LOWRIDERS TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

The Lowriders in Space saga continues with an even crazier ride than the first.

After an earthquake, Lupe the supermechanic impala, Elirio Malaria the mosquito, and El Chavo Flapjack the octopus realize that Genie the cat has gone missing. Trailing him in their galactic lowrider, they’re soon stymied by an amazing maíz maze of gigantic corn, where a punny, Gandalf-like coyote relates a fractured-mythological tale of how the Aztec god of the underworld uses the maze to trap victims forever. Undeterred, the friends plunge into a cave, where they’re surrounded by “metaphoric” rocks (“the building blocks of poets everywhere”). In the underworld, a gleefully bizarre and culturally dense adventure ensues. The friends meet the inconsolable, pre-Hispanic legend La Llorona, who believes Flappy is her lost child. Further in, they arrive at a macabre carnival midway where Day of the Dead references abound and the chupacabra drives a monster truck. When the gobsmacked compañeros finally find the caged (but still intact) Genie, they also come face to face with their nemesis, lucha libre fanatic and god of the underworld Mictlantecuhtli (“Mic to you, ¡idiotas!”). Lupe must wrestle him for her cat’s freedom, but Genie has a surprise for everyone. Raúl the Third’s ultradetailed crosshatched artwork more than meets the demands of this cast-of-thousands comic opus. The copious Spanish vocabulary is defined in footnotes and again in a glossary in the backmatter.

Satisfyingly over-the-top mayhem for all “low and slow” fans.