¡Wepa! Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics | ¡Wepa! Puertorriqueños en el mundo de los cómics

English
In the 1990s, Manuel Martínez Nazario, a librarian in San Juan, Puerto Rico, began building a collection aiming to demonstrate the diverse artistic expressions and unique perspectives of Puerto Rican comic book creators. After decades of putting it together, he deposited his world-class collection—which documents Puerto Ricans in the comics industries of both Puerto Rico and the continental United States—at The New York Public Library in 2022. 

This exhibition draws primarily from the Library’s Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics. It explores aspects of Puerto Rican life and culture along the axes of space (representations of “the Island” itself; Puerto Rican relationships with New York City) and time (Puerto Rico’s complex past; Puerto Rican visions of futuristic and fantasy worlds).

This exhibition is organized by The New York Public Library and curated by Paloma Celis Carbajal, Curator for Latin American, Iberian, and U.S. Latino Collections, and Charles Cuykendall Carter, Assistant Curator in the Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle.

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En la década de 1990, Manuel Martínez Nazario, bibliotecario en San Juan, Puerto Rico, comenzó una colección que resaltara las diversas expresiones artísticas y las perspectivas de las y los creadores de cómics puertorriqueños. En 2022, después de décadas de construirla, donó esta extraordinaria colección a la Biblioteca Pública de Nueva York. Ésta documenta la presencia puertorriqueña en el ámbito del cómic tanto en Puerto Rico como en la zona continental de los Estados Unidos.

Esta exposición se basa principalmente en el acervo que se encuentra en la Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics y explora aspectos de la vida y la cultura puertorriqueñas a lo largo de dos ejes principales: el territorio (representaciones de “la Isla” y de las relaciones de los puertorriqueños con la ciudad de Nueva York) y el tiempo (el complejo pasado de Puerto Rico y las propuestas puertorriqueñas de mundos futuristas o fantásticos).

Esta exposición está organizada por la Biblioteca Pública de Nueva York y comisariada por Paloma Celis Carbajal, Curadora de las Colecciones Latinoamericanas, Ibéricas y de Latinos en EUA; y Charles Cuykendall Carter, Curador Asistente de la Colección Carl H. Pforzheimer de Shelley y su círculo.

English

If you are interested in learning more about the comics and artists on view in ¡Wepa! Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics, explore this list of titles recommended by the exhibition curators Paloma Celis Carbajal and Charles Cuykendall Carter. Please note that these items are only available in the Library's Research Collections. Library cardholders can request to see these titles using the Research Catalog. Don't have a library card? Get one today!

For a more detailed list of titles, especially of comic books in our collections, please consult the "Puerto Rican Comic Books at NYPL Research Collections" LibGuide
 

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Si le interesa saber más sobre los cómics y artistas representados en la exposición ¡Wepa! Puertorriqueños en el mundo de los cómics, explore esta lista de libros recomendados por los curadores de la exposición Paloma Celis Carbajal y Charles Cuykendall Carter. Tenga en cuenta que estos libros solo están disponibles en las Research Collections de la Biblioteca. Solo se necesita una tarjeta de la biblioteca para solicitar ver estos títulos a través del Research Catalog. ¿Todavía no tiene una tarjeta de la biblioteca?, ¡obténgala hoy mismo!

Para una lista más detallada de títulos, especialmente de cómics en nuestras colecciones, por favor consulte la guía de investigación “Puerto Rican Comic Books at NYPL Research Collections”.

• Graphic Borders: Latino Comic Books, Past, Present & Future edited by Frederick Luis Aldama and Christopher González. 2016.
• Your Brain On Latino Comics by Frederick Luis Aldama.  2009.
• Introducción al folklore puertorriqueño by Marcelino Juan Canino Salgado. 2019.
• Historias e historietas [...] cómic latinoamericano actual edited by Katja Carrillo Zeiter and Christoph Müller. 2018.
• Latinx Comics Studies: Critical and Creative Crossings edited by Fernanda Díaz-Basteris and Maite Urcaregui. 2025
• La nación en vaivén: identidad, migración y cultura popular en Puerto Rico by Jorge Duany. 2010.
• With Great Power Comes Great Pedagogy by Susan E. Kirtley, Antero Garcia, and Peter E. Carlson. 2020.
• Puerto Rico: historia de una nación by Jorell Meléndez-Badillo. 2024.
• Chroma: The Art of Alex Schomburg by Jon Gustafson. 1986.
• Storyteller: Three Decades of George Pérez by Christopher Lawrence. 2006.
• La cultura popular puertorriqueña en Estados Unidos by Ramón López. 2002.
• La mascarada jíbara y otros ensayos by Francisco Scarano. 2022.
• Historia del humor gráfico en Puerto Rico by Arturo Yépez. 2008.

The Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics is housed in the Library’s Manuscripts and Archives Division. It contains more than 1,600 comic books, trade paperbacks, hardcover collections, zines, and original artwork by Puerto Rican creators, as well as comics about Puerto Rico or featuring Puerto Rican characters. Materials in the collection, dating from the 1950s to 2024, were published in Puerto Rico and the continental United States. They feature the work of such writers and artists as Ricardo Álvarez-Rivón, Rangely "Rangy" García Colón, Martín Gaudier, Rosa Colón Guerra, George Pérez, Kenneth Rocafort, and Rosaura Rodríguez.  

Learn about the acquisition of this important collection in this NYPL interview with Manuel Martínez Nazario.

La Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics se albergaen la División de Manuscritos y Archivos de la Biblioteca. Contiene más de 1,600 cómics, novelas gráficas, antologías fanzines y dibujos originales creados por artistas puertorriqueños, así como cómics sobre Puerto Rico o con personajes puertorriqueños. Los materiales de la colección, que datan desde la década de 1950 hasta 2024, fueron publicados tanto en Puerto Rico como en la zona continental de los Estados Unidos. Incluyen obras de escritores y artistas como Ricardo Álvarez-Rivón, Rangely "Rangy" García Colón, Martín Gaudier, Rosa Colón Guerra, George Pérez, Kenneth Rocafort y Rosaura Rodríguez.

Conoce más sobre la adquisición de esta importante colección en esta entrevista de la NYPL con Manuel Martínez Nazario.

English 
The New York Public Library is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and creators in New York and worldwide. With more than 46 million objects in our research collections and the unparalleled expertise of our librarians, anyone can come and find what they need for their work—for free. All you need is your library card.

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La Biblioteca Pública de Nueva York es un recurso invaluable para investigadores, estudiantes y creadores en la ciudad y el resto del mundo. Con más de 46 millones de objetos en nuestras colecciones de investigación y los expertos conocimientos de nuestros bibliotecarios, cualquier persona puede venir y encontrar lo que necesita para su trabajo —de manera gratuita. Todo lo que necesita es su tarjeta de la Biblioteca.
 

Research Guide | Guías de investigación

• Puerto Rican Comics at the NYPL Research Collections (research guide | guía de investigación)
• Comic Books and Graphic Resources at The New York Public Library (research guide | guía de investigación)
   

Blog Posts | Publicaciones de blog

• The Immortal Work of Comic Book Artist and Writer George Pérez
• General Research Librarians Celebrate Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month | La División de Investigación General Celebra el Mes de la Herencia Hispana y Latina

English
Can’t get enough of the world of comics? Following your visit, you can choose from a selection of books related to the exhibition in the Library Shop on the first floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Visit the Library Shop online.
 

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¿Se quedó con ganas de aprender más sobre el mundo de los cómics?  Después de su visita, puede elegir entre una selección de libros relacionados con la  exposición en la tienda de la Biblioteca ubicada en el primer piso del Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Visite la tienda en línea.

The New York Public Library invites educators of grades 6–12 to book a special field trip to explore ¡Wepa!—plus, download ready-to-use resources to complete your field trip experience! Stay tuned for tours and resources in Spanish—coming soon. Learn more.

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In celebration of ¡Wepa!, the Library hosted a special gathering and panel discussion during Banned Books Week. Comic artist Ivan Velez, graphic novelist Sharon Lee De La Cruz, animator Mariela Figueroa, and artist Eliana Falcón-Dvorsky came together to talk about craft, Puerto Rican life and culture in comics, how queerness intersects with their work, and challenges to free expression at a time of record book bans. Drag queen Megami emceed the gathering, following the discussion with a performance. Watch now. 

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En celebración de ¡Wepa!, la Biblioteca organizó un evento gratuito con panel de discusión en inglés durante la Semana de los Libros Prohibidos. El artista de cómics Iván Vélez, la novelista gráfica Sharon Lee De La Cruz, la animadora Mariela Figueroa y la artista Eliana Falcón-Dvorsky se reunieron para hablar sobre su arte, la vida y la cultura puertorriqueñas en los cómics, cómo la diversidad sexual se cruza con su trabajo y los desafíos a la libre expresión en un momento de récords en la censura de libros. La drag queen Megami fue la presentadora del encuentro y cerró la conversación con una presentación artística. Ver la presentación.

English
Access the exhibition’s large-print labels at the information desk in Astor Hall on the first floor of the Stephen A. Schwarman Building, or online.
¡Wepa! Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics | English labels


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Acceda a los textos de esta exposición en letra grande en el escritorio de información en Astor Hall (vestíbulo principal) en el primer piso del Stephen A. Schwarzman Building o en línea.
¡Wepa! Puertorriqueños en el mundo de los cómics | Textos en español

The idea for this exhibition was inspired by the Library’s receipt of a truly remarkable gift: the Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics. From the earliest planning stages, Manuel himself was an indispensable advisor and a vital liaison to Puerto Rico’s comics community. His generously shared knowledge and wide network of connections made more in depth curating of this exhibition possible. Beyond his help, we are grateful for Manuel’s friendship, which has brought us much cheer and laughter over the past year. During our October 2024 visit to San Juan to interview creators, we could not have dreamed of a better host: he enthusiastically encouraged comics creators to speak with us, introduced us to the best mofongo in San Juan, and exemplified the many uses of ¡wepa!

We are extremely grateful to the many comics creators included in the exhibition who allowed us to interview them, or helpfully engaged in (sometimes very lengthy) correspondence. They are, in alphabetical order by their last names: Ricardo and Magali J. Álvarez-Rivón, Manuel G. Aquino Quilichini, Omar Banuchi, Tom Beland, Rosa Colón Guerra, Eliana Falcón-Dvorsky, Alice Vanessa Falto Ayala, Mariela Figueroa, Yasmín Flores Montañez, Rangy García Colón, José A. Gutiérrez-Rivera, Kenneth Rocafort, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, Franchy Morales, Stephany Moyano Ayala, Teófilo Olivieri, Manuel Otero Portela and Olga Otero, Jesús Ortiz Torres, Iván Plaza, Joe Quinones, Rod Reis, John Rivas, Gabby Rivera, Rosaura Rodríguez, Xaymara Romero, Karyna Santiago, Cynthia Santos, Ramos Sepúlveda, Tristan J. Tarwater, Tico Thousands, John Vasquez Mejías, “Chizo” Vázquez, Edwin Vazquez, Crystal Velasquez, Ivan Velez, Jr., and Tommy Villarreal. We also very much appreciate the time and insights given to us by other comics creators we met and interviewed in Puerto Rico, including: Joel Aramick, Orlando Cabrera, José Cruz, Lapiz Afilao, Viviangelique Pérez, Eduardo Ríos, Gustavo A. Seda, Alphonso Torres, and Daniel Torres.

We’d also like to extend a special thanks to the following people for providing valuable information: Karen Berger, Peter Kuper, Robert Reiner, Rubén Eduardo Soto Díaz, Steve Gold from BLT Communications, and Ana María Díaz-Marcos.

As for folks at The New York Public Library to whom we are grateful: for their leadership, brilliant editorial suggestions, and moral support, we extend our deep gratitude to Jason Baumann, Director for Collection Development and Global Studies, and Julie Golia, Associate Director of the Rayner Special Collections Wing and Senior Curator of Manuscripts. And for her unyielding support of Charlie in his sometimes very unRomantic work pursuits: hugs and a warm “thank you” to Liz Denlinger, Curator of the Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle.

For their hard work and sailing of the ship, we thank Becky Laughner and Amanda Dorval of the Exhibitions Department—and all our other colleagues in Exhibitions whose work made this show possible: Carl Auge, Ryan Douglass, Natalie Ortiz, Jake Hamill, Paeton Horsch, Syd Richardson—and Franses Rodriguez, Deputy Director of the Research Libraries. 

For their careful attention to detail and friendly enthusiasm, we thank our colleagues in the Conservation Lab, particularly Alex Bero, Emily Muller and Addison Yu; and our colleagues in Digital Imaging, especially Rebecca Wack and Steven Crossot. 

Other New York Public Library staff whose help we must recognize: our crackshot Communications team (especially Beth Hays, Camila Franco Díaz, Charles Arrowsmith, Maya Sariahmed, Tara Fedoriw-Morris, Melvin Backman, Laurie Beckoff, and Lizzie Tribone); the 42nd St. Manuscripts, Archives & Rare Books staff (particularly Michelle McCarthy-Behler, Meredith Mann, John Cordovez, Emmanuel Valerio, and Michael Inman); our Registrar team (including Deborah Straussmann, Caryn Gedell, and Martin Branch-Shaw); our Acquisitions team (particularly Enito Mock and Celeste Keller-Griffin); our Cataloging team (particularly, Abdul Alsaidi and Carlos Romero); our Collection Management team (especially Yasmin Desouki); the Center for Educators and Schools (particularly Arturo Aguero and Liz Billy); our colleagues in Branch and Research Programs (especially Erica Parker, Rachel Roseberry, and Coleman McGraw); Brook Granda & the Latino* ERG; Cafecito con Colegas (especially Alfredo Gutierrez Alcantara). We are also very thankful for the contributions of Dina Selfridge, and Suyoung Jang.

We extend a very special thanks to Nathan Evans, whose detailed finding aid for the Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection enabled our consultation of the comics in this vast collection. Nathan and Liz Rutigliano did a fantastic job in putting together the library’s research guide for Puerto Rican comics, which will aid any person who is curious in finding relevant materials on this topic in our research collections.

And, of course, we offer our sincere gratitude to our leaders: Tony Marx, President of the Library; Brent Reidy, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries; and Brian Bannon, Merryl and James Tisch Director of Branch Libraries and Education.

The sustained development and growth of library’s collections can never be complete without those who help bring them to us and for that we are deeply grateful to Darlene Hull and René Grullón from Libros de Barlovento for their invaluable help and care in shipping the first 1,400+ volumes of the Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection, and to Alejandro Herrera-Prada from Enhacore Books for helping us with several urgent acquisitions that have made this exhibition stronger. 

We are very proud of how beautiful the exhibition gallery looks, and how elegantly the many elements within it fit together—and for these things we must thank Doug Clouse and Angela Voulangas of The Graphics Office, and Sam Morse and Taylor Niwa of South Side Design and Building.

Talía Guzmán González and Fernando Acosta were invaluable in helping us navigate the intricacies of Puerto Rico’s history and society. Roque Raquel Salas Rivera brought the much welcomed Puerto Ricanisms and poetic language to the Spanish translation. Thanks to their thoughtful advice, this exhibition is more Boricua than we ever imagined. Without knowing him in person, Jorell Meléndez-Badillo’s excellent book Puerto Rico: A National History steered us into a deeper understanding of Puerto Rico’s silenced past.

Paloma está eternamente agradecida a John Burns por soportar con tanto cariño y paciencia las interminables noches y fines de semana viéndola pegada a su escritorio. Además de sus sabias recomendaciones de las lecturas perfectas para enriquecer este proyecto y su interminable paciencia y apoyo escuchando atentamente sus propuestas. Y, por supuesto, a Charlie Carter por su generosidad al aceptar ser su cómplice en esta aventura. ¡Gracias a ambos por su solidaridad y risas mientras recorrimos este camino juntos! Le gustaría dedicar esta exposición a Carola y Maximino, quienes la introdujeron al maravilloso mundo del cómic a través de los trabajos de Quino, Rius, Jis y Trino, y a Chimi por ser su compañero de lectura durante esos primeros años.

Charlie would like to thank his family, Bobby Carter and Captain Carter, for their love and support. And he must also thank, and express his abiding appreciation for, Paloma—with whom he has over the years created quite a collection of cool projects (if he does say so himself) and whose work partnership and friendship he cherishes. He also takes the opportunity to declare his long-held admiration for the artwork of George Pérez, whose dazzling illustration style he has recognized and been enchanted by since before his age reached double digits. Charlie dedicates his work on this exhibition to the memory of Mr. Pérez—“may the glory of Gaea be with you!” 

Without the dozens of people mentioned above, this small but mighty exhibition would have not been possible. 

Exhibition Credits

Curators: Paloma Celis Carbajal (Curator for Latin American, Iberian, and U.S.Latino Collections) and Charles Cuykendall Carter (Assistant Curator to The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle). Exhibitions staff: Franses Rodriguez, Becky Laughner, Amanda Dorval, Carl Auge, Jake Hamill, Ryan Douglass, Natalie Ortiz, Paeton Horsch and Syd Richardson. Translators: Roque Raquel Salas Rivera (main), Paloma Celis Carbajal. Copy editor: Mim Harrison. Graphic designers: The Graphics Office (Doug Clouse, Angela Voulangas). Exhibition designers: South Side Design and Building (Taylor Niwa). Lighting designer: Anita Jorgensen. In-gallery graphics by: Cynthia Santos, Rosa Colón Guerra, Rosaura Rodríguez, Eliana Falcón-Dvorsky, Alice Vanessa Falto Ayala, Rangely García Colón, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, Stephany Moyano Ayala, Ramos Sepúlveda, and Ivan Velez, Jr. 

Short Film Credits

The eight films included in the video guide for ¡Wepa! Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics were filmed, directed and produced by Charles Cuykendall Carter. The exhibition’s introductory video (¡Conozca a | Meet Manuel Martínez Nazario!) was filmed, directed and produced by Tara Fedoriw-Morris.

Read the bilingual version of the acknowledgments.