As New York Comic Con slowly reveals information on this year’s event – like what Marvel actors we hope to catch a glimpse of at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center – John Leguizamo dropped his own mind-blowing news: During this year’s NYCC, he will debut his first comic book.
On Monday night, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez – who created the inspirational Afro-Latina superheroine, La Borinqueña – revealed a little bit more information in a tweet. “So, me and @JohnLeguizamo are debuting his 1st comic book @NY_Comic_Con that I edited and produced! More details coming soon!”
We reached out to Miranda-Rodriguez – who couldn’t spill the beans on what exactly this project entails – to learn how the collaboration came to be. A few years ago, Edgardo met John at NYCC. “He was excited to meet a Latino in comics,” Miranda-Rodriguez tells me. “He said to me, ‘¿Tú eres Latino?’ To that I replied, ‘Sí, yo soy Boricua.’ Then, we exchanged numbers. He then texted me soon after asking me if I knew anyone that could help him make a comic book. I responded, ‘ME!’”
And just like that the two began working together. Edgardo put together a team comprised of Chris Sotomayor, Chris Batista, Gustavo Vazquez, and Sabrina Cintron. The comic book is based on a script he wrote, and is produced by Edgardo’s Somos Arte studio.
Given that both men often use their art to uplift the voices of our community, we hoped this comic book would center Latino stories. Thankfully, Edgardo was able to confirm as much to us. “[It’s] very much that,” he says. “John’s art has always celebrated and advocated for our narrative. Our stories. As an established and outspoken activist, he still sees the power to produce. Given the accessibility that comic books have, his story translates beautifully to the sequential art.”
The comic book may be John’s first, but it’s not his first foray into this form of storytelling. Back in 2015, he released a graphic novel based off of his autobiographical show, Ghetto Klown.