Meet La Borinqueña and Luz La Luminosa!

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez is a graphic novelist and comic book writer who has worked on numerous projects over the years including with Marvel Comics. He has created something special in ”La Borinqueña” his original Afro-Puerto Rican superhero and most recently Luz La Luminosa.

Debuting back in 2016, La Borinqueña was an original character created by Miranda-Rodriguez. The powerhouse of a hero was a young woman named Marisol Rios De La Luz. Marisol was a student at Columbia University majoring in Earth and Environmental Science. She visits the enchanting island of Puerto Rico to finish her studies only to find herself disappointed at the fact that her classes are unavailable due to budget cuts at the University of Puerto Rico.

Marisol takes matters into her own hands by building her own lab in her grandparents' home and visits the caves on the island to further her investigations. On a fateful night, she discovers much more than she bargained for when she meets the goddess Atabex and the gods Huracán and Yucahu who grant her amazing powers including weather manipulation, flight, and super-strength. Marisol uses her newfound powers to help those on the island and learns she’s destined for something much bigger than she could ever imagine.

Who is Luz La Luminosa?

Introduced in the first issue of La Borinqueña, Lauren ”La La” Liu was shown as Marisol’s best friend and chosen family. La La is a great character in the series that shows comic relief and true friendship in aiding Marisol in her ventures. La La is Chinese and Dominican and just like Marisol deals with those themes of racial identity and cultures in the modern world.

La La gained her powers from La Borinqueña herself when she used her powers to save La La granting La La the abilities of bioluminescent energy manipulation. Lauren Liu then took on the alias Luz La Luminosa thanks to her powerful light abilities. Luz had her solo debut recently and the debut shed light on her own health conditions as we learned the character of Lauren has endometriosis. Endometriosis is a disease where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus, grows outside of the uterus causing severe pain and much difficulty for pregnancy to occur.

The way the writer Miranda-Rodriguez handles this tough subject matter is done with such grace and respect and goes for a much more educational tone rather than an in your face preachy tone. It shows that despite obstacles and circumstances we all have a power within to fight for our loved ones and ourselves.

A new universe worth visiting…..

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez has created something very special in these comics. Blending coming-of-age storytelling with the wonderful worlds of superheroes they are a breath of fresh air and an insight into the colorful culture of Puerto Rico and it’s people.

La Borinqueña and Luz La Luminosa are two powerful, yet very relatable characters that any comic book fan or new reader is sure to enjoy and grow fond of. They are easy to read and with the help of the beautiful illustrations allow readers to get lost in this wonderful world Edgardo has created.

It would be no surprise and would be a great treat to see these characters come to life one day on the big screen or in a live-action series. There is so much more to learn and explore with these characters. If you wish to support these works and want to learn more please visit the official store and grab your copies today.