During talks with the Flyingbatmobile ranch, Doc and I decided to throw out a little love to Argentina.
Every once in a while something really captures the imagination and that gets the creative juices flowing and the mysterious SUPER MALON!! Caught this girl’s eye!
First seen in the Planet DC Annuals, Flash Annual #13.
Not all that much is known about this super team but they were inspired by 1950s Argentine hero El-Gaucho, (see http://flyingbatmobile.blogspot.com/2012/02/batmen-of-all-nations-el-gaucho-of.html )
The Super Malon are the defenders of Argentina and they like to keep their personal origins a secret which makes it very hard to blog about them.
So thought it might be nice to try and find out the original beliefs and stories surrounding their namesake as their identities have been influenced by Argentine folklore and legend.
So thought it might be nice to try and find out the original beliefs and stories surrounding their namesake as their identities have been influenced by Argentine folklore and legend.
The two team players we know the most and have been seen again in the DCU are Cachiru and La Salamanca.
Cachiru can fly through the use of his wings and has razor sharp talons.
In the past, he shared a romantic relationship with La Salamanca who has the power of being an element controlling witch who also has the power to project herself.
Her spirit self can remain from her body for approximately three hours.
So what does legend tell us?
CACHIRÚ (also Cachurú) - Is an evil deity known in the region of Santiago del Estero.
It is depicted as an odd type of owl like creature with huge claws and a sharp beak. Its feathers are dark grey and coarse and become bristles towards the legs. Its eyes radiate like fires in the dark. This light and his mischievous shrieks are the only thing that reveal its inaudible flight.
It is said that it can heave a man into the sky or tear him apart in an instant.
Preferably, it captures the soul at the hour of death and turns it into a horrible apparition.
It dwells in the most inaccessible parts of the forest where a man cannot penetrate due to the forests reduction, its kingdom is getting smaller so sightings of him have almost disappeared.
As for Salamanca, I can only presume she is named after the picturesque Spanish city? As far as my searches go for a proJecting Agintinan witch, I’ve yet to find.
El Yaguareté, meaning Jaguar is a super speedster!
El Yaguarete is part of another story, he’s part of the story known as the Legend of Yari.
These are the goddesses that came to earth, but when they arrived they found el yaguarete, and old el gaucho (the cowboy) had saved them and offered them shelter with his family. In return they gave him a new kind of plant which could be made into the ‘drink of friendship ’ which is known as Yerba Mate, which in itself has many legends surrounding it.
Cimarrón who is the handsome swashbuckling hero who could be described as a younger El Gaucho.
So what is Cimarron?
Well this ties back into the legends of El Yaguarte, Cimarron is the evergreen leaves which are used to make the drink Yerba Mate.
Pampero; can control wind currents and can create storms.
His name comes from a specific type of Argentine wind.
As we know certain parts of the globe receive different amounts of heat from the sun, it’s the same for wind. Wind blows from high to low,
A Pampero is a very cold south westerly wind formed, like many cold winds, in the middle of a continent - in this case South America. It blows across the Pampas grasslands in Argentina.
Now to my three favourite team members:
El Bagual: He is super-strong and nearly invulnerable but not quite all human.
This handsome chappy has a horse head, mane, hooves and swishy tail!!
His name comes from a Spanish term for an untamed horse.
So what does legend tell us? well, it says he is a beautiful pony with long tail and black mane, he foams at the mouth and shoots fire from his eyes!!!
He appears late in the afternoon in a town called El Bagual, he met the most famous pialadores in the area.
The Bagual let them come, but when the Gauchos began to claim victory, he fled?…
El Lobizón is a non-infectious lycanthrope.
This basically means, he’s a werewolf!! Which are found in folklore all over the world.
So how does he differ?:
In Argentina their version of the werewolf is called the El Lobizon, their has had documented sightings all over the country, from farm land to highly populated city's, with the recent spate of reported sightings in northern Argentina.
What sets the El Lobizon apart from the classic werewolf is that rather than transmogrifying into a wolf it commutes into an over sized ferocious dog.
Also the El Lobizon can’t just be any human bitten by another werewolf, it is said that the creature can only be the 7th son of a family of only boys.
The belief is so strong in Argentina that the President of the country to this day, has the 7th son of every family baptised to try to stop any transformations, but just like it’s European counterpart the El Lobizon is victim to the lunar cycle.
Last but certainly not least;
Vizicacha… now how awesome is this!!??
HE IS BASED ON A CHINCHILLA!!!
He is a master thief and acrobat.
The vizcacha, is a chinchilla-like animal that lives in the Andes and Central Region of Argentina.
We see birds, we see bats, cats, fish folk all the time running through comic books but this is the first time I have ever come across something based on that super soft extremely cute little crepuscular rodent.
And do we find him in the folklore? Well, not really...
The word Vizicacha is the genus of Lagostomus which is the family of the chinchilla.
Anyhow, he is an outgoing ground dwelling rodent substantially bigger than the chinchilla who likes very much to dig.
The word comes from the Spanish term Quechua wiskácha which is to make it’s home in the land, and is generally seen as a pest.
They have been so much fun to create, challenging at times but always the emphasis has been of the fun!! And fun on a bun it's been!!!
I'm just a tad sorry we haven't seen these guys again!
As we're on the Argentina kick, I could not resist with this little extra!
Presenting.... BAT-HOMBRE!!!!
Spread the Argintine Love!!
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