Lucha Libre: To Live and Wrestle in L.A.

This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on September 4, 2007 Sign up now!

By Ian Brill -- Publishers Weekly, 9/4/2007 10:31:00 AM

Los Angeles-by-way-of-Belgium comic book writer Jerry Frissen was inspired by an act of theft to create his new comic book. When his car stereo was stolen, Frissen used his outrage to imagine what kind of heroes would protect L.A. from burglars and vandals. Drawing on both superhero comics and Mexican pop culture, Frissen’s Lucha Libre tells the story of the Luchadores Five, who fight car stereo-hungry werewolves and evil Elvis impersonators while keeping their identities secret behind their masks, evocative of Mexican wrestlers. The first issue of Lucha Libre is due out in September from Image Comics. The main story is by Frissen and drawn by the single-armed artist Bill, while the rest of the book features profiles of the characters and articles on the history of Mexican wrestling as well as other comics by different creators set in the Lucha Libre universe.

PW Comics Week: Lucha Libre feels like a real mix of the quirkily imaginative with gritty street-level life. There are superheroes and werewolves, but there's also a distinct feeling of the setting of East L.A. How do you provide that balance?

Jerry Frissen: I'm deeply in love with Los Angeles. Lucha Libre is my twisted vision of the city. You can walk for an hour and cross so many different faces, races and neighborhoods. It's a permanent mix of cultures. That was my main influence behind Lucha Libre. I'm more interested in people who love superheroes than superheroes themselves. Lucha Libre is about people I see at comic conventions who dress as their favorite hero. The “trekkies” kind of guys. I'm fascinated by these people. When the day is over, they don't go back to their spaceship, they go back to their wife and kids and their jobs, their money problems. But I don't want to make fun of them. My characters are people who decided to be heroes; they wear masks and try to do some good for their city. They are a mix of great inspiration, courage but also selfishness and cowardice. They're okay facing danger, but if there's a way to avoid being hit, they'll choose that way. They're human, I guess. I respect that. I provided the balance by looking into myself. I like super heroes, werewolves. But I’m a grownup and I have a life. My characters have lives, too; they have to pay the rent, they have to buy groceries.

PWCW: The lead story of the first book introduces us to a slew of characters. How did you create such a rich, populated world?

JF: It comes naturally. I can’t help it: I have to create more and more people. It’s like a game: “who’s this guy, where does he come from, who are his friends.” I want to create a universe as much as I want to write stories.

PWCW: Why did you choose an anthology format?

JF: For the same reason. To create a universe. All the people in Lucha Libre are linked with each other at different levels. That’s why I’m not a big fan of the word “anthology.” There are different artists, different stories, but it’s the same world.

PWCW: Why do Luchadores fascinate us so?

JF: Because they seem more realistic than other heroes. They don’t fly, they don’t stop cars with their shoulders. On the contrary, they’re getting older. On the other hand, I think it’s fascinating that wrestling is fake, but wrestlers are heroes. Once again, I’m more into people who [like and are interested in wrestlers] than the wrestlers themselves. I also love their look, of course. Some mask designs are just beyond belief.

PWCW: Mexico produces a staggering number of comics. Did you read any for this project?

JF: I don’t read much comics. I don’t want to be influenced. I want to dig inside myself to find what I want to write about. I hope it doesn’t sound pretentious. I also hope I’ll find something interesting in there!

PWCW: Along with creating a Lucha Libre universe, the Muttpop collective has vinyl Lucha Libre toys, including characters not seen in the comic yet. Do you foresee a vast multimedia Lucha Libre empire?

JF: We also have a movie in pre-production. The only way to have the freedom to do whatever we want to do is to do it ourselves. But when you have that freedom, you're tempted to keep on going and try everything. For us, it's not about creating an empire, it's about having fun. It's based on the punk philosophy (yeah, I'm that old) of "do it yourself.” The toys were an idea of my business partner, Robert Silva. He convinced me to try to make some toys. We had absolutely no clue of how to do such things and lost a little money, but we found a way to make our toys exactly as we had in mind. We want to keep a certain level of control in everything we do to assure that everything stays close to our original vision. Our way of doing things is a mix between the European way and the American way. We have a company, but we're artists.