It is National Hispanic Heritage Month which is the annual celebration from September 15 to October 15 in the United States for recognizing the contributions and influence of Latino/Latina/Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. That is the official description.
My inbox however has been flooded with horror stories about the racism some people of Blatino descent have experienced from the community.
This list is going to piss so many people off, and I’m here for it! Racism and colorism is rampant in the Latino community.
I have received so many messages from my Blatino fans about being discriminated against or treated less than their “white-passing” counterparts and even family members. Having kinky hair and dark skin is looked down on by some members of the Latino community. POC should be standing in solidarity instead of playing into the divisive colonial mindset (But you are not ready for that conversation). I’m all about equality and since my grandmother, on my mother’s side is Cuban by birth but like Miles Morales my Spanish is terrible (lol), I decided to go ahead, make this list, and stand in solidarity with my Blatino fans!
You can be both Latino and black!
Accept it!
Own it!
You are beautiful inside and out, DONT LET NOBODY TELL YOU DIFFERENTLY!
Blatino is used here to describe a person of both black/African and Latino heritage
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created by: Brian Michael Bendis
1st appearance: Ultimate Fallout #4, August 2011
Miles Morales is the ½ Latino ½ Black New Ultimate Spider-man who made his debut in 2011’s Ultimate Fallout after the death of Ultimate Peter Parker. Miles lives with his parents in New York and has a villainous uncle named Aaron/Prowler. Like Peter, before him, he’s bitten by a radioactive spider from Oscorp which endows him with incredible powers. With this power, Miles tries to emulate the late Peter Parker while balancing school, family life, and the whirlwind of adventure that has become his life. Recently he has undergone major trauma as his mother was killed in battle with Venom, he was abandoned by his father and his Uncle died while fighting him! To make things worse he has joined the New Ultimates team while dealing with Peter Parker and the Green Goblin’s return to life!
~DIG DEEPER INTO MILES MORALES HERE~
- White Tiger
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created by: Bill Mantlo and George Pérez
1st appearance: The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19, 1975
Born in San Juan Puerto Rico to Nestor and Maria Ayala he studied martial arts from an early age. For college, he left his home and ventured to New York. Here he found the abandoned Tiger Amulets of the “Sons of the Tiger”. By donning all three amulets he was magically transformed into the superhuman White Tiger. His identity was later made public by the villain Lightmaster which lead to his parents’ untimely deaths. This left his little sister Ava Ayala deeply traumatized as she found the bodies; he always felt that their deaths were his fault. While tracking down the perpetrators he was badly wounded after being shot. During this time he stopped using the artifacts and they were returned to the Sons of the Tiger.
In his later years, he was put on trial for murder. Defended by Matt Murdock/Daredevil didn’t help however as he was found guilty. Shocked by the verdict and the destruction of both his marriage and his reputation in the superhero and Hispanic community he grabbed a gun from an officer and fled the courtroom. On the steps of the courthouse, the police mowed him down with gunshots, resulting in his death.
His heroic legacy along with the amulets was continued by his niece Angela Del Toro and later Ava Ayala.
~DIG DEEPER INTO WHITE TIGER HERE~
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created by: Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod
1st appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4, 1982
Roberto Da Costa was born to Afro-Brazilian father Emmanuel Da Costa and his white American wife Nina. A very skilled soccer player since his youth he had dreams of one day playing the sport professionally. His powers activated when he was a victim of a racist attack while at a football match. This brought him to the attention of Charles Xavier who made him a founding member of the New Mutants team. After Avengers vs X-men alongside best friend Cannonball, he is recruited into Captain America’s global Avengers initiative and met Falcon, Captain Universe, Manifold, and NightMask. As an Avenger he was pulled into the INFINITY event. In a possible future, he leads the Avengers squad while also taking control of AIM.
~DIG DEEPER INTO SUNSPOT HERE~
RELATED: 10 Forgotten Black Marvel Mutants Who Should Be Revived
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created by: Ed Brubaker and artist Pete Woods
1st appearance:X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2 (February 2006)
The half-black, half-Latino Darwin/Armando EdiMunoz is a mutant with the power of reactive evolution literally allowing him to survive anything, though it is completely involuntary. As a member of Professor Xavier’s failed X-men team lead by Vulcan, he was presumed dead for years. Upon returning he rejoined the X-men and later X-Factor Investigations. With X-factor, he battled Hela the Asgardian mistress of death in Las Vegas. After trying to cope with his newly acquired powers and leaving the team he came back to kill Wolfsbane’s son. After the dissolution of the team, his current whereabouts are unknown.
- Shades
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created by: Archie Goodwin and George Tuska
1st appearance: Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1, 1972
Shades and Comanche were fellow hoods from Harlem who ran the streets with then, Carl Lucas and Willis Stryker. The four of them made up the gang called the Rivals. They worked the streets for the more established mobs. When they grew up, Lucas went straight, but Shades and Comanche continued to associate with Stryker once he became a mobster himself. They attempted to manipulate Lucas into starting a prison riot. After Lucas escaped, the guard responsible for Lucas’ mishap, Rackham, took his frustration out on the prisoners, especially the Black ones. Shades and Comanche were able to dig escape tunnels out of prison and went after Rackham, carrying a burning hatred for him due to his treatment of them in prison. The pair tracked Rackham across the country, committing small crimes to make cash.
- Tag
Created by: Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir & Carlo Barberi
1st appearance: New Mutants #10, 2004
Tag’s powers first manifested in his hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico. His parents enrolled him in the Xavier Institute for higher learning during the mutant boom of the twenty-first century. Once at school he became fast friends with Hellion his roommate and became his official right-hand man. When the students were placed in squads he became one of Emma Frost’s Hellions. On M-day when most mutants lost their powers Tag was one of them. Without his powers, he and Hellion grew distant and he was forced to leave the campus and his friends on a bus which was blown up while he and many other students were inside. The last thing he saw before dying was his best friend trying to save his life before a secondary explosion took his life. He was buried on the school grounds, his death haunts his best friend to this day.
- Ciaran McCoy
Created by: Chris Claremont and Sean Chen
First Appearance: X-Men: The End: Book 3: Men and X-men #3, 2006
Ciaran is the firstborn child of Hank McCoy AKA Beast and Cecilia Reyes. He has a throwback Simian/feline anatomy granting him enhanced senses, strength, agility, and regenerative abilities. It is unknown what other mutations he will possess since his mother has a life force generated Force field and his father a Mammalian throwback/ feline enhanced physiology.
- Angel Salvadore
Created by: Grant Morrison and Ethan Van Sciver
1st appearance: New X-Men #118, 2001
Biography
Angel Salvadore grew up in an abusive home with her father mother and younger sister. When her powers manifested her father kicked her out and she was almost dissected by the U-men, who planned to harvest her mutant organs. She was saved by wolverine and taken back to the Xavier institute during the big mutant boom after Genosha’s destruction. There she clashed with Emma Frost, was instrumental in defeating Cassandra Nova, and fell in love and mated with fellow mutant Beak. They lived with their children at a cabin in the woods on the Xavier estate up until M-day when she and her family were de-powered, all except one of her children. She would go on to become Tempest in a failed re-hash of the new warrior’s group post-civil war.
RELATED: THE BLACK MUTANT LISTING
- Cecilia Reyes
Created by: Scott Lobdell and Carlos Pacheco
1st appearance: X-Men #65, June 1997
Biography
Cecilia grew up in a poor community while in her native Puerto Rico. She was the second child of her family after older brother Miguel. One day she witnessed her father’s death outside the house and unable to save him he died in her arms. This traumatic event left young Cecelia a very motivated young woman who dedicated her life to the study of medicine.
This ambition and single-minded drive allowed her to leave her life in Puerto Rico and pursue her dreams in the United States. During Operation Zero Tolerance she was ousted as a mutant and lost her job but became a member of the renegade X-men. Even after she left the team she remained a close ally always ready to join the battle and aid her adopted family either as a Doctor or warrior. Cecelia also shared a romance with the X-men’s Beast.
~DIG DEEPER INTO CECILIA REYES HERE~
- Flashback
Publisher: Milestone Comics
First Appearance: Blood Syndicate #1, April 1993
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie, Ivan Velez Jr., and Denys Cowan
The Dominican-born Flashback joined the Force Syndicate, Dakota’s “Misfit” gang along with her brother Fade when they emigrated from Dominica. At the Big, Bang Flashback was one of only a handful of people to survive the massacre.
After the incident, she gained superhuman powers as one of the “Bang Babies”. She banded together along with her brother Fade and many more “Bang babies” to form the Blood Syndicate. For a while, she dated a teammate and then-leader Holocaust. Because of the nature of her power she was used as a fail-safe for her teammates when in hectic situations. If anyone was mortally wounded she would travel back in time and prevent them from dying. Over time, however, this took a toll on her psyche since she had memories of all her friends being horrifically killed. To compensate for the nightmares which haunted her she turned to cocaine use. When Holocaust left the team she remained with her friends under the leadership of Wise Son. After Holocaust returned and challenged Wise son for leadership and loss she continued to follow Wise son. After meeting Icon and Rocket she became friends with Rocket who helped her kick her drug addiction.
~DIG DEEPER INTO FLASHBACK HERE~
- Ava Ayala
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created by: Christos N. Gage
1st appearance: Avengers Academy #20, 2011
Born into the Puerto Rican Ayala clan, she was the baby of the family. By the time she was born, her sister Awilda had her own kids and most of her siblings were already adults. She idolized her big brother Hector who was the first real Hispanic superhero of any note. Her father and mother were killed because they were the parents of a superhero. Devastated by the loss, she moved in with her sister Awilda’s family.
When Ava Ayala’s niece, Angela Del Toro, retired from heroics, she passed the amulets of power onto her so she could carry on the legacy of the White Tiger. Joining the Avengers Academy, she had clashing personalities with fellow Latino Reptil in regards to their Latino culture.
She joins the Mighty Avengers during Infinity.
~DIG DEEPER INTO AVA AYALA HERE~
- Stigmata
Publisher: Marvel Comics
First Appearance: Venom: Sign of the Boss #1, 1997
Created By: Ivan Velez Jr. and Tom Dorenick
When the Dominican-born young mutant Ana Schwartz exhibited Stigmata (marks resembling wounds on the crucified Jesus Christ) and other seemingly supernatural powers, her grandmother sold her to the Catholic orphanage. The Vatican soon recognized her potential and recruited her into the Holy guard, who protected the Vatican and its wealthy patrons, but she eventually left to join the altruistic Jesuit Sect “Holy Fire”. She was assigned to serve as the bodyguard for San Gregorian President Franco Santera, who claimed to have turned to God and repented for his tyrannical past; she was also tasked with determining if his conversion was genuine.
Santera’s visit to the Bronx’s St. Jude Church was interrupted by a terrorist squad, led by the cyborg Teraknid (Aurelio Santurce), hired by Santera to make his repentance look real. Stigmata took out several terrorists, but Teraknid paralyzed her with his poisoned sting, and she was bound and gagged, preventing her from activating her powers. The situation deteriorated, exacerbated by the intervention of federal agent Venom (Eddie Brock) and the vigilante Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch), and Santera tried to kill all the witnesses; in the ensuing confusion, a nun removed Stigmata’s gag, allowing her to call upon the angel Gabriel and activate her powers. She distracted Santera, allowing Ghost Rider to administer his soul-searing Penance Stare. Stigmata then took custody of Santera and delivered him to a secret Vatican Prison.
~DIG DEEPER INTO STIGMATA HERE~
- Victor Alvarez/Power Man
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created by: Fred Van Lente and Mahmud A. Asrar
1st appearance: Shadowland: Power Man #1, (2010)
Victor was born to Puerto-Rican born Afro-Latino Supervillain/former gang member and friend of Luke Cage who was known as Shades and Maria Alvarez. He idolized his father despite his villainous past and was often absent. Victor miraculously survived the ordeal by somehow absorbing the chi of all those who had died. He can absorb chi energy from his surroundings without the need to meditate or concentrate. This chi energy enhances him to the point of invulnerability; he’s been shown surviving point-blank gunfire and surviving the bombing of his home; Superhuman strength allowing him to trade blows with Luke Cage. He has been a member of the Mighty Avengers and the U.S Avengers while dating fellow Afro-Latino Ava Ayala.
- Francesca McCoy
Created by: Chris Claremont and Sean Chen
First Appearance: X-Men: The End: Book 3: Men and X-men #3, 2006
Secondborn child of Hank McCoy AKA Beast and Cecilia Reyes in the world of Earth 41001 otherwise known as “X-men The End world”. It is unknown what mutations she will possess if any since two mutant parents don’t guarantee a mutant child.
- Tech-9
Publisher: Milestone Comics
First Appearance: Blood Syndicate #1, April 1993
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie, Ivan Velez Jr., and Denys Cowan
Puerto Rican-born Tech-9 was a loyal founding member of the Force Syndicate, one of the more benevolent gangs in Dakota. When all the gangs got together to battle it out for respect and turf on Paris Island the Force Syndicate was there and had a real shot at finally getting respect. That was until the cops arrived and started using the experimental tear gas, filled with “Quantum Juice”. Hundreds of gang members started dying from the gas but somehow Rolando got back on his feet and grabbed Dogg and fled the scene. He discovered that on the night of the Big Bang, he was blessed with the ultimate compliment to his natural marksmanship ability-no weapon he holds ever runs out of ammunition. His obsession with military strategy and discipline lead him along with Fade and Flashback to recruit Holocaust, Masquerade, Wise Son, Third Rail, and Brickhouse to form the Blood Syndicate. Rolando tried to steer the team in the same benevolent way he had done with Force Syndicate by having them take out drug runners and clean up the neighborhood. He was met by spirited resistance from Holocaust who was once a member of the vicious Paris Bloods. After defending his leadership from Holocaust his body liquefied killing him instantly. He died in the arms of his best friend Fade.
- Fade
Publisher: Milestone Comics
First Appearance: Blood Syndicate #1, April 1993
Created by: Dwayne McDuffie and Denys Cowan
Carlos Quinones joined the force syndicate with his sister Flashback in order to help them assimilate after moving to the U.S. from Dominica. He knew from early on that he was gay. While in the force syndicate, he fell in love with Tech-9, one of the founding members of Force Syndicate, though Tech-9 had no idea of Carlos’ true feelings. His gang-banger lifestyle left a strained relationship between him and his father. On the night of the Big Bang event, he was one of many gang members to attend. Unlike most of those present, however, he was changed by the event into a super-powered being. Stretched over a three-second time span, he would remain incorporeal and almost unseen forever. Luckily, his sister Flashback‘s power anchored him in whichever time she was in. He lost the man he loved eventually and was blackmailed due to his sexuality by teammate Masquerade. It’s unknown if he is still “in the closet” to this day.
- Bantam
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Created by: Mark Gruenwald, David Wohl, and M.C. Wyman
1st appearance: Captain America Annual #12, 1993
Puerto Rican, Roberto Velasquez was a talented boxer in his hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico. With his small size and weight, he was unsure if he could make it as a professional boxer. He was approached by international crime boss Armando Aviles, who offered to finance an experimental physical augmentation treatment for him to undergo to aid him in his career. After receiving the treatment, Velasquez inadvertently killed his opponent in his first match. He went into hiding after refusing to join Aviles’ gang. Bantam returned to San Juan and split his time between super-heroics and training other boxers. Due to his powers, he never stepped into the ring to fight again.
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- Miguel McCoy
Created by: Chris Claremont and Sean Chen
First Appearance: X-Men: The End: Book 3: Men and X-men #3, 2006
The third child born to Hank McCoy AKA Beast and Cecilia Reyes on earth 41001. Taking after his father Young Miguel is the only “Obvious” mutant in his family. He has superhuman strength, agility, endurance, and speed all to an unspecified degree. He also has razor-sharp claws on his hands and his feet and a thick blue fur all over his body. His sense of sight, touch, and taste may also be enhanced but this too would be to an unspecified degree. It is unknown if he will undergo secondary mutation or develop powers similar to his mother.
- Gimmick
Publisher: Marvel comics
Created by: Vita Ayala, Bernard Chang
1st appearance: Children of the Atom Vol 1 #1 (March 10, 2021)
Carmen Maria Cruz is a Puerto-Rican, lesbian High school student and member of the mutant obsessed teens who has used technology to mimic the powers of the X-men. She is styled after Gambit. After it was revealed that she was the only true mutant on the team, she was personally invited to the Hellfire Gala by Storm. She attended the Hellfire Gala and met Eye-Boy and Mystique. Carmen is a lesbian currently dating her teammate ‘Buddy’/Cyclops-Lass
- D-cell
Created by: Fabian Nicieza, Ron Garney
1st appearance: Juggernaut #1 (Sept 2020)
Miranda Manuel fought Juggernaut after he began working with Damage control. Despite having the power to generate and direct a deceleration field which slows kinetic motion she overexerted herself and collapsed during the battle. Juggernaut suggested she was a mutant but she denied it. Juggernaut remained at her bedside while she recovered. She has a Roxtube channel and upon realizing she was a mutant she went to Krakoa.
- Manuel Enduque (White King
Created by: Jason Aaron, Frank Cho
1st appearance: X-Men: Schism #2
Manuel Enduque (White King) is reportedly descended from a dynasty of slavers based in Africa. His family has recently expanded his business to ship human slaves to interstellar clients. Manuel took control of the family business by killing his father and shipping his seven older brothers to a planet of man-eating monsters. Manuel was recruited to the Hellfire Club Inner Circle at the request of Kade Kilgore.
If you enjoyed this list be sure to check out
the Top 30 Black Superheroes- Traffic Edition, the Top 30 Black Superheroes-Fan Edition,
the Top Black Power Rangers, the Top 20 Black Superheroes-Milestone Comics editions.
and The Top 50 Black Superheroes- Fan Edition
What do you think?
Who did we miss?
Sound off below!