El Gato Negro

El Gato Negro (The Black Cat) is the name of two fictional American comic book superheroes created by Richard Dominguez and featured in the Azteca Productions' Universe. Both characters made their first appearance in El Gato Negro #1 (October 1993).

In the comic's continuity, Agustin Guerrero was the first to hold the title of El Gato Negro in the 1950s, creating the pseudonym in order to form a successful career in lucha libre. His motives soon changed however, as he decided to use his talents to fight the criminal element that plagued South Texas. Agustin later retired the alter ego in the late '60s, only for his grandson to adopt it three decades later. Agustin was first introduced as a major supporting character and there are plans to release a series featuring his own exploits as El Gato Negro.

Francisco Guerrero, the second and current incarnation of El Gato Negro, is Agustin's grandson. Francisco makes his living as a social worker in South Texas and devotes most of his free time volunteering for community service. Growing tired of the increasing crime rate in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and haunted by the murder of his friend Mario, Francisco continues the legacy of El Gato Negro, spending his nights fighting against crime. This version often receives comparison to Batman, which is in fact one of the character's many influences.

The El Gato Negro characters were created by comic book artist and writer Richard Dominguez, both making their first published appearance in El Gato Negro #1 (October 1993) published under Dominguez's own Azteca Productions imprint. The original series followed the adventures of Francisco Guerrero, a social worker living in Edinburg, Texas and grandson to the original El Gato Negro, who adopted his grandfather's former nom de guerre in order to avenge the death of his best friend. The series also introduced Agustin Guerrero, the original El Gato Negro of the early '50s and late '60s, as a major supporting character. Although the character officially retired from his former vigilante-activities, Agustin did appear in costume at the climax of the first story-arc entitled, "Unknown passing, Unforgettable Return" (El Gato Negro #1-3).

Dominguez had originally intended to introduce El Gato Negro as member of a largely Latino superhero group dubbed Team Tejas, but after placing considerably more emphasis on his character development, Dominguez ultimately decided to abandon the Team Tejas project for a later date. The character's secret identity, Francisco Guerrero, was devised to have direct ties to the Mexican Revolution. His given name was borrowed from Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa, while the surname Guerrero was mainly chosen for its English-translation "warrior", although Dominguez has hinted at a more historical significance, one which has yet to be revealed. Meanwhile, the shared alter-ego of El Gato Negro originated from an abandoned settlement by the name of "El Gato", located south of Pharr, Texas.

The character's personality and visual design was greatly influenced by Dominguez's own favorite pulp and comic book superheroes (most noticeably Batman) along with classic Mexican luchadors such as El Santo. Another strong influence was Lee Falk's The Phantom, a crime-fighter believed to be immortal but is in fact descended from 20 previous generations of crime-fighters who all adopted the same persona. This, along with Dominguez's own appreciation of the Silver Age of Comics, inspired the creation of a predecessor to the modern-day El Gato Negro. This character is now known as Agustin Guerrero, a former luchador-turned-adventurer of the late '50s and '60s.

The Francisco Guerrero incarnation of El Gato Negro became a popular character soon after his introduction, the first printing of the series actually sold-out within two months. A notable 1997 issue revived Margarito C. Garza's Relampago character, his first published appearance in nearly fifteen years. The series was later placed on hiatus during the late '90s, although the character consistently made appearances in other media.

In 2004, rather than return to the original series, Dominguez launched a brand new series continuing the adventures of El Gato Negro entitled, "El Gato Negro: Nocturnal Warrior". For this, Dominguez enlisted the aid of Michael S. Moore to serve as writer and co-plotter, having previously worked together on the first published issue of Team Tejas. The series also featured the work of guest penciller Efren Molina, while Dominguez acted as letterer and inker. The combination of Moore's writing style and Molina's pencils gave the new series a few stylistic changes from its predecessor.