Empowering Education: Exploring Hispanic/Latinx Representation in Comics

Unfortunately, all too often in media, books, and pop culture, there is representation solely for the sake of adding diversity. This creates tokenism and usually results in disappointing characters whose backgrounds may have some claim to certain cultures and ethnicities, but whose actions and identities do not actually represent the culture they are meant to embody.

Our children, students, and impressionable readers deserve true representation. Therefore, the right kind of portrayal—the kind that allows them to identify familiarity and create connections to the characters on the page—is of paramount importance.

Let’s Clarify Some Terms

“Hispanic” refers to those who descend from a country that is primarily Spanish-speaking, while “Latinx” refers to those who descend from countries in Latin America (whether or not these countries speak Spanish). Due to colonization and influences from European countries, such as Spain and Portugal, a person can be Hispanic or Latinx or both. We should also note that these are ethnicities, relating to culture and ancestry, not necessarily the arbitrariness of race.

Some Comics to Explore

Since kids love to read comic books and graphic novels, here are a few examples that have deeply resonated with my students:

1. The Miles Morales Series
(By Justin A. Reynolds, illustrated by Pablo Leon)

Miles Morales (aka. Spider-Man) is the biracial son of an African-American father and Puerto Rican mother. In Miles Morales: Shock Waves, the first graphic novel in the series, it’s clear throughout the story that Miles’ heritage is part of his everyday life, whether this is shown by Miles speaking Spanish to his mother, participating in a fundraiser to benefit Puerto Rico, and so on.

2. The America Chavez: Made in the USA Series
(By Kalinda Vazquez, illustrated by Carlos Gómez)

America Chavez is a superhero from the Utopian Parallel, but upon arriving on Earth, she builds a connection within the Puerto Rican community in the Bronx. Her ability to open portals and transverse the multiverse resonates with the displacement of Hispanic/Latinx people who have been forced to leave their homes and build connections elsewhere, adapting and adopting found families.

The character of America Chavez was originally created by Joe Casey to connect with a wide audience that was not being represented in comics at the time. Throughout the series, author Kalinda Vazquez ensures that the various Hispanic/Latinx neighborhoods of New York and the way they have influenced America Chavez is made evident, while Carlos Gómez’s illustrations accurately represent the people who truly live in these areas.

3. The La Borinqueña Series
(By Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez)

Marisol Rios De La Luz is La Borinqueña, a superhero who acquires her powers while exploring the caves of Puerto Rico. Within these caves she meets Atabex, the Taíno mother goddess, who appears before Marisol and summons her sons, Yúcahu (the spirit of the seas and mountains) and Juracan (the spirit of hurricanes). These spirits grant Marisol superhuman strength, as well as the ability to fly and control storms.

Marisol’s cultural ties are so essential that without her connection to the island, there would be no origin story. Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez created this superhero to promote social and environmental justice, while also celebrating Puerto Rican culture in meaningful ways. His philanthropic work with La Borinqueña has benefited many humanitarian and local non-profit organizations in Puerto Rico.

Possible Student Engagement Activities

In order to help students take ownership of their learning and internalize the impact of reading these comics, it’s important to provide creative opportunities for them to engage with the books. One way to embed learning about cultures and identities could be by allowing students to create a superhero that embodies aspects of their own identities. Alternatively, they could research cultural myths and write a comic based on these stories.

To delve deeper into the characters and cultural representation they are reading about, students could create character maps that include main attributes, explaining how a character’s culture plays a role in their personality and strengths. Or, after coming up with a set of criteria (such as authenticity, significance, and accuracy), students could evaluate the cultural representation within a graphic novel. As a culminating activity, have students go on a gallery walk that allows them to display their findings and showcase how cultural elements are woven into the comics’ storylines and character traits.

All of our students deserve to see themselves represented in the pages of a book, especially in the pages of the comic books they love. By supporting writers/artists of color and voicing our appreciation for diverse characters and storylines that celebrate true details from a multitude of cultures, we will ensure that our children can see themselves saving the world, navigating conflict with superhuman attributes, and embracing their own ethnicities as part of pop culture.