A 'Marvel's Voices: Comunidades' Conversation with Writer Terry Blas

On December 8, Marvel dives into Latinx heroes past and present in the upcoming MARVEL'S VOICES: COMUNIDADES #1! 

This issue features Miles Morales, America Chavez, Ghost Rider, White Tiger, Reptil, and many more. In spirit of the themed issue, Eisner Award winning comics scholar and director of the Latinx Pop Lab at UT Austin, Dr. Frederick Luis Aldama, states how “these and other of Marvel’s resplendent stable of Super Hero protagonists and their storyworlds have become the foundation, walls, doors, and windows that we Latinxs have used to make home and community.”

Be on the lookout for COMUNIDADES along with its covers, including the one above by Joe Quesada. In the flurry of Marvel’s announcement and in conjunction with Latinx Spaces, we were able to catch up with some of the contributors, comics creators, and scholars on the recent news of MARVEL'S VOICES: COMUNIDADES. Next up...

Writer of REPTIL and the "Just as Strange as You" story in COMUNIDADES, Terry Blas!

What do you find most exciting about MARVEL'S VOICES: COMUNIDADES?

It excites me that the Latinx community, which is the largest ethnic minority group in the country, is being acknowledged in this way. Marvel has some great and popular characters who are Latinx like Miles Morales, America Chavez, Reptil, Ghost Rider, Nova, and many many more. I hope we get to see a variety of these characters represented. 

How do you see Marvel's move to create the VOICES comics series and specifically the publication of COMUNIDADES?

COMUNIDADES needed to happen, right? It seemed like the next logical step. The Latinx community number 50 million+ in the United States. That's a lot of people and a lot of comic book readers. Not to mention a lot of awesome writers and artists who can contribute to making an incredible book.

Might this kind of megawatt publication impact positively representation of Latinx in comics and the media generally?

I hope so. When books are supported and purchased and talked about, it shows the people behind them that the audience for them really is out there and then they tend to make more. 

What would you like to see more of in Super Hero comics today?

I'd love to see a series that really revels in its Latinidad. I tried to do that a bit in REPTIL, but there can always be more. I hope for stories and series that feel as important for the Latinx community as Black Panther and Shang-Chi are for the communities they represent. 

Read MARVEL'S VOICES: COMUNIDADES #1 at your local comic shop on December 8!