Francisco "Pancho" Guerrero, Jr., also known as El Gato Negro, is a fictional character and comic book superhero created by Richard Dominguez and published by Azteca Productions.

Grandson of the original El Gato Negro, a former luchador-turned-adventurer, Francisco works as a social worker in Edinburg, Texas and devotes most of his free time to community service.

Operating throughout Lower Rio Grande Valley, he is assisted by several supporting characters including his grandfather Agustin Guerrero and weapons-mechanic expert Antonio Trujillo, and fights an assortment of villains ranging from common criminals to outlandish supervillains.

[6] El Gato Negro was conceived by Richard Dominguez sometime in the mid-to-late '80s and was originally intended to debut in a largely Mexican-American or Latino superhero group called Team Tejas.

Dominguez later placed Team Tejas on hold to focus on the development of the El Gato Negro character, as he recalls: El Gato Negro was created or "born" when I was sketching on my notebook paper and in binders during (when I was supposed to be taking notes) classes in a community college...He was originally supposed to be a member of an all-Hispanic superhero group which I called "Team Tejas".

Various aspects of the character's personality and visual design were directly inspired by some of Dominguez's favorite comic book superheroes including The Spirit, The Crimson Avenger, Daredevil, Nightwing and most noticeably Batman.

[10] Elements from Japanese animation, manga, and martial arts films also aided in the development of El Gato Negro's costume design and equipment.

The first three-part story-arc "Unknown passing, Unforgettable Return" introduced El Graduado, a notorious villain intent on making a large drug-trafficking deal in South Texas in order to gain a seat with the criminal organization known as The Annulus.

The debut series proved popular, and a fourth issue soon followed featuring a subplot involving Judge Garza's Relampago character, his first appearance in print after nearly fifteen years.

Dominguez enlisted the aid of Michael S. Moore to serve as writer and co-plotter of the new series (having previously worked together on the first published issue of Team Tejas) and artist Efren Molina.

The combination of Moore's writing style and Molina's pencils have given the new series a much darker tone than its predecessor, to which Dominguez explains: I felt that I didn't do justice to true [El Gato Negro] fans who really deserve a book that is worthwhile reading about a Hispanic superhero.

Francisco studied diligently in school, eventually graduating from South Texas College with a major in sociology, a minor in psychology and earned a master's degree in political science.

Francisco adopted the moniker of El Gato Negro shortly after the death of his childhood friend Mario Bustamonte, a border patrol officer who was overpowered and murdered by several drug-runners.

However, the media began vilifying his vigilante activities and to make matters worse El Gato Negro is constantly pursued by police Captain Miguel Bustamone, Francisco's friend and Mario's older brother.

Being the son of the successful businessman and drug lord Ignacio Ochoa, El Graduado planned to take his father's place amongst a criminal organization known as The Annulus, which makes a yearly summit in South America.

El Gato Negro finally earned the respect of Miguel Bustamonte, but he continues to hunt the hero regardless, believing his purposes to be noble, but his methods dangerous.

He often ponders whether or not his existence as El Gato Negro is a sin of pride or genuine necessity and has, on occasion, snuck into his local church confessional to talk with the padre.

The few characters who know of El Gato Negro’s secret identity include mechanic Antonio Trujillo and martial artist James Takayuki, both of whom supply the hero with equipment.

He has often been paired up with characters outside of the Azteca Productions' universe, such as Hector Cantú and Carlos Castellanos' Baldo[16] as well as guest-starring in David Álvarez's Yenny, although these are usually deemed non-continuity storylines.

El Gato Negro’s enemies vary from common thugs to outlandish supervillains, some of which have tragic origin stories leading them to a life of crime, while others are simply fueled by their own greed, lust for power, or desire to cause as much chaos as possible.

[17] As of January 2016, Richard Dominguez was currently working with writer-turned-director Michael S. Moore in directing and filming a live-action short-film adaptation titled El Gato Negro: Prey.