Review of “Super Super Charro” by Carlos Lozano

Score: 88/100 (8.8 out of 10)

Everyone dreams of being a superhero at one time or another.
Every group of people--no matter what part of the world they live in--needs its heroes!

Super Super Charro by Carlos Lozano follows a fledgling police officer named Pepe Jiménez who works at the local police station in East Los Angeles, handling fingerprinting and mugshots. He is young, ambitious, and fresh out of the academy but feels underutilized. Having a good heart and a willingness to help even hardened criminals (like Roberto Guerra) to pursue a better path, he dreams of being a hero—both literally (in his actual dreams at night) and in real life. He also dreams of being a successful mariachi musician.

However, his real life is far from glamorous or fulfilling. He is heartbroken over his childhood crush, Olivia, and his music career going up in flames (thanks to his father, the police chief, who pushes him into law enforcement).

The book progresses as we learn about the existence of two legendary/mythological figures:

Super Super Charro—a superhero with a magic lasso and sombrero who rides on the back of a horse that can transform into a Pegasus

El Charro Negro/Dark Charro—a supervillain based on Mexican folklore who rides on the back of a black horse and who brings evil, violence, and corruption everywhere he goes.

Essentially, you're dealing with the Mexican equivalent of Superman and Darkseid, Goku and Frieza, Batman and Joker, or Arch-Angel Michael and the Devil.

They are the representations of good and evil in the mythos/lore of the story, which again is based on Mexican folklore and mythology.

The main human villain, Senor Diego Mas Grande, believes that he has finally captured and can finally end Super Charro. However, Senor Diego Mas Grande and everyone else is stunned to discover that Super Charro has vanished, leaving behind only his magical sombrero.

As you might expect, this is all building to Pepe being elevated to the Super Super Charro role and living his dreams.

But let's go back a bit...

Senor Diego Mas Grande is essentially the Kingpen or Lex Luthor of the story. While he lacks supernatural abilities or superpowers like El Charro Negro, he is imposing and intimidating nonetheless, serving as a prime example of El Charro Negro's influence on the physical world and its population.

There are several good character-building moments for Pepe en route to becoming a Charro superhero. One of them is that he gains a love interest in Connie Guzman, a cunning and beautiful police officer in Mexico City who may be a nominee for “Hottest Character!”

Connie is tough, confident, and competent, in stark contrast to Pepe. This gives Pepe someone to chase and aspire to impress/be with, which gives this book a bit more oomph than we would've had otherwise

Connie plays hard to get, though this gives way to another great moment in the book: Pepe finally being able to perform his mariachi music publicly and being appreciated for it.

Pepe has so much to prove, not just to others, like Connie and his dad). but also to himself. That makes him a somewhat compelling character.

At the same time, a lot of the tension and intrigue of this book is lost simply due to its goofy, comical tone.

A vigilante superhero appearing out of nowhere to save the day and wielding/playing an instrument before battle really reminded us of something like Kikaida, a super cheesy Japanese TV show from decades ago.

However, with cheesiness and hokiness comes a bit of charm.
This book is fun and entertaining in its own unique way.