Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez (born June 21, 1970) is a writer at

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Marvel Enterprises, Inc.) was an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, formed by the merger of #Marvel Entertainment Group, Marvel Ente ...

, Editor-in-Chief at Darryl Makes Comics LLC, Art Director/Owner at Somos Arte and Studio Edgardo creative services, and creator of ''

La Borinqueña "" is the official anthem of Puerto Rico. After Puerto Rico became known as "The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" in 1952, the first elected governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, signed law #2 of July 24, 1952, which made an altered version of the musica ...

'', an original comic book character that has grown into a cultural phenomenon and a nationally recognized symbol of Puerto Rican patriotism, social justice, and equality.

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

-born and

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

-raised, Miranda-Rodriguez considers himself, above all, a

Nuyorican Nuyorican is a portmanteau word blending "New York" (or "Nueva York" in Spanish) and "Puerto Rican," referring to Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, their culture, or their descendants (especially those raised or currently livin ...

Early life

Miranda-Rodriguez experienced the effects of poverty and racism as a Puerto Rican in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s. However, he had a loving family in his mother and siblings, with whom he could endure these times. In her efforts to help him find an outlet, his mother sparked a creative impulse. This love of comics spurred his interest in the visual arts, which he pursued in and out of school. In his early teen years, Miranda-Rodriguez and his family lived for a time in Puerto Rico. This was a brief, but inspiring period for Miranda-Rodriguez, when his creative talents were encouraged, and where his connection to Puerto Rico deepened. After returning to the mainland United States, the family eventually settled in Syracuse, NY for Miranda-Rodriguez' high school years. Having overcome his earlier schooling interruptions, he would graduate high school with honors and go on to

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

on a full scholarship.

Education and activism

Though Colgate University seemed far removed from the South Bronx, Miranda-Rodriguez experienced discrimination and racism, experiences that served to spark his passion and purpose. "''I started college in 1989 and became a campus activist.''" Miranda-Rodriguez was active in the Latin American Student Organization and the Office of Undergraduate Studies program, mentoring students, organizing events, and creating community. One event in particular, would shape his personal and professional trajectory.

In 1992, I met Iris Morales, a community organizer in East Harlem who had been a leader in the Young Lords, the 1970's Puerto-Rican political movement. She was a lawyer and I was in awe...That year I helped organize the first conference produced by the Latin American Student Organization at Colgate. It was a Young Lords Party reunion. Morales was slated to be my keynote speaker, but after a family emergency she suggested I ask Luis Garden Acosta, who ran the El Puente community center in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to speak in her place.

At his Colgate graduation, Miranda-Rodriguez was awarded the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Award, for the senior having enriched the student of color community. Soon after the ceremony, he made his way to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to work for Garden Acosta. El Puente was founded in the spirit of liberation theology and rooted in the legacy of the

Young Lords The Young Lords, also known as the Young Lords Organization (YLO), were a left-wing political organization that originally developed from a Chicago street gang. With major branches in Chicago and New York City, they were known for their direct act ...

. In this environment, Miranda-Rodriguez was able to nurture his

artivism Artivism is a portmanteau word combining "art" and "activism", and is sometimes also referred to as "social artivism". History The term artivism in US English has its roots in a 1997 gathering of Chicano artists from East Los Angeles and t ...

. He curated culturally and socially conscious works, producing and promoting events such as El Puente's poetry slams in the early 1990s, some of which featured the yet-to-be-discovered poet & playwright, Tony-winner

Lemon Andersen Lemon Andersen (born Andrew Andersen; April 21, 1975) is an American poet, spoken word artist and actor. He is sometimes credited as Lemon. He is the author of ''County of Kings'' and the subject of the documentary ''Lemon''. In his November 20 ...

. Miranda-Rodriguez sought to motivate young people's interest and passion for personal activism and community leadership by integrating hip-hop culture in the classroom, bringing in artists as guest speakers, to include Crazy Legs,

Rosie Perez Rosa Maria Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came at age 24 with her portrayal of Tina in the film '' Do the Right Thing'' (1989), followed by '' White Men Can't Jump'' (1992). Perez's performance in '' Fear ...

Q-Tip Cotton swabs (American English) or cotton buds (British English), also Q-tips ( proprietary eponym), are wads of cotton wrapped around a short rod made of wood, rolled paper, or plastic. They are most commonly used for ear cleaning, although th ...

Tony Touch Joseph Anthony Hernandez (born July 2, 1969), professionally known as Tony Touch, is an American hip hop break dancer, rapper, record producer and DJ of Puerto Rican descent. Career Tony Touch began as a B-boy during the rap music renaissance e ...

and

Bobbito Garcia Robert "Bobbito" Garcia (born September 25, 1966), also known as DJ Cucumber Slice and Kool Bob Love, is an American DJ, radio host, author, and member of the Rock Steady Crew. He is known as a former co-host of hip hop radio show ''The Stretch ...

. At El Puente, Miranda-Rodriguez helped found and run an annual conference called '''¡Muévete! The Boricua Youth Conference (muevete is Spanish for 'move yourself') for almost 10 years. During his time at El Puente, Miranda-Rodriguez would be reunited with his mentor,

Iris Morales Iris Morales (born 1948) is an American activist for Latino/a civil rights, filmmaker, author, and lawyer based in New York. She is best known for her work with the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican community activist group in the United States and her f ...

, who sought him out to be the Artistic Director for her award-winning PBS POV documentary, ''¡Pa'lante, Siempre Pa'lante!'' Throughout his time with El Puente and ¡Muevete!, Miranda-Rodriguez also kept honing his craft, strengthening his graphic design skills working at Latino web magazine ''Mi Gente''. This was a most providential connection, as it was where he met

Joe Quesada Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books, ...

, who would become Marvel Comics' second-longest running Editor-in-Chief (after the great

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

Professional life

Somos Arte

After leaving El Puente, Miranda-Rodriguez founded Somos Arte (Spanish for 'we are art') Creative Arts Services, a design studio that focused on graphic design, web development, artwork/video production, and branding. Somos Arte initially focused on providing creative services to nonprofit arts/community-based organizations and educational institutions, to include the Hip-Hop Theater Festival (now Hi-ARTs), Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, and

ASPIRA of New York The ASPIRA Association is an American nonprofit organization whose mission is to "empower the Latino community through advocacy and the education and leadership development of its youth". ASPIRA's national office is in Washington, D.C., and it h ...

. Somos Arte's work attracted the attention of high-end clients such as

Pantene Pantene () is an American brand of hair care products now owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line originated in Europe in 1945 by Hoffmann-La Roche of Switzerland, which based the name on panthenol. It started to be introduced in the United ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. Through Miranda-Rodriguez' earlier connections with Marvel's

, Somos Arte was commissioned to curate Quesada's first solo art show, "Santerians" that focused on Quesada's characters of the same name - the first Latino superhero group, based on the Santeria religion. The success of this show and Quesada's work inspired Miranda-Rodriguez to curate an art show presenting art work about the 6 black characters from across the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...

: The Black Panther,

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. in 1972, he was the first Af ...

, The Falcon,

Blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

and

War Machine War Machine (Col. James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton as a supporting character for Iron Man, he first appeared i ...

. It was a groundbreaking exhibit, a celebration of these characters' legacy and a clarion call for the inclusion of more characters of color. Quesada himself was a fan:

I think Edgardo was able to open some eyes of people who were not familiar with how the world of comic art was so multicultural," he said. "It's not just guys in capes but socially relevant content and a great story to tell.

In 2016, Miranda-Rodriguez debuted his original comic book character for Marvel, ''Abuela Estella''. He and Darryl McDaniels wrote the story for ''Guardians of Infinity No. 3,'' where the Puerto Rican grandma introduces a Taino-inspired origin for the tree-like alien,

Groot Groot () is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Tales to Astonish'' #13 (November 1960). An extraterrestrials in fiction, ex ...

. Also in 2016, Miranda-Rodriguez provided album cover art for

The Hamilton Mixtape ''The Hamilton Mixtape'' is a 2016 mixtape album featuring assorted (and deleted) songs from the 2015 Broadway musical ''Hamilton'' performed by various artists, including Common, Kelly Clarkson, Wiz Khalifa, Nas, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Dess ...

, a reimagining of the songs from the

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * ...

-winning Best Musical,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Studio Edgardo

A division of Somos Arte, Studio Edgardo focuses on using Miranda-Rodriguez' art-direction to work with comic book artists on "non-comic book" projects. Studio Edgardo has worked with

Phil Jimenez Phil Jimenez (born July 12, 1970) is an American comics artist and writer known for his work as writer/artist on ''Wonder Woman (comic book), Wonder Woman'' from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005–2006 miniseries ''Infinite C ...

(DC/Marvel),

Koi Turnbull Koi Turnbull (sometimes credited as Coy Turnbull) is an American comic book artist, known for his work with DC Comics, Marvel, Aspen MLT's ''Fathom''. Early life and career Coy Turnbull (the original spelling) was born on December 12, in Elmhurs ...

(DC/Marvel/Aspen), Le Beau Underwood (DC/Marvel),

Lee Loughridge Lee Loughridge is an artist who has worked as a colorist in the comics industry. He is possibly best known for his work on the various '' Batman Adventures'' titles. Bibliography His other work includes such titles as: *''Accelerate'' *''Angel' ...

(DC/Marvel), and Raul Treviño (DC/Marvel). In 2013, Miranda-Rodriguez convened other comic book artists to create depictions of the cultural history of East Harlem, known better as '' El Barrio''. Their work was presented in an app commissioned by the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCADI) to preserve the history of the community. The app debuted with the opening of CCADI's new location in 2015. Called, ''Mi Querido Barrio'' (Spanish for 'my beloved neighborhood'), the app presented Miranda-Rodriguez and the other artists' work as markers in a virtual tour of the community.

Darryl Makes Comics (DMC)

Darryl Makes Comics is an independent comic book imprint launched in 2014 by

Darryl McDaniels Darryl Matthews McDaniels (born May 31, 1964), also commonly known by his stage name DMC (or D.M.C.), is an American rapper and record producer. He is a founding member of the Hip-hop, hip hop group Run-DMC, and is considered one of the pioneers ...

- comic book fan, and one-third of the hip-hop group, Run-D.M.C. McDaniels brought Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez in to serve as Editor-in-Chief, and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

executive Rigo "Riggs" Morales as Senior Editor. The imprint's first series was titled, "DMC". DMC#1 was a nearly 100-page graphic novel set in 1980s New York City, featuring the superhero, DMC, battling for justice in an alternate universe. Miranda-Rodriguez is the editor and creator, developing the 13-year old Puerto Rican, ''LAK6'' (real name Leticia Lebron), introduced in DMC #1.5.

La Borinqueña

Based on the positive response he received for the character of Abuela Estella he created for Marvel, Miranda-Rodriguez recognized a cultural void in the comic book universe and was inspired to create a main character to provide "a stronger presence for the Puerto Rican and Latino community." This inspiration came as Miranda-Rodriguez was approached by the organizers of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. They wanted to honor him for his work with Marvel and DMC. Seeing the Parade as a unique platform, Miranda-Rodriguez proposed an original comic book to be introduced at the 2016 Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC. With the name La Borinqueña taken from the Puerto Rican national anthem, Miranda-Rodriguez sought to integrate the history and indigenous traditions of Puerto Rico with the modern day sensibilities demanded by the multiple crises facing its people. ''La Borinqueña'', also known as Marisol Rios De La Luz, is an Afro-Boricua woman with a Chinese-Dominican best friend, modeling the unity Miranda-Rodriguez hoped

Latinx ''Latinx'' is an English neologism used to refer to people with Latin American cultural or ethnic identity in the United States. The term aims to be a gender-neutral alternative to ''Latino'' and ''Latina'' by replacing the masculine and fem ...

s would aspire to. Just as important to the story is that Marisol lives in Brooklyn, and is a community activist and environmental studies student at Columbia University. Miranda-Rodriguez notes that in tackling such 'villains' as voter rights, climate change and police accountability, it is Marisol's activist and academic identity that could be potentially more powerful than her superhero self: "She doesn't fight crime, per se. She's a symbol of hope." On March 4, 2017, Miranda-Rodriguez embarked on a national omicbook tour, starting in Philadelphia. Regardless of the initial motivation that Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez had that led to the creation of La Borinqueña, the outcome of the character was a significant impact on the Puerto Rican community following

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

. In 2018, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez was featured in ''Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico,'' a comic book put together by a team of comic book artists with the goal of raising funds for relief for those in Puerto Rico affected by Hurricane Maria. With it being published by Somos Arte and set for release on May 23, 2018, Miranda-Rodriguez took on the role of Producer, sharing that his goal was to inspire Boricuas (Puerto Ricans) with stories about their island to push for reconstruction following the devastation seen throughout their land. The character of La Borinqueña came back in this comic, fighting alongside DC characters such as Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman after Somos Arte received permission from DC to use their characters. According to Miranda-Rodriguez, he was hoping to use these characters and their recognizability “to talk about a real-world human rights issue affecting real people.” Tying it back to his activist roots, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez revealed that his interest in comics developed partly because it allowed him to tell stories. Books such as ''Ricanstruction'' show how comics have been a vessel for the advocacy of his roots and how awareness can be diffused far and wide. In 2019, his work with La Borinqueña and ''Ricanstruction'' led Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez to be awarded the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award. During that time, Miranda-Rodriguez also began putting money from the sales of ''Ricanstruction'' towards grants meant for Puerto Rican non-profit organizations. This led Miranda-Rodriguez and his partner to establish th
La Borinqueña Grants Program
through Somos Arte in 2020, with the end goal of supporting Puerto Rican organizations that find solutions for common and widespread problems the community faces. As of late September 2022, La Borinqueña has had five volumes published. With Hurricane Maria’s 5th anniversary coming up during that time, Somos Arte released the first and last volumes of the comics with newly created cover art to commemorate the struggles and reconstruction Puerto Ricans went through following the hurricane. These releases come following another devastating hurricane that hit the island:

Hurricane Fiona Hurricane Fiona was a large, powerful, and destructive tropical cyclone in mid-to-late September 2022. The storm affected many Caribbean countries, Bermuda, and Atlantic Canada. It caused at least 29 deaths and 3 billion US dollars in damages ...

Personal life

Miranda-Rodriguez is married to Kyung Jeon-Miranda, a Brooklyn-based fine artist.

Exhibitions

* 2007: Curator, ''The Santerians: The Art of Joe Quesada,'' the first solo art show by graphic artist

, then Editor-in-Chief of

* 2009-2010: Curator, ''Marvelous Color,'' exhibit featuring black characters from across the

. * 2014: Featured Artist, Mi Querido Barrio, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute's Augmented Reality Exhibition & Tour. Work: Art Direction of ''Young Lords' Garbage Offensive of 1969'', an augmented reality piece, part of El Barrio's historical preservation project. * 2016: Featured Artist, ''CTRL+ALT: A Culture Lab on Imagined Futures,'' the Smithsonian's Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) exhibit exploring the future. Work: ''La Borinqueña'' * 2016: Curator, ''Guardians of Loisaida'', an exhibit featuring original artwork from, and inspired by, Miranda-Rodriguez' debut as a

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

writer. * 2016: Curator, ''Café con Comics: Boricuas in the Comic Book Industry'', an exhibit featuring Puerto Rican comic book artists at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

CUNY The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

. * 2017: Featured Artist, ''Citicien - Nueva York: A #DefendPR Multimedia Art Group Exhibit'', a traveling exhibition which premiered at Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center.

References

External links

Darryl Makes Comics
(DMC) {{DEFAULTSORT:Miranda-Rodriguez, Edgardo 1970 births American comics artists American people of Puerto Rican descent Living people Artists from New Jersey Artists from New York City Writers from the Bronx