When it comes to world-building, few artists go as deep as visionary artist Fernando Vélez. A queer Puerto Rican artist from Yauco, he spent his formative years in San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community. Though rising costs forced him to move away from the Bay, Vélez is staging a triumphant return this Halloween at the Castro’s Halloween Night Market. His project, “The Queen's Heroes,” is a 633-page graphic novel inspired by the Bay’s LGBTQ+ scene.
“The LGBTQ+ community that surrounded me throughout my life became my real-life heroes. From people like Sister Roma to transgender youth who have survived suicide attempts, their courage and experiences inspired me to create a universe where heroes who happen to identify as LGBTQ+ are the only ones powerful enough to save humanity. There are extraordinary people among us whose stories deserve to be told,” Vélez says of the project.
“The Queen's Heroes” created by artist Fernando Vélez is a queer superhero novel inspired by San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community.
“The Queen's Heroes” takes readers on a journey through the lives of queer superheroes rejected by the overculture. Intended for mature readers, the novel explores themes of identity, love, discrimination, and survival. Intertwined with familiar and invented mythologies, the story follows previously marginalized characters as they are asked to step up and use their powers to aid a society in collapse. They pose an interesting question: Is humanity worth saving?
The graphic novel is only the beginning of a much larger universe. A documentary was filmed alongside the novel’s creation. Five games, including a major board game, as well as a novel, are set to follow the graphic novel’s release. Vélez admits that more projects are likely to follow. “These projects are only the beginning, with more to follow like falling dominoes.”
Fernando Vélez will be at The Castro’s Halloween Night market with his graphic novel “The Queen’s Heroes”.
Vélez offers a world to explore where power dynamics are turned upside down in favor of those who have been overlooked. While the origins of the concept speak to his personal experience, the work itself is for anyone within the queer community who has been made to feel that their voice is insignificant in a political landscape that gives them no space. His vision of superheroes capable of saving humanity, inspired by San Francisco’s deeply nuanced queer community, serves as a love letter to the place that has helped so many.
“The Queen's Heroes” will be on sale near 18th and Castro streets in San Francisco on Halloween night. Do not miss the chance to get a signed copy and meet the author.
