CITYist

If you’re familiar with Lucha Libre, “where the crowd bays for blood as pit-bull men in neon underpants and hand-knitted sequin leggings grapple each other,” that’s probably because you’ve seen the Jack Black movie Nacho Libre. Shockingly, the real-life Mexican sport does closely resemble the film-version, where masked crusaders known as luchadores battle it out in elaborate costumes. Photographer Katinka Herbert has captured the spectacle in a new book, Slam: Superheroes of the Ring, published by To Hell With Publishing. Out this month, the book includes dramatic, alternately color-splashed and black and white photos of the luchadores in their element, including El Hijo del Santo (The Son of the Saint, also known as El Enmascarado de Plata or The Man in the Silver Mask) and Blue Demon Jr. Campy and cultish? You bet.