Kayden Phoenix introduces the first Latina superhero universe in the comic book series “A La Brava.”

Her feet dance, and her skirt twirls. With a flick of her wrist, a knife flies from the seam in the dress.

Meet Jalisco, the first Latina Superhero in Kayden Phoenix’s A La Brava series. Phoenix, a filmmaker-turned-comics creator, bills A La Brava as the first team of Latina superheroes in the comics world.

The first collection of graphic novels takes their titles from the names of the starring superhero; three of the books – Jalisco, Santa, and Loquita – are currently available. Ruca is set to be published in 2021, and Bandita is currently in progress.

Phoenix, a screenwriter and director, didn’t originally conceive of A La Brava as a graphic novel series. Her inspiration stemmed from what she had wanted to see on the big screen.

“And my first answer was a superhero.”

With a background in business management and marketing, Phoenix considered the ways to make her idea sell. She expanded the idea to a team of five, reasoning that one of them could be made. She shot short films to pitch to producers and studios. But even with scripts and sizzles in hand, she was asked for the comic book they were based on.

But it didn’t exist. Not then, at least.

“It finally hit me,” says Phoenix. “After 25,000 times saying ‘there’s no comic,’ I realized I should do a comic because that’s what the audience wants.”

Phoenix started her research, from learning what makes a good graphic novel to learning how to storyboard. She assembled her own team to bring her stories to life, taking to social media with hashtags like “#visiblewomen” and “#womenwhodraw,” making connections and ultimately receiving dozens of portfolios from Latino artists.

Today, her pencillists, colorists and letterists are of Latina descent, many of them also Mexican-American. Phoenix’s creative team isn’t unlike her band of Latina Superheroes, whose novels take place in Mexico, Miami, Texas and more.

“They’re all different heritages,” she notes of her heroes. “Latinas encompass all of the western hemisphere.”

With characters hailing from different Latin American countries and the diaspora, Phoenix introduces a cast of women fighting against various injustices.

In developing the series, Phoenix said that the characters came first, but it was important to still set them apart from others in the superhero genre. “There’s a million superhero characters prior to me; I’m not going to break the mold, but what’s the new angle?”

“When I was thinking of each individual origin story, I thought of what social justice matter got me mad.”

After her mother disappears, folklorico dancer Alicia Cuevas (Jalisco) joins a group of women fighting against the rise of femicide in a Mexican town. Santa works to dismantle ICE in the fictional border town Wexo, Texas. Teenager Loquita gains supernatural powers that allows her to see demons and ghosts, as depression and teen suicide are at the forefront.

“This is really dark, really horrible stuff – but who else is going to write about it? Nobody,” Phoenix says. “Who’s going to give us justice? Nobody.”

In time, the five superheroes will join as a team in A La Brava. Phoenix is already envisioning Volume 2, which would take place after they all join as a team. “What happens afterwards, how many years or months pass? What is the new social justice cause?”

Right now, “I have no idea,” Kayden Phoenix laughs. She plans to hire more writers so she can focus on the marketing and sales of the series as a whole, though she plans to write Jalisco again. However, she’s worked with writers on developing pitches for the others and she’s open to them bringing their own passions and interests to a given social cause.

Whether it’s continued graphic novels or the eventual big screen, A La Brava has begun to make its mark. It’s not the only project Phoenix is working on, though. She will soon launch a Latina Princesses universe, exploring different histories of Latin American countries – with princesses. Phoenix recently finished the first script featuring an Aztec princess, Mexica, who will go on a quest to solve riddles to become crown princess.

It’s geared towards younger audiences, so the content is not as heavy as the A La Brava universe. “I’m so happy because there’s nothing dark about it,” says Phoenix. “This is literally just a cute princess.”

Outside of the universes Phoenix creates, she continues to work on the realities closer to home. In 2019, Phoenix launched the Chicana Director’s Initiative, a non-profit organization that amplifies and advocates for female-identifying directors and cinematographers of Latina descent in the entertainment industry.

Of the 1,300 films that were made in 2018, only one Latina director was hired. The disparity extends through television as well, and across other roles like writers, producers and composers.

Members of CDI have access to workshops as well as some sponsored memberships to major organizations like Women in Film or the Alliance of Women Directors. They also maintain lists of directors and DPs, providing producers with a slate of Latina filmmakers as potential hires for their shoots. Phoenix wants to make these Latina directors and DPs visible, and show their work and encourage productions to hire them: “We do exist. There’s no excuse” not to hire Latina filmmakers, she stresses.

“We have really great people and I’m very fortunate to have those people around me,” says Phoenix.

“But that’s how I started off: because I was mad.”

It’s that trait of Kayden Phoenix’s – to fight for a cause, and to bring together fellow Latinas – that follows through to her characters. Whether by page or by screen, Phoenix works to improve the world in front of her – whether they wield blades or cameras.

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