After winning the contest and raising enough money to open their own garage in Lowriders in Space (2014), Lupe Impala, El Chavo Flapjack, and Elirio Malaria are happily working on cars all day. But when an earthquake strikes and their beloved gatito, Genie, goes missing, they load up their ranfla and follow the trail of tiny cat paw prints. That trail leads them through a gigantic corn maze, toward a volcano, and right into the bone-strewn Realm of the Dead, lorded over by the terrifying Mictlantecuhti, the Aztec god of the underworld, who's got his evil heart set on collecting the bones of our valiant trio and their gato. Raúl's boisterous, high-octane artwork, stunning in blue, black, red, and green ballpoint pen, matches the manic energy of the story, and when the Lowriders take on Mictlantechuti in a lucha libre bust-up, his no-holds-barred style really shines. While the high-flying pace means that some story elements seem a bit rushed, the wild antics, exuberant illustrations, and frequent Spanish will launch the Lowriders straight into many hearts.

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. (Graphic fantasy. 8-13)