K: Kusama
L: Lucifer
M: Museé d’Orsay
N: Nyota Uhura
O: Ofrenda
A little more than halfway there! Who says the arts aren’t necessary? People who have never done, looked at, or listened to an art apparently. Can you imagine a world without the arts? I can’t, which is why I’ve chosen it as my next A–Z umbrella topic. If there are any sub-genres you’d like be to highlight, feel free to slide into the conversation @BookRiot on Twitter!
The Devil is a Part-Timer is one of his more novel depictions, though, which is why I’ve included it here: defeated in his bid to conquer a sacred island, Lucifer and his most trusted general flee…to Tokyo in 2015. Hoping to find a way to replenish their magic and achieve world domination, they do what they must to establish a bulwark: rent a crappy apartment, try to stick to a budget, and secure employment. Satan steps up for that last part, knowing that if he can only rise through the ranks in the fast food chain that takes him on as a part-timer, he can conquer Tokyo, then Japan, then the World—provided he can survive the reincarnation of the hero Emilia, natural disasters that aren’t so natural, teenage fangirls, and the crushing demands of customer service.
I know I said I wasn’t buying any more books but excuse me, I need it.
Lieutenant Nyota Uhura means so much to so many. The fact that a Black woman was part of main cast of a prime time sci-fi show in the mid-1960s, that so much of what happened during those amazing adventures hinged on her ability to communicate, on the trust her crewmates and her captain put in her…I don’t know that there will ever be words that adequately convey her place in history. Uhura has since been depicted in animation, comics, official art, fanart, and various other media, always the voice of reason and compassion but she is never one to back down from a fight that threatens the beings she cares about. The ultimate avatar of “do no harm but take no shit,” she is a fierce heroine indeed.
Part of the celebration involves the construction of an ofrenda, a table in the home upon which the living leave the deceased’s favorite foods along with tortillas, fruit, pan de muertos, and other edibles, candles, marigolds, and cock’s combs. Calaveras and calacas were not introduced until the 19th century.
Javier Hernadez, a Mexican American artist and writer, grew up loving Marvel and DC characters but always felt a certain lack of connection. He wanted the next generation to have what he didn’t: a comic born out of their own culture. That’s why he created his character El Muerto, a character thematically linked to both Día de Los Muertos and Aztec mythology. In Requiem, Diego de la Muerta is abducted by the Aztec gods on his way to his community’s Día de los Muertos festival in California and sacrificed. He is returned to Earth one year later with supernatural powers.
