Matt McAvoy Book Review

A lot of fun this colourful action romp from Carlos Lozano, which combines good, old-fashioned cartoon entertainment for the family with a more contemporary superhero palette.  This brings to mind caricature slapstick of the 80s and 90s, with a PG certificate, generally suitable and enjoyable for all, such as the Jim Carrey movie The Mask.  Admittedly, some of the more cartoonish visuals perhaps don’t portray so well on the page, and would certainly be more suited to a graphic novel or other media, but for the most part it is great fun.

A charro, for those who don’t know, is a type of Mexican rodeo performer, who performs Mariachi-style music while performing lasso tricks, often on horseback, etc.  Super Charro is a legendary superhero in Mexico.  Here, an unassuming, good-hearted (aren’t they always) young guy called Pepe is passed his powers, becoming Super Super Charro, tasked with taking on the city’s biggest supervillains – being light-hearted and for the family, their crimes generally involve robbing banks and stealing cars, etc.  Trouble looms, however, when an ancient witch grants the arch-villain similar powers to his own, and young Pepe is the only one who can stop him.

Music features very heavily in this tale, which I love.  It is almost metaphorical (perhaps it is metaphorical) the way that music gives the charro his/her power, for music has a unique ability to evoke dramatic emotional change in an instant.  It was a shame not to see this book on the screen, though perhaps Carlos might be persuaded to turn this into a noisy, action-packed audiobook, jammed full of background music? 

This was a great read, and will undoubtedly be enjoyed by adults and kids alike.  There is no violence to speak of, no bad language and no particularly adult themes beyond general crime.  You’ll need to bring a colourful imagination with you to get the best out of it, and I advise playing some relevant music for atmosphere.  This book is as close as you can get in written text to a live-action/animation hybrid, which doesn’t take itself too seriously.  This is not the soulless Marvel universe, but a project of love by Carlos – love for music, for his country, for the legend and the story.  There is so much to take from this highly enjoyable book, and with its word count around 40k, you could well fit it into one night.  Expect more from Super Super Charro; I wish Carlos tremendous success with his new friend.