REVIEW: Marvel Voices : Communidades No.1

Marvel is back on the bookshelves with another installment into their anthology series “Voices”, which for those unfamiliar , celebrates and educates readers about minority groups that tend to make up the majority of the comic book community.

The stories are all-ages tales that can be enjoyed by various reader levels. This book features many characters, and by the age-group of the characters, they are more likely to speak to that readership. So the curators of this read don’t shy away from the fun stuff, like having Reptil struggle at making a traditional Mexican meal for his friend from “Strange Academy”; but there’s plenty of room for knowledge and adult level action.

One of my favorite Marvel heroes, White Tiger, gets two stories in the book and even an interview by his co-creator, “Teen Titans” originator, George Perez, gets an interview to spill all about the creation of the oft-overlooked Marvel Knight. “Communidades” is a large read, an anthology of course. And there is enough here for every person within your community to find at least one story to identify with and/or walk away with some knowledge from.

From opening “Communidades” I was taught by White Tiger about the Young Lords, and both my favorite Spider-Girl & Man (Anya & Miles of course) accomplished the most comprehensive breakdown of the term LatinX – a term that has received heavy flack in Latin communities rooted in their native tongues. The traditionalistic view towards the word is valid, but Anya & Miles do a great job explaining the origins of the term and do not force the term up on readers – they just educate in the panel space. Again, “Communidades” is an anthology, so reader’s should not be pressured to read the whole thing in 1 sitting.

A majority of the book is somewhat juvenile, so for those looking for a “The Other History of the DC Universe”, this is the PG version. Though, just because a book is aimed at a younger audience it does not mean that older heads can pick up a thing or two from picking “Communidades” up.

Score : 3/5

(W) Daniel Jose Older, More (A) Enid Balam, More (CA) Joe Quesada