FIRST ANNUAL LATINO COMICS EXPO

Cinco de Mayo always brings many tasty treats and ethnic delights to the San Francisco Bay Area. In celebration of the season, the Cartoon Art Museum presents the First Annual Latino Comics Expo on Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8, 2011.

The Latino Comics Expo is an event celebrating the influence of Latino culture on the comic book arts. The event founders are longtime Bay Area arts patron Ricardo Padilla and cartoonist/publisher Javier Hernandez.

Attending creators include Michael Aushenker, EL GATO, CRIME MANGLER; Hector Cantu, writer of the BALDO newspaper strip; Jose Cabrera, CRYING MACHO MAN; Jaime Crespo, TORTILLA; Javier Hernandez, EL MUERTO; Rafael Navarro, SONAMBULO; Anthony Oporeza, AMIGOMAN; Grasiela Rodriguez, LUNATIC FRINGE; Carlos Saldaña, BURRITO; and others to be announced. Museum patrons will have the opportunity to meet these artists, purchase books, get original sketches and participate in workshops and special presentations throughout the weekend.
Highlighting the Expo will be a rare convention appearance by Mario Hernandez, who launched the legendary LOVE AND ROCKETS comic book series back in 1982 , along with his brothers Jaime and Gilbert. Mario will be conducting a reading and signing. An exhibition celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of LOVE AND ROCKETS is scheduled to launch at the Cartoon Art Museum in 2012.

“We’re honored that Ricardo and Javier approached us to host this historic event,” said Cartoon Art Museum Curator Andrew Farago. “They’re bringing a lot of knowledge and a lot of enthusiasm to the Expo, and I’m looking forward to working with such a talented group of creators. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Ricardo’s already started planning for the Second Annual Latino Comics Expo.”