For so long, for longer than any metric, the knowledge that legendary comic creator George Perez was Puerto Rican was treated as a kind of strange fact. It speaks to the struggle of expression that Puerto Rican creators have been hampered for decades. There have certainly been progress, but there is still work to do.
Recognition was a battle of Inch that unfolded across multiple fronts, and now has flooded the New York Public Library,¡ Wepa! Puerto Ricans in the world of cartoons curated by librarian Manuel Martinez Nazario. The exhibition is currently on display and will be held until March 8th, 2026.
Martínez Nazario is a retired librarian from San Juan, PR (born in Brooklyn), and coordinated the library loan program at the University of Puerto Rico’s Rio Piedra Campus. Later in his career, he began organizing Feria de Comics de la Universidad de Puerto Rico to highlight local artists and normalize the existence of comic books at the academia. WEPA’s exhibit consists of comics from his thorough and comprehensive Puerto Rican comic collection.
In other words, Manuel Martinez Nazario is an authority on Puerto Rican comics. The exhibition reflects this very well.
Wepa makes a great first impression. The tone is a celebration, filled with colours, and is a carefully selected piece that introduces the scope and versatility of PR comics. Rather than going through the traditional chronological route, the exhibition chooses a theme station. These range from “La Isla” (island) to “Nueva York” (New York) and “Otros Mundos” (other worlds). Each has a small piece that does an amazing job of showing how much Puerto Ricans had to say about each topic.
Of note, the section dedicated to the cartoon made in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, entitled “Weathering María.” It captures the island’s attempts to deal with traumatic experiences that have swayed the country’s identity in an unprecedented way. The creative community is presented as an important part of the group spirit in this respect, and comics as one of the necessary paths to deal with the Puerto Rican experience.
Hurricane Maria has been treated equally among other themes and has as much space as other themes. Still, it’s almost at the tail end of the display, as if to remind guests that Maria marks the end of the era and the beginning of something new in Puerto Rican comics.
Other high points include the presence of George Perez and Ernie Colon in the stories the exhibit tells. Colon, in particular, is on display through some of his DC comic works, building on the story of Puerto Ricans contributing more to mainstream American comics than people think. Edgardo Miranda Rodriguez’s La Bolinqueña also appears in large figures, carrying large illustrations on the walls of selfies and pre-made photographs. This also highlights Diaspora, the island’s colonial past is being reconstructed as a massive universe-wide crossover between different representations of resilient identity in the face of political uncertainty.
But it’s not just celebrities. WEPA is the point to include Puerto Rican creators from all walks, including the works currently under construction. Rosa Colon Guerra, Lence Garcia Colon, Eliana Falcon, John Vazuquez Mezias all have Puerto Rican comics alive, flourished, now flourished, and presently herbivorous interfering suits, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhaled grass after herbivorous interference, and then inhal (Evidence enough to afford it).
It may be wise to include the rise of Bad Bunny and how he reshaped the meaning of being Puerto Rican on a cultural and political level in future versions of the exhibition.
WEPA is a wonderfully complex snapshot of people’s contributions to the media as a whole. It features works that appeared in Big American publishers, but one thing that has been abundantly revealed throughout the exhibition is that Puerto Rican comics are completely unique phenomenon. Despite its political and cultural history, it is not considered merely an extension of American comics. Instead, it’s Cliolo. It is independent. It’s ours. WEPA is an overwhelming statement about it.
Like this:
Like loading…
