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Chicacabra
Tom Beland, creator of the multiple Eisner-nominated series True Story, Swear to God, returns with an all-new graphic novel. Heads will roll in 2014 when the world gets a taste of CHICACABRA! In Puerto Rico, there is a girl, Isabel Sanchez, who could be like any other girl you see in high school... except for the creature who lives inside of her that's a ruthless killing machine. Chupacabras, Vejigantes, fistfights, and weed!
202 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 2014
2 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Tom Beland
43 books14 followersI'm a 36 year-old cartoonist living and breathing on the island of San Juan, Puerto Rico. I was born in Chicago ILL. and was raised in Napa Valley, California. I graduated from Napa High School in 1980 (GO INDIANS!).
My career in cartoonist started at a very young age. My father, Clarence Beland , was a cartoonist in his spare time and all the boys in my family draw in one way or another. I was the one who became obsessed about it.
I'm a seft-taught artist, although I had some art class experience in high school and a bit in community college as well. I studied on the television and also in Marvel Comics. I was heavily influenced by artist such as Al Herschfield, Chuck Jones, Charles Shulz, John Romita Sr., Gil Kane and others.
Cartooning is an art that is seldom as respected as it is admired. Perharps that's due to it's visual simplicity. But simplicity is something developed out of style and not through laziness. I got my fisrt job at the Napa Valley Register in my early twenties. I was hired as a paste-up artist in the advertising department and soon moved over to the editorial side. There I became a photo technician and a page designer, while submitting cartoons on my own.
After a few years, I left the Register to go to the Vallejo Times-Herald in Vallejo, California just up the road. It was a dream job with a fantastic group of people to work with. I couldn't ask for anything more.
One day I received a press junket to cover the opening of the Animal Kingdom Park at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. I spent two days trying out everything and eating some great food.
And that's when I met her.
Lily García was from San Juan, and was also covering the Animal Kingdom opening when we met at a bus stop. We spent all night talking about family, work and life in general. When we parted, we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and went our ways.
We talked to each other as often as possible and a year later I found myself on a plane and moving to the island to live with her.
Life's been good to me so far.
My career in cartoonist started at a very young age. My father, Clarence Beland , was a cartoonist in his spare time and all the boys in my family draw in one way or another. I was the one who became obsessed about it.
I'm a seft-taught artist, although I had some art class experience in high school and a bit in community college as well. I studied on the television and also in Marvel Comics. I was heavily influenced by artist such as Al Herschfield, Chuck Jones, Charles Shulz, John Romita Sr., Gil Kane and others.
Cartooning is an art that is seldom as respected as it is admired. Perharps that's due to it's visual simplicity. But simplicity is something developed out of style and not through laziness. I got my fisrt job at the Napa Valley Register in my early twenties. I was hired as a paste-up artist in the advertising department and soon moved over to the editorial side. There I became a photo technician and a page designer, while submitting cartoons on my own.
After a few years, I left the Register to go to the Vallejo Times-Herald in Vallejo, California just up the road. It was a dream job with a fantastic group of people to work with. I couldn't ask for anything more.
One day I received a press junket to cover the opening of the Animal Kingdom Park at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. I spent two days trying out everything and eating some great food.
And that's when I met her.
Lily García was from San Juan, and was also covering the Animal Kingdom opening when we met at a bus stop. We spent all night talking about family, work and life in general. When we parted, we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and went our ways.
We talked to each other as often as possible and a year later I found myself on a plane and moving to the island to live with her.
Life's been good to me so far.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 21, 2015
There's a lot that I can say about the first volume of this series. My response is kind of complicated about it. My first impression is that the art is goofy, kind of along the lines of Peter Bagge's goofy work, wildly colored, exaggerated figures, wild. Don't like much. Was off-putting for me. And the crazy backstory of Beland, that he meets a girl in a San Diego bus stop and falls in love and marries her and moves to Puerto Rico with her and ecstatically shapes all of his art in terms of her, dedicates everything to her, this is both a little sweet but also annoying, gets in the way of my appreciating its story. It's just always there for this always crazy in love guy… adds to the wacky aspects of it for me.
The lay out of the book isn't always attractive or even effective to me. It's too busy, and while drawn okay, there are too many words crowding it, it tells too much with words, it's too talky. I mean, the energy of the dialogue is great and sometimes funny and profane and feels real and will especially appeal to teens, I think, but it's too much… though this is the first in the series and maybe he bought this needed more background on these creatures and her history, I don't know...
I did not really want to read this book for its subject, either, a teenaged girl who gets inhabited by a chupracaba (this violent mythological creature she names Chicacabra), but you know, I teach YA courses, and I look for graphic novels with a YA focus, especially ones with strong girl characters and especially ones for people of color…. but still I didn't really want to read it but friend Amy lends it to me….
And there's something heartrending about it… I'll just say part of that so as not to give too much away, but at the opening we know that Izzy is living with her uncle because her Dad was killed and this drove her mom crazy, mute, so you really do come to care about her losses and her friends and especially her relationship to her tio, who is also grieving and trying to raise and protect her… and then there's this crazy scientist who like his dad and grand dad has been searching for chupacabras all his life, he's goofy and a little interesting… the end of this one goes pretty manic for me, but the core of this tale is kinda touching for me about grief and rage. I think a lot of kids especially will like it.
The lay out of the book isn't always attractive or even effective to me. It's too busy, and while drawn okay, there are too many words crowding it, it tells too much with words, it's too talky. I mean, the energy of the dialogue is great and sometimes funny and profane and feels real and will especially appeal to teens, I think, but it's too much… though this is the first in the series and maybe he bought this needed more background on these creatures and her history, I don't know...
I did not really want to read this book for its subject, either, a teenaged girl who gets inhabited by a chupracaba (this violent mythological creature she names Chicacabra), but you know, I teach YA courses, and I look for graphic novels with a YA focus, especially ones with strong girl characters and especially ones for people of color…. but still I didn't really want to read it but friend Amy lends it to me….
And there's something heartrending about it… I'll just say part of that so as not to give too much away, but at the opening we know that Izzy is living with her uncle because her Dad was killed and this drove her mom crazy, mute, so you really do come to care about her losses and her friends and especially her relationship to her tio, who is also grieving and trying to raise and protect her… and then there's this crazy scientist who like his dad and grand dad has been searching for chupacabras all his life, he's goofy and a little interesting… the end of this one goes pretty manic for me, but the core of this tale is kinda touching for me about grief and rage. I think a lot of kids especially will like it.
February 20, 2023
more like kakacabra lol
August 4, 2014
I love this book! Really moving, without being cheesy or overdramatic. Izzy is a wonderful main character--strong, funny, very authentic. Her relationship with her Uncle is very touching, but my favorite relationship is actually the one between her and her Chicacabra.
I hope there's more to come!
I hope there's more to come!
January 7, 2015
Κατά βάθος, όχι ιδιαίτερα girly. Το αγάπησα από τον τίτλο του και μόνο, το αγαπώ ακόμη και υποθέτω ότι πρέπει να το ξαναδιαβάσω. Πιότερο κοινωνικό σχόλιο, παρά υπερφυσικό κόμικ, οι αδρές γραμμές του σχεδίου δεν πρέπει να πτοήσουν κανέναν.
July 23, 2014
I loved this book. Besides a few typos calling habichuelas abechuelas I loved everything about it. The art, the story, the feelings, everything about it was great. I can't wait for the next one.
September 7, 2014
I love it! Can't wait for more! <3
May 1, 2015
Fun fun fun. This an example if how we alm have a chupacabra within us.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews