Agustin Guerrero (comics)

El Gato Negro
Agustin as El Gato Negro. Art by Efren Molina.
Publication information
Publisher	Azteca Productions
First appearance	El Gato Negro #1 (Oct. 1993)
Created by	Richard Dominguez
In-story information
Alter ego	Agustin "Gus" Guerrero
Abilities	Highly trained luchador, Boxing, Expert in Ninjitsu, Expert in Taijutsu

Agustin "Gus" Guerrero, also known as El Gato Negro, is a fictional character and comic book superhero created by Richard Dominguez and published by Azteca Productions. The character made his first appearance in El Gato Negro #1 (October 1993) as a major supporting character. Outside of the comic book continuity he is often referred to as "Silver Age El Gato Negro".

Operating in South Texas, Agustin first donned the alter ego of El Gato Negro in order to form a successful career in Lucha Libre in the early 1950s. The fame he achieved in wrestling allowed him to have several adventures outside of the ring, leading him to use his talents to thwart the activities of the criminal underworld. He would later retire the identity in the late '60s, only for it to be adopted by his grandson nearly three decades later. To the general public, Agustin is regarded as a successful produce-magnate and owner of Guerrero's Produce.

Richard Dominguez first conceived El Gato Negro sometime in the mid-to-late '80s and originally planned to showcase the character in a largely Latino superhero group dubbed Team Tejas. Dominguez became partial to the character after placing some considerable emphasis on his development, and later placed the Team Tejas project on "the backburner."

El Gato Negro's visual design was largely influenced by the Lucha Libre traditions as well as Dominguez's favorite comic book and pulp superheroes. Included among them was Lee Falks' comic strip superhero the Phantom, a character who is believed to be immortal but in reality, is descended from twenty previous generations of crime-fighters who all adopt the same persona. This, along with other factors, inspired Dominguez to create a predecessor to the modern-day El Gato Negro.