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COMICTROPOLIS: La Borinqueña Rises

An Afternoon with Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez

Enjoy a conversation about the origin of Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez's Puerto Rican superhero La Borinquena. After the talk, learn how to create comic books with Shawn Martinborough.

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, the creator of the independently owned Puerto Rican superhero La Borinqueña talks about going from writing for Marvel to creating and owning his own superhero and using that creation for charity work in Puerto Rico and beyond.  
 
This talk will be followed by a comic book making workshop with author of “How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling”, Shawn Martinbrough.

Learn more about this series and the speakers below:

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez is a graphic novelist most notably recognized as the writer and creator of the critically acclaimed and bestselling superhero series La Borinqueña. In addition, he is the recipient of Eisner's Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic efforts via the benefit anthology Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico featuring La Borinqueña teaming up with Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman and other DC Comics heroes. He self-published this anthology under his own studio Somos Arte Studios Inc. and to date Edgardo has raised close to a quarter of a million dollars for grassroots organizations in Puerto Rico via the La Borinqueña Grants Program. As the Creative Director and owner of Somos Arte Studios Inc., a Brooklyn-based creative services studio he has worked with such notable clients as Atlantic Records, Columbia University, Sony Pictures and Marvel. Edgardo is also an Arts Envoy for the U.S. Department of State giving talks and leading workshops in Latin America about how La Borinqueña speaks to social justice issues as a graphic novel. In addition, Edgardo is a curator of art exhibitions having already produced three original Marvel comic book art exhibitions and his very own La Borinqueña for the Smithsonian Museum and Fundación Cortés in Puerto Rico.

Shawn Martinbrough is the author of “How to Draw Noir Comics: The Art and Technique of Visual Storytelling” by Penguin Random House and an Eisner Award nominated artist whose comic book projects include; “Batman: Detective Comics”, “Luke Cage Noir”, “The Black Panther” and “Hellboy”. He is a Vanity Fair contributor and an art curator.

Shawn illustrated “Thief of Thieves”, the graphic novel series co-created with Robert Kirkman (“The Walking Dead”, “INVINCIBLE”) and the Eisner award nominated “Prométhée 13:13”  published by Éditions Delcourt-Soleil and ABLAZE. 

More about this Series

COMICTROPOLIS is a series of conversations at DC Public Library locations featuring David Betancourt (The Athletic/New York Times), a former culture reporter at The Washington Post and writer for Marvel Entertainment and various guest stars from the comic book industry. 

This series will be aimed at Washington’s vibrant comic book reading community and led by a native Washingtonian (Betancourt) who still lives in DC and grew up frequenting Big Planet Comics (DC’s DMV chain of comic bookstores) in Georgetown and on U Street NW. Betancourt remains an avid fan and believer in the power of comic books and their impact on society. 
 
The series will be an insider look into the world of writing comics from both Betancourt and guests and what it is like for all the creatives featured to work with some of the most popular brands in pop culture. They will also discuss what it means to go from the worlds of Marvel and DC Comics to creating their own creator-owned comic book brands. 
 

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