking these Expos across the country — to NY, Chicago, Texas — and eventually establish a Latino Comics Museum,” says Hernandez.

“You have a lot of Latino Americans working at Marvel Comics, but in the independent circuit, a lot of us will create characters based on our culture.”

And arguably the most famous is “El Muerto,” Hernandez’s prized creation who started out as Diego de la Muerte, a young man who, while headed to a Dia de los Muertos celebration, is abducted and sacrificed by the Aztec gods of death and destiny – but who is sent back to the land of the living a year after his death, with supernatural powers.

Hernandez says the idea for “El Muerto” took shape in the late 1990s.

Latino Comics Expo, Javier Hernandez

Founder of Latino Comics Expo, Javier Hernandez, debuts his comic “The Los Comez Codex.” (Courtesy image)

“I had wanted to do my own comic for awhile — one that involved Aztec mythology and the Mexican Dia de Los Muertos,” he says.

“I focused on the archetype of a cursed hero and eventually spun out the story of Diego de la Muerte and his abduction and transformation at the hands of Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death.”

Referring to Valderrama, Hernandez says, the producers also cast the perfect El Muerto, and he recalls their memorable first meeting.

“I met him actually several months before we started filming,” he says. “I had a gallery showing in West Los Angeles. He came in and had just signed on for the character.

“He came with his girlfriend at the time, Lindsay Lohan. So I’m in the gallery with family and friends. I see him walk in with his girlfriend and think, ‘Oh my God! Wilmer, and Lindsay?’

“So I told my producer to introduce us. I thanked him for jumping on board the project. He said, ‘Yeah. It’s great to be on board.’ He actually bought a couple of my pieces that night.”

Valderrama also didn’t disappoint, either on screen or off.

“During production, I went to his trailer to give him a birthday drawing I had done,” Hernandez recalls. “As I was leaving, he called out to me, ‘Hey, Javier, are you happy with the way I’m playing the character?’

“I assured him that I was. I thought that was a great moment.”

This article was first published in Voxxi.

Tony Castro is the author of the newly-released “The Prince of South Waco: American Dreams and Great Expectations,” as well as of the critically-acclaimed “Chicano Power: The Emergence of Mexican America” and the best-selling “Mickey Mantle: America’s Prodigal Son.

[Courtesy Image]

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