1st Issue: Tales of Dos Gabachos & Mayahuel (Cover Poster)
1st appearances of Mayahuel, Ehecetl & Tzitimitl
Original Art by John Howard @johnhowarddraws Coloring by Felipe Obando @felipe_comic_art
EHECATL
Mayahuel wished upon love and had visions of a passionate romance in hopes of being rescued from her grandmother’s confinement. At night, she would sit alone on the brim of a cloud and sing away into the darkness. Her song was full of sadness but was mysteriously seductive, like the calling of a siren. The serpent god of the wind, Ehecatl, became tantalized by the sweetness of her voice that was flailing through the universe. He endlessly searched to expose this wonder and was astonished when he discovered the mesmeric Mayahuel.
In a rage of desire, he swirled his wind gust around her until she unraveled to his mercy. She’d been waiting for this moment and couldn’t resist his breeze. Night after night, the dancing continued until they became one and wisped far away from the evil grandmother. It didn’t take long until Tzitzímitl caught wind of the missing Mayahuel and began her hunt. In the face of passion, which was an immeasurable odd given that passion can overcome all, even the heavens, Tzitzímitl stayed in pursuit as her desire to kill both Mayahuel and Ehecatl was too strong.
Ehecatl knew of this and fiercely gushed down to earth with Mayahuel. In a passionate whirlwind, their bodies morphed together until they became an almighty green plant with sharp tips to keep Tzitzimitl from killing them and spires to symbolize their rise to the heavens. Tzitzímitl eventually found this remarkable maguey plant in the heat of the desert, its impeccable shimmer giving it away. She unveiled her wrath in the form of a machete and split the maguey in half, defying love and sucking the juice from it to feed to her Tzitzimime.
During the madness, Ehecatl escaped and realized a tiny spire that was left out of sight from the Tzitzimime. Through his current of air, he lifted it away to be planted in the soil at the volcano. Ehecatl avoided death but drowned himself in sorrow, over the loss of his lover. His tears, granted to him by the God of Rain, Tlaloc, was the water that gave life to the spire and was the phenomena that led to the rebirth of Mayahuel, reincarnated as the Maguey plant.
She was the most captivating plant that the Aztec people had ever seen and named her the goddess of maguey. One particular night, the sky was filled with thunder and rage and could feel the hardship of the people. In a moment of despair, it speared a lightning from its deepest depths into the heart of Mayahuel, splitting her open. The grounds became flooded as she unleashed her potion as an offering to the people. This gift, in the form of Mezcal, filled the soul of the miserable with happiness and became the drink of choice for the Aztec gods, naming it the “holy elixir”.
If Aztec mythology fascinates you as much as it does us, we highly encourage you to dive deeper and explore the wealth of information surrounding it.
Artwork hand drawn by John-Paul Howard @johnhowarddraws | Coloring Artist: Felipe Obando @felipe_comic_art