Frederick Luis Aldama

On his book Your Brain on Latino Comics: From Gus Arriola to Los Bros Hernandez

Cover Interview of June 09, 2009

In a nutshell

The study of mind through cognitive science and the findings of neurobiology have shed very interesting light on the way comic books are produced and read. I find this fascinating and have used it in my study of the visual and verbal elements at work in comic books by and about Latino and Chicano artists and authors. The result is Your Brain on Latino Comics, the first study of Latino comic books.

Your Brain on Latino Comics is a critical study of Latino comics. But an important feature of it is the inclusion of twenty-one interviews with the actual author/artists of Latino comics. The book joins the theoretical apparatus with the actual practice and experience of the author/artists themselves.

I organized the book in this way to allow a deep engagement for those who are interested in this storytelling form a critical perspective as well as for those interested in an actual practice perspective. Moreover, what we know of Latino comics, and what we know about how our brains process visual and verbal information from panel to panel, both enrich our pleasure in the actual experience of comics – Latino comics and comics generally.

media studies / america / art history / pop culture / symbols / comics / latinoa heritage / chicanoa heritage / imagination /

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