RUCA, the Chicana Latina Superhero
A vigilante dispensing justice.
The CHICANA GANG
KAYDEN PHOENIX - The Creator/Writer
Paying homage to her hometown and the over-played stereotype of being from Boyle Heights, Kayden Phoenix created a superhero who 's pure chola with a heart of gold.
AMANDA JULINA GONZALEZ - The Penciller
Amanda Julina Gonzalez is a Mexican-American animator and illustrator. Originally from New Mexico, she moved to California to pursue her undergraduate degree in Animation. She's drawn to telling stories that examine Latinx identity, and is excited to dive into Ruca because it ties into her Chicana roots.
ALEXIS LOPEZ - The Inker
Alexis Lopez is a Mexican-American artist who graduated from Laguna College of Art and Design with a BFA in Animation.
Upon hearing of a Latina-based superhero comic, she instantly became attracted to the idea of joining in on such a fun and inclusive project. Latina superheroes are very few and hard to come by, and showcasing a strong female power like Ruca is incredibly important.
Coming from a family of nothing but women, she hopes to be able to represent even a bit of the strength that they have used to help to shape her in her life. Alexis loves painting, inking, and in her spare time, drinking boba, and listening to 80s music.
VICTORIA ARAGON - The Colorist
Victoria Aragon is a second generation Mexican-American artist who graduated from Laguna College of Art and Design with a BFA in Animation.
Victoria loves drawing Latin characters, especially superhero ones. She always wanted to see one ever since her love for comic books and animation flourished in middle school. Being raised in California and Texas and growing up in a big family (consisting mostly of her six siblings) it always gave her the inspiration to make that dream possible; wanting to give them and others the representation she always wanted growing up.
Victoria loves the idea of having a female lead taking charge of protecting her community. Also seeing a comic book project being lead and run by Latina artists like herself is what made her want to take part.
SANDRA ROMERO - The Letterist
Sandra Romero is a first generation Mexican-American graphic designer based in Southern California.
Growing up, she was drawn to powerful female role models in cartoons and media. Sandra values her relationship and friendship with her mother.
Following her mother's advice, she pursued higher education to be able to work on art, graphics, and work on projects with female leads for other little girls.
The CAUSE
RUCA, the Graphic Novel
Ruca made a cameo in SANTA, SJW Latina Superhero, where she unknowingly is given her powers. In this book, we start off with Ruca coming back to East LA only to discover everything’s changed. She heads to Whittier Blvd and instead of the usual cruising, there’s an art show. There she discovers an activist group called the BB’s. They tell her about the stolen neighborhood kids and that word is they take them to San Diego to sell them off. Ruca decides to go to Barrio Logan to find out who’s behind the kidnappings and child trafficking. Along the way, she befriends Vato, the pitbull, Pachuca, the b-girl dancer, and the good-natured Chicle.
The REALITY
Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery. According to the U.S. Department of State, 77% of trafficking victims are exploited within their country of residence. The number of victims annually range from 2-4 million; 50% of those victims are children.
Today, the FBI leads 86 Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Forces around the nation and participates in Anti-Trafficking Coordination (ATC) Teams in 12 offices, including Los Angeles.