While Angelenos Sleep

Gotham can keep Batman. Here in Los Angeles, we have El Muerto, the Aztec Zombie. Like any self-respecting superhero, El Muerto has a complex origin story, which goes something like this: En route to a Day of the Dead party, Whittier resident Diego de la Muerte is abducted and sacrified by an Aztec god of the netherworld, only to rise again as El Muerto, white-faced defender of truth, justice and the Eastside. El Muerto, now starring in an indie comic book and being developed as a live-action feature film at Peninsula Films, was created by Javier Hernandez, 38, of Whittier, who has taken El Muerto to comic book conventions, Latino bookstores and other venues. “I wanted to tap into Mexican folklore of Day of the Dead as well as Aztec mythology and good old American comic books of the last several decades,” he says. Paintings and drawings by Hernandez and others are currently on display in a timely Day of the Dead show at Froden Gallery. And watch out for Mictlantecuhtli. We hear he’s hell on wheels.--C.D.

“El Muerto, the Aztec Zombie: the Art of Javier Hernandez,” Froden Gallery, 11614 W. Pico Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 312-7012, through Nov. 13.