Imperial Valley artist talks about journey to becoming International Latino Book Award winner

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA) - A border kid from the Imperial Valley is taking his creative work to some of the biggest comic book conventions in the country.

Ruben Najera's bilingual graphic novel, "Calaguerra," won the International Latino Book Award in 2025. Now the story is expanding beyond the book.

"Right now, there's a development of a video game right now that's going on of my series. So I've been going back and forth, seeing visuals of that," Najera divulged. "And that's something that's being developed right now."

And comics aren't his only outlet. He is the creative mind behind "Terrestro," a skateboarding show company that recently signed some big names in the skateboarding world, including Hall of Famer Frankie Hill.

"If you want to see your vision happen, the best person to do it is yourself," Najera said.

Najera recently spoke on a panel at San Diego Comic Con, and is heading to Los Angeles this month to speak at the L.A. Comic Con.