The seventh annual Texas Latino Comic Con is coming to the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas next month.
The event highlights independent Hispanic comic book creators, along with artists from Marvel, DC, and other well known companies.
The convention’s co-founder Hector Rodriguez said the idea came from his fellow comic creators Ricardo Padilla and Javier Hernandez.
“I'm like, ‘Javi, it would be a great idea if the show came to Texas because there's a lot of great need, there's a lot of great talent,’” Rodriguez said. “And he tells me, ‘Well, Hector, just start your own. Don't wait for me.’”
Rodriguez said he started the event to provide new representation to the Texas comic book community.
“Texas being Mexican American, being Tejano, Chicano, that is rooted in a lot of deep history for hundreds and hundreds of years in Texas,” he said. “And so, we want to bring that to light with Texas Latino Comic-Con as well. Making sure that voices within Texas are uplifted, those Latino voices.”
This year’s theme is “Lucha Libre” and will feature three wrestling matches over the course of the event.
Benjamin Espino, assistant director of the Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, said the event is a great inspiration for Latinx youth.
“For me, I really think that this is really important because it shows our Latino youth that there are opportunities for them to become comic book artists or graphic designers,” Espino said. “Because it’s not every day that you think about Latinos in comic books. You know, you look at the Marvel Universe before they diversified and it was very much, you know, white and men.”
The free event is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, at the Latino Cultural Center.
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