1	POWER ISSUE MASTERS OF INFLUENCE—power in America Our short list of the most powerful Hispanics, from familiar faces, to those destined to be known. read more...
2	GOOD CALL How Padre Alberto followed the voice in his heart to become an international media mogul, a self-help coach and a bestselling author. read more...
3	VEGAS’ SAFEST BET— power in media Univision news director Adriana Arevalo steers Spanish-language coverage in the nation’s second fastest growing Hispanic television market. read more...
4	TAKING WING—power through philanthropy Made up of determined high profile Latin American artists and business people, the organization ALAS is launched. read more...
5	EN LA LUCHA A photo essay from shutterbug Malcolm Venville’s Lucha Loco, a collection of photographic portraits featuring masked lucha libre wrestlers. read more...
6	IN GOOD COMPANY The nation’s top Hispanic-friendly firms. read more...
7	SPEAK OF THE DEVIL Hockey phenom Scott Gomez of the New Jersey Devils is slap-shooting his name into the history of the sport. read more...
8	TOP HONORS The military leaders awarded by Hispanic Magazine. read more...

The superpowerful

LUCHA LOCA

they’ve got all the right moves

Part theater, part performance, part acrobatics and a touch of circus wonder: The dramatic art of Mexican wrestling can be described as all these things and more. The glorious masks, the classic battle between wrestlers who stand for good against their evil counterparts, and of course the aerodynamic and death-defying moves, it’s all thrilling. And it’s as much a part of the Mexican cultural diaspora as it is a growing phenomenon in the U.S. Just take a look at the recent comedy Nacho Libre or Warner Bros. animated Mucha Lucha on Cartoon Network for proof.
Mexican or not, we all love a good
lucha libre.
It seems Malcolm Venville would agree. The British photographer behind the new photo book Lucha Loco also seems to want to shed light on the superpower wrestlers themselves, outside the ring and its theatrics.
Though the book is essentially a compilation of 120 studio portraits of luchadores dressed up in their fighting best, it’s less of a dolled-up yearbook and more of an exploration between the wrestler persona and the men who make them.
In the illuminating introduction, writer Sandro Cohen reveals that wrestlers are really moonlighters. During the working hours they are accountants, salesmen, television repairmen, and come fight time, they don tights, masks and characters. This truth lends them a superhero quality, after all Superman wore tights and Batman was little without the mask and cape.
Alongside each shot is a small truth about the man behind the mask. Aguila Negra, clad in his black-and-white embroidered mask reveals: “My job is to sell meat, I’m a butcher. My favourite hold is the cross.” With his sweaty long hair and frightening red and black mask, one can hardly believe Dr. Muerte’s confession, “And I’m also in sales.”
It’s this element of humanity that lets the reader in on the superpowers’ inner Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne, something rarely shared in the ring, but gladly devoured by any lucha libre fan or reader lucky enough to get their hands on Lucha Loco.