Tales from la Vida: A Latinx Comics Anthology

by Frederick Luis Aldama

Overview

In the Latinx comics community, there is much to celebrate today, with more Latinx comic book artists than ever before. The resplendent visual-verbal storyworlds of these artists reach into and radically transform so many visual and storytelling genres. Tales from la Vida celebrates this space by bringing together more than eighty contributions by extraordinary Latinx creators. Their short visual-verbal narratives spring from autobiographical experience as situated within the language, culture, and history that inform Latinx identity and life. Tales from la Vida showcases the huge variety of styles and worldviews of today’s Latinx comic book and visual creators. 

Whether it’s detailing the complexities of growing up—mono- or multilingual, bicultural, straight, queer, or feminist Latinx—or focusing on aspects of pop culture, these graphic vignettes demonstrate the expansive complexity of Latinx identities. Taken individually and together, these creators—including such legendary artists as Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, Roberta Gregory, and Kat Fajardo, to name a few—and their works show the world that when it comes to Latinx comics, there are no limits to matters of content and form. As we travel from one story to the next and experience the unique ways that each creator chooses to craft his or her story, our hearts and minds wake to the complex ways that Latinxs live within and actively transform the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814254936
Publisher:	Ohio State University Press
Publication date:	09/14/2018
Series:	Latinographix
Edition description:	1
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	553,934
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	11 - 17 Years

About the Author

Frederick Luis Aldama is the author, coauthor, and editor of over thirty books, including recently Long Stories Cut Short: Fictions from the Borderlands and Latinx Superheroes in Mainstream Comics. He is Arts & Humanities Distinguished Professor, University Distinguished Scholar, and Director of the award-winning LASER (Latinx Space for Enrichment & Research) at The Ohio State University.

Editorial Reviews

07/30/2018
The 70 stories in this heartfelt but uneven comics anthology explore the myriad ways of identifying with Latin-American heritage. The pieces often take the repetitive form of two-page personal reflections, almost like a collection of college admission essay outlines. The resulting staccato reading experience and lack of a sustained narrative offer the reader too many moments to bow out. Novices’ relatively unpolished work appears alongside that of masters of the form such as Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez (who contribute previously published work). The standout stories liberally interpret the theme with more developed narratives. “California Girl” by Roberta Gregory gives a rich picture of a diverse neighborhood in mid-century Southern California. “A Nomad’s Heart” by Zeke Peña is a powerful one-page encapsulation of growing up Latin while feeling the weighty history of heritage. But the admirable effort doesn’t make up for the editorial problems, and readers keen to learn more about the experiences of Latin Americans will be disappointed with the lack of depth. (Final book will be published in color; finished black-and-white art reviewed by PW.) (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

The auspicious result features a manifold cast from the most established to as-yet-unproven discoveries, each working in varied styles, methods, lengths. . . . As testimony and magnification of the multitudinous Latinx experience, La Vida bursts forth con fuerte.” —Booklist

 


“These are all our stories. Every single one. We have dealt with all these issues at some point or another because we are Latinx. We are descendants of the indigenous peoples of the Americas—mixed, colonized, and gentrified with foreign blood and ideas. We are who we are now because of the past 500 years of key moments. Because of this we need to hold on to and uplift collections like Tales. They are crucial to propagating our stories and our lives.” —Christopher C. Hernandez, Latinx Spaces
 


 “These stories represent the independent voice for Latinxs in comics today and Professor Aldama is the ‘cerebro’ that had the vision to pull them all together.” —Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, La Borinqueña


“This is comic book storytelling at its best. These deftly constructed stories shake us to our core selves, waking us and the world to the sweeping spectrum of Latinx identities and experiences. Mind blowing!” —Keith Knight, The Knight Life and K Chronicles
 


 “You want cutting edge? Tales from la Vida showcases the best of the best. This bounty of Latinx talent opens eyes and hearts to the extraordinary possibilities of comic book storytelling!” —Jeff Smith, Bone

 


“Tales from la Vida gives me vida! The sheer volume of testimonies bearing witness to the depth and complexities of being Brown and Latinx, of being an interesting sentient being, of being a vato/a nerd, of being a wordsmith and visual creative—and the broad range of intelligence and artistry displayed in these biting comics is mind-bogglingly astonishing, and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with any seminal, canonical anthology of American poetry or prose. We are gifted here with double-barreled throwdowns of resistance, rebellion, and love from some of the most genius Latinx (and American!) comics creators in the land—all mitigated by the judicious and generous inimitable scholar-artist himself, the Good Doctor, Frederick Luis Aldama! Vaya!!!” —Tony Medina, I Am Alfonso Jones


 “The best collection of Latinxdad—humor, pathos, politics, and DESMADRE—since the empanada.” —Gustavo Arellano, Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America

“An eclectic and artistically stunning collection of work overflowing with emotional resonance and cultural reverence, Tales from la Vida is a gift to cherish.” —David Walker, Luke Cage and Bitter Root

From the Publisher