In its seventh year of publishing La Borinqueña (2016) the Brooklyn based studio Somos Arte, headed up by Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, is set to expand on the universe of La Borinqueña with a new spinoff based on Oro El Coqui Dorado. The character was first introduced as the newest member of La Borinqueña’s team of superheroes, the Nitainos. Oro made his debut in 2021’s La Borinqueña #3 but readers didn’t see him in action until 2022’s La Borinqueña Guest Starring Rosario Dawson. In his solo debut issue Oro El Coqui Dorado, which premieres at the Puerto Rico Comic Con scheduled for April 7-9, 2023 at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, the titular character discovers his powers, his costume, his name, and the team of superheroes led by La Borinqueña, the Nitainos. Named after the indigenous coqui (tree frog) of Puerto Rico, Oro has supernatural abilities that allow him to shrink down to the size of a coqui and superhuman enhanced agility and strength.
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This fall, Oro will be show off even more action as part of Boss Fight Studios’ wave 1 of La Borinqueña action figures. Oro’s action figure not only comes with interchangeable hands, a coqui sized version of himself, but also the unmasked secret identity of Orlando Ruíz Ocasio, the Afro-Boricua from Loíza, Puerto Rico. Loíza is historically known for being one of the 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico founded by freed Africans. Generations later the town is known for its rich connection to Afro-Boricua culture including being a stronghold for the archipelago’s national folkloric music Bomba.
“While fans of mainstream publishers and studios debate on diversity in the superhero genre, I’ve decided to stay proactive and develop my own universe with La Borinqueña as the founding character,” Miranda-Rodriguez told ComicBook.com. “Now with her superhero team getting their own action figure line with Boss Fight Studio this fall, our studio Somos Arte is the only publisher creating superheroes that organically are diverse because they come from Puerto Rico and the United States. Our first spin-off, Oro El Coqui Dorado, is a love letter to the town of Loíza, Puerto Rico. This town was founded by the Puerto Rican descendants of freed Africans, known as Libertos. Its also a shout out to the thriving basketball scene here on the archipelago that recently started getting buzz when megastar Bad Bunny became co-owner of the basketball team Loa Cangrejeros. On a side note, I co-created Oro with my now 7 year old son during the pandemic, inspired by a vejigante, a carnival mask from Loíza that was given to us as a gift from one of the recipients of our La Borinqueña Grant Awards. We’re the only superhero series dedicated to philanthropic work in Puerto Rico to this day and have already raised and donated $200,000.”
Oro El Coqui Dorado’s first issue not only connects readers to the larger story arc Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez has been writing over the past seven years in his various stories centering on La Borinqueña, but it also ties the story to current social political and economic issues affecting the three million Puerto Ricans with U.S. citizenship living on the Caribbean islands. Economic displacement, under employment, and the privatization of land are touched on in this comic book connecting the superhero narratives that overcome villainy to real world issues.
Interior artwork for the comic book is illustrated by Jim Muñiz (Spawn, Fantastic Four, The Last Defenders) The original cover is illustrated by Cristian Muñiz Torres in his debut as a professional comic book artist and colored by comic book veteran Juan Fernández (Spawn, Star Wars, Black Panther). Variant covers are illustrated by Jorge Corona and Sarah Stern (Teen Titans, Batgirl, The Flash), and recreating his classic 1980 Iron Man #170 cover which was published 40 years ago this May (May, 1983) is comic book legend Luke McDonell (Iron Man, Batman, Spider-Man) with Christopher Sotomayor (X-Men, Avengers, Captain America) and Sabrina Cintron (La Borinqueña, John Leguizamo’s Phenom X).
Oro El Coqui Dorado is now available for review and will be available for purchase May 3, 2023 via Somos Arte’s website.
