A La Brava, the First Latina superhero team, fights injustices against women

Kayden Phoenix is a writer and director who created the comic series A La Brava, a graphic novel that introduces the first Latina superhero team in comic-book history.

"We've had comics since 1939, and we haven't had a 'Latina team'," Phoenix said.

Passionate about women's rights and equality, Phoenix centered her characters around specific social injustices.

"Batman saves Gotham, Superman saves Metropolis, but no one ever wants to save a girl. Unless it's the girlfriend, right? Unless you're Mary Jane or Lois Lane. Otherwise, who saves girls? And the answer is nobody -- not in media and not in real life, which is unfortunate. And so my characters, they're different in that aspect," Phoenix said.

Jalisco, a folklrico dancer who has blades she can control in her dress, takes on the femicide in Mexico. Santa has divine strength and deja vu and goes up against a candidate for mayor called Illiana Chavez Estevez, who is personified as ICE. Ruca, an East LA Chicana, takes on human trafficking and fights to bring stolen kids home. Loquita, a supernatural teen detective who fights demons, tackles gun control within the schools and teen suicide. And lastly, Bandita, a gunslinger who can ricochet bullets off walls, combats domestic violence.

"At least they can shine light on it and bring justice to the girls that aren't being saved," Phoenix said.

These five heroes come together to form the team A La Brava.

"If you go 'A La Brava,' you have two boxers who are going all out until somebody falls. And I think that reflects being a woman, being a marginalized woman in particular in society. We live in this land of very patriarchal oppression; we have to go all out," Phoenix said.

In addition to A La Brava, Phoenix created a series of Latina Princesses who will come together in her upcoming book to form the Majestics.

"They're so much lighter and they're all ages. And I made them modern-day princesses in that there's no prince to save them," Phoenix said.

Phoenix also got hired to write Lip Stick Cliqa, a new series that just premiered. It's a three-book series and is slated by Sony to be made into a feature film.

"I'm a storyteller, and storytelling reflects democracy, so if you read about it, you're like, 'Oh, I can be a superhero. I can be a princess. I can be something more than a maid or anything else.' Then great, you can. Go and do it," Phoenix said.