Hello fellow Questers!!!
Long-time no talk! I promise that I'll be back soon with more comic-book knowledge that you can't get in any college, but real life is cranked up to 10+ right now! I see that my article on the Mexican wrestler, Místico, has gotten PLENTY of love! Thank you all. As we get to know each other more, I'll reveal more gems of my private collection, including my RARE luchador first issues. I love lucha libre so much.
Lucha libre is, in most cases, a beautiful sport filled with creative, artistic athletes wearing amazing outfits who give you all they can, their very best, when they step out onto the squared circle (the wrestling canvas). My favorites are the high-flyers who also use that exciting, high-energy, quick hold-and-counter-hold style (catch as catch can). With their legendary athleticism, willingness to risk their lives to please the spectators, their over-the-top portrayal of characters enacting stories in the ring (good vs. evil, rich vs. poor, light vs. dark, etc.), and their skillfully-crafted ring attire, which often includes a mask that hides the face of the mysterious hero or villain, it is no wonder that luchadors grew to be the stuff of legend in Mexico with the obvious parallels to American comic book heroes and villains who came of age right around the time that the masked luchador really took off (the late 1930s, early 1940s).
Watching good lucha libre is, to me, like watching a comic book come to life before my very eyes. So, without further ado, I found some more of my Místico comics with those GREAT, classic Mexican painted covers!
"Místico: The Prince of Silver and Gold" #4, From the Orphange to Pankration. In this story, we are given the fictitious origin of the orphan that would one day become one of lucha libre's greatest luchadors!!
"Místico: The Prince of Silver and Gold" #9, The Attack of the Old Lady Killer. In this episode, Místico must stop a crazed killer that is bent of murdering elderly women...A killer using a replica of Místico's own mask!
"Místico: The Prince of Silver and Gold" #10, The Sacrilegious Impostor. In this story, Místico comes face to face with darkness in the form of a deranged killer who wants to destroy Místico, all that he stands for, and all that is holy.
"Místico: The Prince of Silver and Gold" #18, Evil Incarnate. To save a beautiful girl, Místico must take on a powerful demon!
"Místico: The Prince of Silver and Gold" #19, Super-Luchador and Superhero. This story is a continuation of the dark story begun in #18. This cool cover is obviously an homage to Spider-Man's iconic upside-down kiss with Mary Jane Watson in 2002's blockbuster hit film, "Spider-Man." Check it out:
And finally:
"Místico: The Prince of Silver and Gold" #23, Aerial Wrestling: His Best Technique."
On to the fun fact!!
FUN FACT 1 - On the cover of #19, in the background, you can see The Angel of Independence (El Ángel o Monumento a la Independencia) which is a monument done by artist, Antonio Rivas Mercado, during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz to commemorate the centennial of the beginning of Mexico's War of Independence on September 16, 1810 (see SUPPLEMENTAL FACT). The Angel of Independence is located in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, on a roundabout on the Paseo de la Reforma.
SUPPLEMENTAL FUN FACT: Mexican Independence Day is September 16, not the 5th of May (Cinco de mayo). El Cinco de mayo celebrates the Mexican victory over the French at Puebla in 1862. France invaded Mexico in 1861 to recover a debt, but they also had designs on taking Mexico, and later marching to aid the Confederacy in the United States. Thanks to the Mexican victory at Puebla, the French army never reached the Confederacy, and the victory of the Union forces was secured. If the brave Mexicans had not defeated the French at Puebla, the United States might have become a very different place.
And now you know. ;-)
Well, that's all folks!! Thanks for joining me! I will leave you with some highlights of a great lucha libre match: Prince Puma vs. Rey Misterio!! ENJOY!!!
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