New name. New logo. New designs. It is essential to have all of these for three reasons: reflect my identity as a writer, make my brand more recognizable for new readers, and most important, because it looks cool.
In that sense, I wanted to tell you how I got to the name, and of course, we will talk about some comics.
The Big Leagues
First, when talking about comics, I stand for three pillars:
Comics are for everyone.
As a community, we should focus on creators as much as we focus on characters and stories.
Representation is key.
Therefore I want the name of this Substack to reflect these. I was playing with words such as passion and desire, but I couldn’t find a name I liked. Instead, I took the second pillar and focused on myself. How do I perceive myself?
In the comics world, I think of myself as the rookie. A newcomer, working to make it big in the scene. I have a couple of barriers to overcome: linguistic, physical, and cultural. The first one is difficult because of the speaking part. Having conversations in a foreign language while being an introvert is hard. Luckily, practice makes perfect, and I'm trying to have more and more interactions in English to improve my ability to express my ideas.
The other two barriers are harder to overcome. The second one refers to my inability to live and work abroad. One piece of advice I heard for getting into comics is to apply for an internship at Marvel or DC and move from there, which is impossible for me in the near future. Again, using tools such as this page, I’m trying to prove that I can tell compelling stories, which (I hope) will serve as experience and reference for getting more opportunities in writing and contribute to getting comics to a bigger audience.
The third barrier goes deep into our society as a whole. Cultural differences exist and are good, but the mainstream comic book industry is closely related to the American culture. Especially since the Big Two are located in the US. As someone who didn’t grow up in the States, something so simple like I didn’t read comics as a kid differentiates me from many top writers. I’m not able to say I read certain characters when I was young, and I’m dying to tell the story I created for them long ago because I didn’t have these experiences in my life. Although, as a Latino, I’ve had many others. Some were great, some not so great. But overall different from the ones the readers are used to seeing on the page.
Initially, I was talking about barriers, but in reality, these are my greatest advantage. I can tell unique tales from another perspective and vision of the world and society. Therefore, mixing all these elements, I see myself as a disruptive force that could do its bit to contribute to the growth of the comic book industry and community towards a new, exciting direction.
The Raptor
The Raptor is a reference to the Toronto Raptors in 2019. This team reached the finals of the NBA for the first time in their history to face and beat the Two Time Champions, catching the world by surprise. This achievement resembles what I'm trying to accomplish: be a positive, powerful, and unexpected change to the comics community.
You must be thinking: oh, I didn’t know you liked basketball. To which I would answer: I don’t. But I like rap battles. And in the 2019 Finals of the Spanish Freestyle Master Series, we got the story of the Rookie of the Year facing the Two Time Champion. The Rookie wore a Raptors T-Shirt to manifest that he was like the Raptors, coming out of nowhere to take the championship. Although he lost the final, this message stayed with me.
The Raptor is also a return to my roots because I was one of those kids that liked dinosaurs a lot. In that sense, it seemed fitting to use an element of my childhood in a project that means a lot to me. It is a way to connect myself to my younger self and a fun easter egg.
The result, my Substack is now: A Raptor in the Big Leagues.
And because I’ve talked about dinosaurs, representation, and great stories, I wanted to discuss Reptil: Brink of Extinction (2021)!
Did you know there is a Marvel superhero that can turn into any dinosaur? Like Beast Boy but instead of lame animals, awesome dinosaurs! He got his own miniseries last year, by creative team: Terry Blas (Writer), Enid Balám (Penciller), Victor Olazaba (Inker), Carlos Lopez (Colorist) and VC’s Joe Sabino (Letterer). And the best part, he is Latino!
Humberto “Beto” Lopez is a teenager able to turn into any dinosaur. He began his journey as a hero when the Fifty State Initiative recruited him. The what now? After the superhero Civil War, it was an effort to assemble a superhero team for each state under the training and supervision of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the government. Later, he was asked to join Avengers Academy, a team trained by the Avengers! From there, Reptil has been a hero and a menace. A mentor and prospective villain.
Recently, in the wake of a law that prohibits teenagers to use their powers - unless registered and approved by an adult - Reptil has become an outlaw. But he wants to put all of it behind him and focus on his family. His grandpa, the man who raised him, is sick and needs him.
Reptil: Brink of Extinction (2021) will take Beto on a journey of self-discovery, in which, while investigating what happened with his missing parents, he will discover the true meaning of family. Also, he will explore his powers and their origin. In the end, he needs to face his biggest challenge ever, from which we will emerge a better person and hero, or face extinction!
This book is a satisfying combination of fun and heart, especially from a Latino point of view. The fun is secured when you have heroes, dinosaurs, powers, and magic. The villain is perfect and serves as a counterpart to Beto. The action sequences are beautiful. You can even learn a thing or two about dinosaurs. And it is only four issues long, so the story is fast-paced and gets to the point.
But sometimes, with all the superhero and supernatural stuff happening, you can get lost and forget that what sets apart a good story from an excellent one is the impact on the reader. This story touches upon many sensitive subjects such as family dynamics, machismo, coming out, and mental health. The book acknowledges that these themes are hard to talk about for Latinos. My favorite quote from this book is:
I know right? Latinos admitting we need therapy? Crazy. But you know what? It helped.
This quote is so powerful because it is so accurate. And seeing these kinds of conversations in a Marvel comic book feels like a step in the right direction. We see the same accuracy with the relationship between Beto and his cousins. Although the extended family is not a Latino exclusive concept, there is a tendency among Latinos to have a close relationship with cousins, aunts, and uncles.
Overall, this was a short and sweet read that mixes two of my favorite elements: dinosaurs and correct representation. Go pick it up!
Look at that beautiful banner! I hope you like it. And I hope you also enjoyed this post. If so, please consider subscribing to my newsletter to receive interesting comic-related content. I will continue to talk about great books and creators and hopefully get to talk to some of them soon (fingers crossed!).
In the meantime, stay awesome and go read something!