The Superheroism of Hope: The Jack Kirby Heroes & Humanity Retrospective Exhibition Arrives at the Skirball Cultural Center

Text on a museum wall from the Jack Kirby exhibit reads I feel my characters are valid, my characters are people, my characters have hope. Hope is the thing that'll take us through.

Jack Kirby needed to make a statement; a loud one clear in its message and intention.

22,000 people had rallied at Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939 at what became the largest gathering of Nazis in the USA. One block away at Fleischer Studios, Kirby, born Jacob Kurtzberg to Austrian-born Jewish immigrants, partnered with fellow Jewish-American Joe Simon to respond to the growing anti-Semitic and fascist menace at home. Their response arrived on December 1940 with the publication of Captain America Comics, featuring the titular star-spangled superhero making his debut by cracking Adolf Hitler’s jaw with a flying haymaker.

A copy of the original and iconic comic book sits behind a protective case inside the Skirball Cultural Center as part of the Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity exhibit, currently on display through 2026.

The exhibit treats visitors through a walking tour of Kirby’s life and work, from his upbringing in Manhattan’s Lower East Side to his artistic career in New York and California as a comics artist/writer, ending with a reflection on his continuing influence on millions worldwide more than three decades after his death.

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LA Comic Con 2023: Conversations With Indie Creators

My latest story is a fun one for LA Taco. I spent two of the three scheduled days at LA Comic Con! I spoke with over a half-dozen creators (writers, artists and publishers) about their craft and received some insights into the behind-the-scenes world of the comics industry.

An excerpt:

When did you start working on your own comics?

“Far too late! I wish I had gotten to it earlier, but just in the past year, I started writing my own comics. I started with ‘Werewolf Frankenstein,’ which is my ode to Universal monsters and matching them up in interesting ways. So, you take Frankenstein, and he gets into a fight with the Wolfman. Why can’t he now also have werewolf-ism, piece by piece, because he’s made up of all these different body parts? It’s slowly going from body part to body part, and eventually, it’ll get to his brain, and he’ll become a full werewolf, which he doesn’t want. So he’s running around going to different doctors and forcing them to operate on him and figure out ways to beat the werewolf-ism.”
Chris Robinson, creator of Werewolf Frankenstein.

Read it in full at: https://lataco.com/la-comic-con-2023-recap

Now at A.Frame

I picked up a new gig as a contributor/freelance writer at A.Frame, the official digital magazine of the Academy of Motion Pictures & Sciences.

I currently have two stories on the site: the first is a Q&A with director Aitch Alberto about their debut feature film Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, an adaptation of a successful young adult novel of the same name.

My goal was to approach this with a really gentle, sensitive, empathetic lens, which we don’t often see when it comes to stories about Latinos. I really wanted to make an elevated YA novel that had something universal. It’s so easy to distill it to one aspect of identity, but I really wanted to explore how all the things around identity inform how you exist in the world.

Full story/interview here: https://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/aristotle-and-dante-director-aitch-alberto-interview

My other story is also a Q&A, but with director Alejandra Márquez Abella and astronaut José Hernández about the biographical film of Hernández’ life, A Million Miles Away.

I wanted to focus on the community being pivotal to the fulfilling of any endeavor. That was one of the things that mattered the most to me, because I think that’s a very Hispanic, Latino trait. We are used to working in communal efforts and, to me, this was a big part of Jose’s story — not only his family supporting him but also his partner. So, that was a very important thing. Success is not a thing that an individual can achieve by himself or herself. I think you need the whole bunch to be to be enabled to do whatever… The challenge was to fit a 50-year story into a two-hour film.

Full story/interview here: https://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/a-million-miles-away-alejandra-marquez-jose-hernandez-interview

Haiku Collection #1 – #7

Here are seven haikus I wrote. I wrote the first three during the pandemic in 2020. The rest are more recent, spread out over the years since 2021.

I learned about haikus years ago in…elementary school (?) but did not learn how to truly appreciate the process of writing one until I took a course in Philosophy at San Diego State University. I am thankful for the tutelage of Prof. Wawrytko in Non-Western Aesthetics. I have found that the creative process of writing a haiku, for me, is a type of meditation that calms and heals me.

Haiku #1

Waves attack the shore
The next morning’s sun will also
Shine on the same sand

Haiku #2

She rests while I write
A moment shared like flowers
Sharing the sunshine

Haiku #3

A photograph
The memory of kindness
Remains eternal

Haiku #4

Serenity floats
as a miniature blue dam
What are emotions?

Haiku #5

A life unchosen,

possibilities deterred;

Alive in my dreams

Haiku #6

Titan of knowledge

Pages become memories

I am a master

Haiku #7

A universe died.

Implosion; A Silent Scream.

Can stars be reborn?

La Chilanga Banda En Los Ángeles

Café Tacvba arrived to town this past weekend and it was one of the best concert performances I’ve seen in my entire life. I wrote a short recap of the night for LA Taco.

Here’s an excerpt:

After eight songs, all classics re-envisioned for acoustic performance, Jerzaín Vargas (trumpet) and a brass band joined them on stage for a trio of songs, starting with “La Muerte Chiquita.” Gustavo Santaolalla also made an appearance to play a charango during “Olita de Altamar.” The gasps and applause that emanated from the audience when the stage lights revealed his face would have one believe that royalty had mysteriously coagulated from mist.

Read it in full here: https://www.lataco.com/cafe-tacvba-la-phil/

Moon shot, 2021

Republic Of Lucha A Haven For Lucha Libre Fanatics

My latest story for KCET is now available for reading: Republic of Lucha Provides a Haven for Lucha Libre Culture in L.A.

EXCERPT:

“Lucha libre is something very dear and personal to all Mexicans,” continues Arau. “All of my work, be it music, animation, film or art, is about popular Mexican culture and lucha libre is one of the most visible things there is. Compare that with the culture here, the gringo culture, where a mask is usually something associated with terrorism, with sadomasochism. There’s no tradition behind it whereas in all of Mexico, the Indigenous communities use masks, all of the fiestas in every state utilize masks, there are museums dedicated to masks made of different materials. For us, masks are something very natural.”

The space features a store that sells custom lucha libre merchandise including apparel such as shirts, hats and leggings printed in-house at the Republic of Lucha Print Shop. There are small baskets filled with plastic-mold action figures of masked wrestlers. Two large, glass cases contain mannequin heads adorned with various wrestling masks worn in official matches by wrestlers such as Fenix, Penta, Psycho Clown, Tinieblas Jr., and others, all for sale. They also host the Lucha Movie Club most Saturdays each month when the rooftop is converted into an outdoor movie theater to screen classic lucha libre films, such as the ones featuring El Santo and Blue Demon, and more.

LINK: https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/republic-of-lucha-provides-a-haven-for-lucha-libre-culture-in-l-a

Life As Undocuqueer

My latest piece for KCET Artbound is my interview with artist/activist Julio Salgado. His work took off nearly a decade ago when he created his series of portraits of queer, undocumented activists titled “Undocuqueer.”

An excerpt:

The purpose behind the series is to remind people that the bulk of the work in pushing the national conversation on immigrants’ rights, in planning and executing protests and all the other unglamorous, behind-the-scenes work was done by UndocuQueers. It’s also to expand the conversation behind the perceptions of who these immigrants affected by these laws and policies are.

On multiple occasions, Salgado has had to educate numerous people about the diversity of people who identify/are labeled as undocumented. In one such instance, he and others traveled by bus from California to Washington D.C. for a massive march on the capitol.

“A lot of them were faith-based groups,” recalls Salgado. “There were some immigrants who were very homophobic that would say homophobic things and, like, how do you navigate those spaces? You have to educate people, which I don’t have a problem with that. Working in kitchens with a lot of immigrant men and their machismo, you learn how to use humor.”

“That’s why I started making those pieces,” he continues. “It was for our communities to understand that if we’re talking about accepting people or creating policy that doesn’t criminalize us, we can think about other folks who are also part of our communities.”

Read the full story here: https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/julio-salgado-undocuqueer-immigrant-artist

Artist’s Community Orchestra Project Needs No Experience, Camera or Mic to Make Calming Melodies

I have a new article up at KCET about a collaborative music project that I also partook in. The project by Joshua-Michéle Ross is titled The Adjacent Possible: An Evolving Communal Orchestra and is a collaborative work of art between anonymous collaborators that, as I explain in the story, is an “experience [that] feels like equal doses of guided meditation, creative collaboration and a space for introspection and relaxation.”

From my article:

The project’s name comes from the work of Stuart Kauffman, a doctor, theoretical biologist and complex systems researcher, who coined the phrase “adjacent possible” in 2002. His theory is based on his work in biological evolution and is concerned with how organisms and biological systems, which he also refers to as “autonomous agents,” evolve into larger, more complex systems/organisms by seeking out numerous possibilities within their environment. His theory has been adapted in other fields, including the arts.

For Ross, the theory describes “how human beings, as parts of a very creative universe, are always pushing at the boundaries of what’s possible and how the aggregate choices that we make from that creates the kind of world we live in. It’s kind of how the future gets made and the idea of how the small choices that we make and bring to things, despite constraints, how those choices add up the reality we live in.”

Ross brings this theory to life through a communal orchestra. Up to 20 people gather to perform at each event. Ross serves as the event guide and conductor, speaking slowly, softly and deliberately as he shifts everyone away from the Zoom call where everyone first gathers and onto a website designed specifically for the experience.

Vaudeville, Folklorico, and Mexican Cinema

I have three stories published on KCET this week!

The first is about the Hola Mexico Film Festival. 2020 marks its 12th year and founder Samuel Douek had to make numerous changes to move the festival to an online format.

Read about it here: https://www.kcet.org/shows/southland-sessions/the-hola-mexico-film-festival-moves-online

Next is my conversation with Adriana Astorga-Gainey and Jesenia Gardea of the Pacifico Dance Company. The Los Angeles-based non-profit company takes a serious approach to folklorico dance that centers on training professional dancers.

Read it here: https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/pacifico-dance-company-sharing-the-love-of-traditional-mexican-dance-around-the-world

Finally, my favorite of the three: I delve into the history of Hispanic/Spanish-language vaudeville in Los Angeles.

Read all about it here: https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/broadsides-reveal-las-once-booming-hispanic-vaudeville-scene