Aztec Zombies, Social Death, and the Graphic Narrative

In “Aztec Zombies, Social Death, and the Graphic Narrative," Kristy Ulibarri discusses how Javier Hernandez’s comic book El Muerto and its film adaptation use the device of death to reimagine Latina/o empowerment and... [ view full abstract ]

In “Aztec Zombies, Social Death, and the Graphic Narrative," Kristy Ulibarri discusses how Javier Hernandez’s comic book El Muerto and its film adaptation use the device of death to reimagine Latina/o empowerment and exploitation. This paper considers how the narrative supernaturally hybridizes Aztec mythos with the colonial remnants of Catholicism to lay out the troubled histories and politics that produce our protagonist Diego, aka El Muerto. Diego becomes a literal pawn in the game of the gods, who control his postmortem actions when he rises again, imbued with the special powers of an epic zombie superhero. While neither the comic nor the film would be considered “canonical” texts, the middlebrow and do-it-yourself (DIY) sensibility of the form(s) complements the narrative about (social) death and Latinas/os since both must navigate the ambivalent spaces in which Latina/o culture resides.

Panel 97