Art & Story: Oscar Garza
Story: Rolando Esquivel
Publisher: 5 Meats Comics
WHAT IS IT?
A light comic about Hispanic elementary-age kids and their school and neighborhood adventures.
It feels like a classic Nickelodeon show: bright and fun and relevant to kids that age.
WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
(Minor Spoilers)
Lemon wants to ride a roller coaster before they close down the ride, but she needs to earn enough money to pay for admission.
To earn the dough, Lemon decides to open a lemonade stand. But she didn’t expect the other girls selling cookies to pose such a threat to her little lemonade stand...
Lemon and her friends, Pepper and Huggz, must quickly raise money and avoid the wrath of these girls who definitely, absolutely aren't "Girl Scouts."
WHAT WORKS?
Under the 5 Meats banner, Garza & Esquivel bring much-needed positive representation to the comics medium. In Lemon Pepper Huggz, all the characters are Hispanic, and multiple body types are represented in the story.
The colors within are bright and vibrant, perfect for kids
Spanish use in dialogue builds tone and authenticity while translations throughout the issues use the border space wisely and teach kids Spanish (see a great example of this below)
Like the colors, the tone is bright and fun and funny
Oscar Garza draws physical humor well, which delivers on the type of humor kids enjoy
In fact, the whole comic feels thoughtfully made for its audience, with a shortened, 16-page length cover to cover (great for short attention spans); lots of fun lettering effects and word balloons without too much copy in them; a character introduction in the front, so kids can develop that bond to the characters early on; and an activity page in the back, for coloring and puzzles
As an adult, it kept me interested, too, especially with its hilarious Chinatown reference and a panel that (I think) based on a classic meme/GIF
WHAT DOESN'T WORK?
It's lovely! I have nothing negative to say about it.
WHY SHOULD I READ IT?
Bright, bubbly and humorous, Lemon Pepper Huggz is a delightful Latinx kids story that's fun for the whole family.
WHAT DO I READ NEXT?
If you like the writing:
Tristen's Small Problem by Jennie Garza & Oscar Garza
Playground – Attack of the Gurglebots!!! by various creators
Ella Upgraded by Dan Whitehead & P.R. Dedelis
If you like the art:
Mashbone & Grifty #1 by Oscar Garza & Rolando Esquivel
Megatomic Battle Rabbit by Stu Perrins & Israel Huertas
Lumberjanes, Vol. 1 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis & Brooke Allen
ABOUT THE CREATORS
Oscar Garza – Writer & Artist
Dream Team: Co-founded 5 Meats Comics with Rolando Esquivel
Multitalented: Works on both the story side of things and the art side
Influenced by Carlos Meglia, Sam Kieth’s The Maxx, Disney’s Tarzan & WB’s Freakazoid (source)
Rolando Esquivel – Writer
Multitalented: Is also an editor at comics publisher, 5 Meats Comics
Is a huge pop culture fan, as you may be able to tell in the comic
Dream Team: Helped make, with Oscar Garza, the Mashbone & Grifty short on Amazon
HOW DO I BUY IT?
Click one of these:
You can also help support 5 Meats Comics' publishing endeavors by purchasing a Latinx-themed shirt from their store!
The image(s) used in this article are from a comic strip, webcomic or the cover or interior of a comic book. The copyright for this image(s) is likely owned by either the publisher of the comic, the writer(s) and/or artist(s) who produced the comic. It is believed that the use of this image(s) qualifies as fair use under the United States copyright law. The image is used in a limited fashion in an educational manner in order to illustrate the points of the author and not for the purpose of entertainment or substituting the original work. It is believed the use of this image has had no impact on the market value of the original work.
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