cartoons

Lalo Alcaraz on WGBH/PRI: ‘U.S. is becoming Mexico’ (audio)

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POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz stopped by WGBH in Boston today to record an interview (audio and video) for Public Radio International’s The World with Carol Hills.

It sounds like he made some new friends in Boston:

Alcaraz is a strong believer in laughing during hard times. And that’s where satire comes in. Coping with humor is something he learned from his Mexican parents. “It’s kind of the Mexican national pastime. I was just telling my Uber driver that the US has become Mexico. That’s why we all have 10 jobs.”

Here’s the audio:

Mas…Lalo Alcaraz on WGBH/PRI: ‘U.S. is becoming Mexico’ (audio)

DON’T MISS! Latino Comics Expo this weekend at MOLAA (toons)

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expologoTomorrow and Sunday the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach hosts the fifth annual Latino Comics Expo.

Featured artists include POCHO contributor Eric J. Garcia, POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz, New York’s Stephanie Rodriguez and more.

Javier Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame, is the ringleader.

KCET’s Matt Stromberg explains the cultural significance of Latino cartoonistas and the political history they pioneered:

As box office figures can attest, comic books are big business, with successful cinematic adaptations proving that superheroes have made the leap from pop cultural niche to mainstream entertainment. Despite their wide appeal, however, comic books, at least the established titles that usually become big screens franchises, are still predominantly filled with white, male characters, especially in leading roles.

A new exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach, “Artists Assemble! Empowerment and Inspiration in Contemporary Comics,” aims to challenge that narrative by focusing on mainly Latino artists who are using the medium to explore cultural and political issues that have meaning for them.

Mas…DON’T MISS! Latino Comics Expo this weekend at MOLAA (toons)

Savage Wild West Adventures of the Border Patrol (1951 toons)

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borderpatrolcover“Heroic” Border Patrol Agents of Lore: Or “That’s Not the Migra I Know!” More Tales of Greedy “Mexicans,” “Savage” Native Americans, and “Heroic” Uber Gringos!

Pappy’s Golden Age of Comics Blog is at it again — posting delectable artifacts from American comic book history that are also revelatory chronicles unraveling the collusion of race, ethnicity, violence, and more in popular “entertainments.”

Mas…Savage Wild West Adventures of the Border Patrol (1951 toons)

Happy Inko! It’s National Cartoonists Day AND Cinco de Mayo

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Happy Inko de Mayo!

Yes, today is the day where we celebrate cartoonists, as it is National Cartoonists Day.

Serio, the National Cartoonists Society started this event a few years ago, apparently because they had no Latino members at the time who might have mentioned May 5 is already Cinco de Mayo, but, hey, I’m glad they ran with it!

Mas…Happy Inko! It’s National Cartoonists Day AND Cinco de Mayo

Wonder Woman and Marya la Giant fight Mexibandidos (1945 toon)

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wondairfulI love it when my vocation and avocation converge as they do in this wonderful comic installment of Wonder Woman from the one and only Pappy’s Golden Age Comic Blogzine. Pappy explains:

This delightfully oddball tale is set in Mexico with a beautiful eight-foot-tall señorita, bandits with bandoleros, Wonder Woman’s invisible plane, chains, bondage, and even Wonder Woman in bare feet walking over hot coals. Wow.

This Mexican melange is drawn by H.G. Peter, and is scanned from Sensation Comics #45 (1945).

An illustrator and lover of classic comics and a curator of artifacts focused on constructions of “Mexicans” in U.S. mass culture, rarely do I chance upon an artifact that blends these worlds (not to mention my not-so-secret fetish for fantastically strong women!)

Here’s a page from the issue featuring bandit “Mexicans,” Wonder Woman, freakish “Marya the Amazon maid” y mucho mas more [click to enlarge.]

Mas…Wonder Woman and Marya la Giant fight Mexibandidos (1945 toon)

La Virgen de Guadalupe: ‘I’m too sexy for your cover!’ (toon)

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SEXYLUPELa Virgen de Guadalupe’s new Summer 2013 look — as seen on a recent cover of the Santa Fe Reporter — has gotten some people upset. Fox Latino reports:

“If your intent was to in effect slap Catholics across the face, by putting forth this public depiction of Our Lady as a party girl, during the very week that we honor her as our patroness, then I can only say that from my perspective, you succeeded,” wrote the Rev. Adam Lee Ortega y Ortiz, the rector of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, in a letter to the editor. “I must voice my outrage and disgust at the decision to depict Our Lady of Guadalupe in such a demeaning manner. I am personally and professionally insulted by the cover.”

POCHO wants to confess, too! Mea culpa, Padre. We have sinned with some of our recent illustrations, like this one of the Virgin contemplating a pregnancy test:

Mas…La Virgen de Guadalupe: ‘I’m too sexy for your cover!’ (toon)

Happy Inko! Celebrate National Cartoonists Day on Cinco de Mayo

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Happy Inko de Mayo from La Cucaracha!

Yes, today is the day where we celebrate cartoonists, as it is National Cartoonists Day.

Serio, the National Cartoonists Society started this event a few years ago, apparently  because they had no Latino members at the time who might have mentioned May 5 is already Cinco de Mayo, but, hey, I’m glad they ran with it!

So, let’s honor our ink-stained heroes who go back to the drawing table day after day and try to provide you with some laughs, smirks or even a muted chuckle. I am happy to double celebrate on this day, especially as a Chicano cartoonist and avid Battle of Puebla recreator. So throw a few back today (of course I mean espresso, we’re celebrating cartoonists for heaven’s sake!)

Artstrike #nomorecuts: Artists fight budget cuts, demand fair taxes

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Many visual artists have united for today’s Artstrike #nomorecuts Day of Action. I was invited to contribute a piece that pushes back against the rhetoric of the so-called “Fiscal Cliff,” a construct that seems to be a set up to slash needed social service budgets. We’ve created art to fight budget cuts that impact the poor and middle class and to demand the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.

From the site:

Mas…Artstrike #nomorecuts: Artists fight budget cuts, demand fair taxes

Ñewsweek: Crip-walkin’, boner-stalkin’, white-talkin’ and Irish stuff

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POCHO caught Olympic fever this week as the ñews from London captivated the Internets.

Who could ever forget the magic of Serena William’s Crip-walking victory dance, complemented by our astutely-curated contextualizing rich media augmentation — a C-walk video from España?

And when a bronze-winning American rower brandished a boner at the medal ceremony, only Jon Stewart and POCHO Migrant Editor Al Madrigal were men enough to get to the root of the problem, a story so popular that POCHO is #1 on Google when you search for “jon stewart olympic stiffy.”

*NOT ALL! MORE SAY!* Hey, white guy — the viral video for middle class male Caucasians who are sick and tired of all the damn attention being paid to women and minorities and gays — remains a World Wide Websation, and our scandalous Irish Broadcasting Authority Olympic NSFW video exposed for all of America the kind of coverage NBC was afraid to deliver.

Hella week, eh? Mira the links:

Mas…Ñewsweek: Crip-walkin’, boner-stalkin’, white-talkin’ and Irish stuff

Ñewsweek: Mea maxima culpa, Anaheim and RIP Lupe Ontiveros

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The death of beloved actress Lupe Ontiveros, the Pocho Ocho top Chicano sins and death and protest in Klanaheim topped the ñews this week on POCHO, and we’ve got links:

PochoCast #2: Human WiFi hotspots, asteroids, satire and SXSW

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Saturday Night Funnies! In our exciting and biting second podcast, POCHO’s Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz, Migrant Editor Al Madrigal and Subcommandanta del News Sara Inés Calderón talk about homeless human WiFi hotspots, an asteroid heading towards Earth, disaster preparedness (Al grows veggies) and the Austin GeekFiesta also known as SXSW (South By Southwest.) LOLs aplenty! (NSFW language.)

Podcast produced by Marcelo Ziperovich, Jefe de Creative, who also took these photos.