If you’ve been reading this blog for more than about five minutes, then you’re probably aware of my deep and abiding passion for lucha libre, which is one of the many reasons I’m excited about this week’s release of Hellboy in Mexico.
Not just for Hellboy teaming up with masked wrestlers, but because it’s given me the chance to do a rundown of eight of comics’ greatest luchadores! There are others, of course–Sonambulo, the Holy Terror, El Tigre–and I’m sure they’ll be pointed out ad infinitum in the comments, but these are the ones who sprang to mind. So please enjoy my selection of technicos and rudos, amigos!
I was in a board game store the other day and found “Luche Libre Hero” the newest source book for the Hero RPG system. My first words upon seeing it were “Chris Sims would love this book.” It’s a way to get that D&D urge you’ve had building out of your system while being a Luchador. Now with this article I can actually remember to mention it.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=62173&filters=0_0_0_10010
Just look at that cover. And the book has a history of the Luche Libre Horror Genre “including its history, elements, themes and cultural impact”
Good list, but I have one important addition- El Mucho Grande, Wrestler for Hire.
http://www.georgebroderick.com/elmuchopage.html
In the two volumes I know of, EMG becomes the Mexican ambassador to Saturn, hangs out in Asgard (where his pet Chupacabra impregnates Odin’s goats), fights Godzilla and spends Christmas with the Mole People, in his seasonal identity of El Santo Claus. He was also the star of dozens of Santo films about vampire biker babes and space aliens- only all of his films were documentaries.
Sadly, both volumes seem to be out of print- but if you haven’t read them, do yourself a favor and check amazon or something for used copies, they’re fantastic.
I can’t wait until Dr. Superplex shows up in Awesome Hospital.
It’s more of a tangential connection, as he is (like Fuerte) is a video game character who was only in a spin-off comic, but Crasher Wake from the recent Pokemon games is directly based off of Fray Tormenta