El Muerto: The Aztec Zombie

This article refers to El Muerto the independent comic book. For the film, see: El Muerto (film). For other uses, see: El Muerto (disambiguation)

El Muerto
File:Elmuerto.jpg El Muerto: The Aztec Zombie Art by Javier Hernandez
Publication information
Publisher	Los Comex
First appearance	El Muerto: Numero Uno Edition (1998)
Created by	Javier Hernandez
In-story information
Alter ego	Diego de la Muerte (born Juan Diego de la Muerte)
Species	Human "Zombie"
Notable aliases	Diego Juan Diego (The) Aztec Zombie The Fearless Flatliner Boy Cadaver Dead-Head EMO
Abilities	N/A (supernatural)

El Muerto (also known as El Muerto: The Aztec Zombie) is a fictional superhero created by Javier Hernandez and published by his independent company Los Comex. The comic-book follows the story of 21-year-old Mexican-American Diego de la Muerte, who is abducted and sacrificed by the Aztec gods of death and destiny only to return to earth one year later with supernatural powers.

Fictional Character Biography

Early life

El Muerto was born Juan Diego de la Muerte, and grew up in Whittier, California. His friends simply referred to him by his middle name, Diego.

As a small child, Diego developed a fascination with the holiday of Dia de Los Muertos ("Day of the Dead") after watching a film titled "Los Muertos Tambien Lloran" ("The Dead Also Cry"). The film involved a man who returns from the dead on the holiday to visit his wife. When the clock is just about to turn midnight, the man decides he could no longer bear the pain of leaving his wife again. In an act of desperation, the man kills his wife thinking they can exist together in the afterlife. However, when she dies the man begins to whither away and turn to dust as there is no one living who can keep his memory alive.

About a year after seeing the film, Diego met his best friend, Issac "Zak" Silver. Zak was also a fan of the film and developed a growing interest in the Day of the Dead along with Diego. A secret pact was made between the two and they created an "Afterlife Contract" vowing that whomever should die first will visit the other and in turn the other would keep the visitor's memory alive.

The film also sparked Diego's interest in Mexican art, history, and mythology. He would spend a number of hours at Pre-Columbian museums and exhibits, learning just about everything there is to know about the subject.

When Diego became older, he became an altar boy at his church and held the longest uninterrupted service record at St. Mary's. Despite his beliefs, the study of Aztec mythology often led him to question his own religion. Leading him to wonder what the Aztecs thought when their ancient gods were replaced by the beliefs of the Spaniards. He would avoid the topic by telling himself that "This was just the way things were" and resumed being a "faithful servant".

"Daze of the Dead"

Diego became 21-years-old on November 2nd and wanted to have as much fun as possible- despite the fact his girlfriend of eight months had just broken up with him. Anticipating a local Dia de Los Muertos festival, Diego dons the guise of an undead Mariachi. He also applies the traditional facial markings to give himself a ghoulish look. He even got a tattoo of a calavera skull on his left arm to celebrate the occasion.

File:Emo logo.JPG

Diego's calavera tattoo.

His tattoo was inspired from an Aztec temple bearing the same design. After getting the tattoo, Diego eagerly calls his friends to see if they are to celebrate at the upcoming festival. Unfortunately, his friends were busy on that particular night and had to "flake-out". Zak had become terribly ill but out of friendship lent his car to Diego for the evening.

Undiscouraged, Diego planned to have the best time possible at the festival. Unbeknowest to Diego, the tattoo he marked himself with is actually an ancient Aztec symbol of death. While driving his friend's car to the festival, the vehicle is struck by lightning and crashes into a tree- ending his life on this world.

He soon awakened in Mictlan to meet the Aztec god of death Mictlantecuhtli and the Aztec god of dreams Tezcatlipoca. It was there the god of death sacrificed Diego in an ancient ritual in which his heart was ripped out with an obsidian blade. Mictlantecuhtli then placed the still beating heart in a clay pot and permanently seared Diego's facial markings to his flesh. Soon after his horrific ordeal, Diego is cast back to earth via lightning bolt, exactly one year after his death.

And so Diego de la Muerte was reborn as El Muerto. His costume once intended for fun is now his permanent appearance. Realizing his family and friends have already mourned him, he finally concludes that it is best to leave his hometown and hitches a ride to the Mexican border in search of answers.

Powers/Abilities

As of yet, little has been revealed of Diego's supernatural powers other than he has the ability to give life or take it away. Fans eagerly await the next installment and further issues of the comic to get a better understanding of his true powers.

Notable Friends/Allies

• Maria "Mari" Hermosa- Diego's ex-girlfriend. They dated for 8 months before Maria complained that Diego was taking her for granted and "Not putting anything in our relationship". She is currently seeing an unknown "rich, handsome guy"
• Issac "Zak" Silver- One of Diego's best friends. Lends Diego the car that he ultimately dies in on his way to the Dia de Los Muertos festival. Diego has referred to him as the brother he never had.
• Evan "Easy" Esquerra- comic book illustrator for Back Alley Comics in uptown Whittier, CA. His current work in comics being "Weapon Tex-Mex" (actually the creation of Javier Hernandez) He performs the song "Volver" at "The Cafe Gomez" along with his father.

Creation/Publication History

File:Mariachimuerto.JPG

El Muerto in Mariachi attire.

El Muerto's beginnings occurred sometime in the early 90's and was originally intended to be part of a group of Mexican-American super heroes. Javier Hernandez had described it as something along the lines of a "Latino JLA". It was later that Hernandez scrapped the idea and focused mainly on the character El Muerto.

The strange supernatural powers that he had planned on giving his creation was toned down and his almost feral look became gentler.

One of the most defining points in the creation of El Muerto was when Hernandez was awoken by a nightmare where a ghost was strangling him:

(Taken from "El Muerto on My Mind")

"I was getting the life choked out of me! Attacked in my sleep by this thing, choking the life from me. It's grip on my throat felt like a steel clamp being tightened mercilessly. What really freaked me out was the thing had the exact facial designs as El Muerto! Bone white with blackened eyeballs, black teeth marks and a cross on his forehead...The bed was shaking violently and my last bit of breath was used up, then, it stopped...strangely I didn't feel as if I awoke from the dream, it was more like the thing had suddenly disappeared...I could feel where it's fingers had just been wrapped around my neck."

Dream or not, Hernandez took the event as a sign:

"Whatever happened that night, I later came to my conclusion. If it was a dream, then I had to find an interpretation for it. I took it as a signal, a warning. Something heavy was going on in my life, and something (or someone) was trying to give me a clue...Well, obviously I was telling myself that maybe I had too much on my plate. Or at least to be careful not to choke on it. Eventually, I got everything done that I had to...they say that our dreams come from our subconscious telling us things in our sleep. At least I hope that was my subconscious wringing my neck!"

File:ElMuerto NumeroUno.jpg

The original black/white print of the "Daze of the Dead"

The first question fans often pose to Hernandez is "How did you come up with El Muerto?" On several occasions Javier has made it clear:

"...I wanted to create a comic book character that reflected my cultural background...I mean, if he was French, he would have been proudly called Le Morte!"

El Muerto's first public appearance was in 1998 at the Alternative Press Expo in San Jose, CA. His debut comic was titled "Daze of the Dead: The Numero Uno Edition" and was a in a xeroxed in a black in white format. At the same time, Hernandez brought along his newly printed newsletter "The Border". (He prints one every year or so) He later toured the Numero Uno Edition for a year in places like the Wondercon and San Diego Comic Con.

El Muerto was a success, but the fans became anxious over the year- demanding to know when the next comic was to come out. Javier sated their craving with a short comic strip "Mad Martian Party" featured in his newsletter. He released another comic in his newsletter titled: "You Only Die Twice" featuring the first appearance of "Manga Muerto".

In 2000 he printed Dos Mil a short biographical insight on the creation of El Muerto. Later El Muerto appeared in Super Comics Blast and the new Manga Muerto.

In 2004 El Muerto Mish-Mash featuring the tale "Dead Forever", continuing where the first comic left off and giving the reader an insight in Diego's thought process knowing that he is now dead. Mish-Mash also includes several reprinted comic strips and stories from the Muerto Universe.

Currently, Javier is finishing the official sequel, "Dead & Confused" in which Diego's supernatural abilities will finally be revealed.

In Other Media

Live Action Film

File:Elmuertomovieposter.jpg

El Muerto as portrayed by Wilmer Valderrama.

original article: El Muerto (film)

El Muerto is soon to be a live-action movie starring Wilmer Valderrama as Diego/El Muerto. Also cast in the film are such seasoned performers as Maria Conchita Alonso, Billy Drago, Tony Plana, Michael Parks.

Trivia

• The official slogan for the comic is "Look up, look out, look alive!"
• Muertolandia is the term for El Muerto's fictional universe.
• Fans of the comic are often referred to as "Muertitos y Muertitas"
• Mictlantecuhtli is referred to as "Mick" or "Chuckles" outside of the comics to simplify the difficult pronounciation of his name
• The original scanned preview edition of El Muerto comes with a short story of "Weapon Tex Mex" a direct spoof of Marvel's Weapon X
• People often mistranslate "El Muerto" as "The Dead" instead of "The Dead One" or "The Dead Guy"
• Those who are unfamiliar with the comic wrongly criticize that the main character's guise too closely resembles that of The Crow (Mostly due to online film announcements). The similarity was noted in an interview:

"Yeah, they’re both dead. A lot of dead guys in comics. The Spectre. The Spirit. Anyway, visually it’s got the white face and the black suit. But if you look at the Day of the Dead folklore, people paint the skull-face on them[selves], and then the black Mariachi was just a stylish element."

And further noted in an interview at JoBlo.com:

"Well, I've heard initial Crow comparisons online, and I can understand that based on a visual basis. But our story, drawing from Mexican folklore and Aztec mythology, is about a guy getting abducted by the gods of death and destiny, and fighting against their will. And his look is inspired directly from the Dia de los Muertos celebrations."

External links

• http://www.elmuerto.com Official Online Gravesite (Join the Forum!!)
• http://www.elmuertomovie.com Official Movie Site
  • "I AM EL MUERTO" Animated Short by friend, Carlos Saldaňa

Sources

• http://www.elmuerto.com
• http://www.superherohype.com
• El Muerto at efavata.com
• Javier Hernandez, Interview at KAOS2000 Magazine
• El Muerto on My Mind, Dos Mil, and El Muerto King Size Issue by Javier Hernandez