REVIEW: 'Death to Pachuco' #1 by Henry Barajas, Rachel Merrill, and Lee Loughridge

Death to Pachuco #1

Writer: Henry Barajas

Artist: Rachel Merrill, Lee Loughridge

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: October 8, 2025

Cover Price: $3.99

During the summer of 1943, Los Angeles became a hotbed of tension and conflict as a series of fierce clashes erupted between U.S. Navy members and Mexican American youth stemming from the murder of Carlos Urbano. Private eye Ricardo "Ricky" Tellez needs to find the Sleep Lagoon Killer before the racist mob kills him in the Zoot Suit Riots. The clock is ticking—and it’s a bad time to be a Mexican.

The syndicated team of Henry Barajas (La Voz De M.A.Y.O. Tata Rambo) and Rachel Merril (IZZY N JEAN, The New Yorker) uncover a Chino Noir rooted in the shameful parts of LA's history!

Score: 

★★★★☆ (4/5)

‘Death to Pachuco’ is a vibrant celebration of Chicano heritage that arrives at a turbulent time as the one depicted. While writer Henry Barajas sets the stage, it’s artist Rachel Merrill and colorist Lee Loughridge who truly immerse us in 1940s Los Angeles. Their deft renderings of Zoot suits, weathered architecture, and busy streets pull us into history itself, a bustling metropolis on the verge of change. 

What makes the issue especially compelling is how personal it feels. The warmth, humor, and communal spirit woven through the book resonate with anyone familiar with Mexican-American life. The story becomes not just a noir mystery, but a bridge, linking contemporary identity to a pivotal, often overlooked moment in American history.

Still, Barajas doesn’t sanitize that history. Set against the backdrop of the Sleepy Lagoon murders and the racial tensions that followed, the comic confronts its era’s violence and prejudice with clear-eyed honesty. Barajas smartly avoids turning this into a history lesson; instead, he gives us a living folktale, a story that feels mythic without losing its humanity.

That focus on cultural collision comes through most strikingly during a Ku Klux Klan march in Pasadena, a sequence that’s both chilling and stylish. The tension between spectacle and menace captures how systemic hate operated then and how its echoes still resonate today.

At the center of it all is Ricky Tellez, a private eye who embodies the book’s dual spirit. He’s charming but wounded, sharp but world-weary, a detective who moves seamlessly between celebration and survival. Merrill’s design work perfectly balances his noir grit and Chicano identity, making him instantly authentic. 

If there’s a shortcoming, it’s that Ricky’s charisma sometimes overshadows the supporting cast, and the debut issue wraps a bit suddenly without fully establishing a central antagonist. Still, those are minor quibbles in a debut that feels this assured.

‘Death to Pachuco’ stands out as a stylish, soulful, and unflinchingly honest exploration of identity and history. Barajas and his team have created something rare: a noir that not only entertains but reclaims, reframes, and reminds us who built the city we’re walking through.