Aztec of the City Press Release

‎''Since writing Your Brain on Latino Comics in 2008, I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of more of Fernando Rodriguez’s trademark incredibly immersive and culturally aware comic book series, Aztec of the City--a series he inaugurated in 1993. He’s done it again, bringing his influences from the Avengers to the X-Men to pre-Columbian history into the making of the kinetic, modern-day Cuauhtémoc incarnation in ex-boxer, construction worker Tony Avalos as Aztec of the City. He fights all variety of evil-doers, including street thugs, high-tech gunslingers, and la llorona. Rodriguez continues to thrill and educate his readers with his volume 3, issue 1 of Aztec of the City, introducing the cousin of Avalos, Tony Torres as the Super Chicano. Rodriguez’s sharp writing and artist and collaborator Ernie Polo’s crafted images create a compelling visual rhythm and allow us to move through layers of historical time--the conquest, death of Moctezuma, and then reign of Cuauhtemoc, for instance--as well as learn about today’s struggles of Latinos in the U.S.: struggles for employment and keeping the familia intact. I couldn’t put it down. Bravo, Fernando. You’ve done it again.''

Dr. Frederick Luis Aldama, Your Brain on Latino Comics

http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/aldyou.html

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

http://www.sjpl.org/ebookclub/2012-06

 

 

   San Jose's very own comic book writer, publisher, & creator, Fernando Rodriguez returns after a 6 year absence, featuring the new volume 3 version of Aztec of the City, which made it's first appearance on Cinco de Mayo, 1993 under the self-publishing imprint of El Salto Comics. In the premier issue, the Aztec of the City's alter ego Tony Avalos was a mild-mannered, hard working construction worker and the Aztec was flying around fighting bad guys, while the newest version, now presents young Avalos as a 19 year old college freshman and the Aztec hero no longer flying about like Superman, but continuing the brown crusade against crime as the unprecedented Aztec warrior supreme.
    Says Rodriguez: "I'm extremely honored and humbled to have been invited to participate in the library's book of the month club. It's been a very eclectic and ardeous journey in getting this new Aztec of the City back into the comic book industry and local market. The book, its heroes and characters, have all undergone extreme changes in what is now a college-level reading series dedicated to Mexican-American, Chicano, Latino super heroes in a world where they haven't existed before."
   "The stories convey and pass along a culture of the many generations of Mexican-Americans who are now an integral part of the American fabric. Response to the new volume 3 version of the Aztec of the City comic book has been outstanding  and we anticipate an even greater legion of comic book fans and followers as we work hard to prepare and present the continuing saga of the two Hispanic cousins who become Chicano super heroes in Aztec of the City # 2."
   "Artist Ernie Polo of Mountain View, CA has done a tremendous job on both the new cover and story. Aztec of the City is now a college level reading story whose focus is to share with everyone the culture and histories of the Mexican-American heroes they depict. We also introduce in this new comic book version, the story of the Super Chicano. A struggling out of work Latino who dons the Mexican flag as a cape in his crime-fighting adventures.''

KKUP 91.5 RADIO Interview   http://www.siliconvalleydebug.org/articles/2012/02/10/aztec-city#.Tza-idC2DBA.facebook

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

  "You'd be hard-pressed to find someone as passionate about storytelling as Fernando Rodriguez. His love of history, mythology and comic book lore blend together in a way that not only entertains, but educates the reader. I've had the good fortune of having enjoyed the Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages of comic books. Now, with Fernando's Aztec of the City, I have the privilege to experience the beginnings of what I like to call, the 'Latino Age of Comics'."
 ~ Lee Villatoro