Hector Cantú
Hector D. Cantú (b. September 16, 1961, Weslaco, Texas)[citation needed] is an American writer, editor, and newspaper comic strip creator, best known for the Latino-American strip Baldo. As of 2008, he lives in Dallas, Texas.
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Biography
Early life and career
Hector Cantú created his first newspaper cartoon at age 12 in a small-town paper owned by his brother. [1] He attended Skyline High School and was a teammate to the amazing, tap-dancing young wrestler known as "Pranie." He studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, and later became a production director of the daily tabloid Quick in Dallas, Texas, and the managing editor of Hispanic Business magazine in Santa Barbara, California. He has written freelance for the Los Angeles Times Magazine and The Hollywood Reporter.[2] Cantú is among the 21 Latino comic book and comic strip authors and artists featured in Frederick Luis Aldama's 2009 book "Your Brain on Latino Comics" (University of Texas Press, SBN: 978-0-292-71973-6).
Baldo
In 1998, Cantú and artist Carlos Castellanos[2] teamed to create the comic strip Baldo, about a 15-year-old Latino-American teenager, Baldomero Bermudez, nickname Baldo, living with his 8-year-old sister Gracie; their father, Sergio, and their aunt, Tia Carmen.[1] Universal Press Syndicate contracted for the strip, and by April 2000 launched in in newspapers, which number nearly 200 as of late 2008.[1]
Cantú in 2007 said he and Castellanos were prompted to create Baldo
| “ | because we were reading comics and looking for characters to identify with and who were like us, and we weren't seeing that on the comics pages. We saw cats, dogs, mice, etc. But not Latinos. Part of what makes America great is that everyone can have a voice, and newspapers recognize that. ... Lots of Baldo stories come from our lives growing up. A lot of stories simply reflect what we see everyday around us and in the newspaper. Why is the main character a teen? Dunno. Maybe that represents an ideal age for us. I think we both recall being 15 as a total laugh riot ... and not in a good way!"[3] | ” |
Two Baldo compilation books, The Lower You Ride, The Cooler You Are and Night Of The Bilingual Telemarketers, have been published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC.
The Latino television network Univision briefly considered adapting the strip for an animated television series.[1]
Later career
As of the late 2000s, Cantú is editorial director of Heritage Auction Galleries.
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Ashraf,Arooj. "Baldo: Comic strip entertains and educates, combating racial stereotypes", La Prensa (Ohio & Michigan), October 2008
- ^ a b BaldoComics.com: "Los Creators"
- ^ "Baldo Creators Hector Cantú and Carlos Castellanos Discuss Comics", USINFO Webchat transcript, August 23, 2007
External links
- Comics: Meet the Artist: "With Hector Cantu and Carlos Castellanos, Cartoonists — 'Baldo'", WashingtonPost.com Webchat, July 12, 2002
- "'Baldo' Creators Draw Attention to National Literacy Day", Universal Press Syndicate press release, June 18, 2004
- Hooten, Jeffery D. "'Baldo' writer addresses his work at Texas Union", The Daily Texan (University of Texas at Austin), September 12, 2007; updated January 9, 2009
- Astor, Dave. "'Baldo' Strip Includes What 'The War' Series Mostly Omits", Editor & Publisher, September 24, 2007, via DefendTheHonor.org
- Pounder, Lori. "Creating ‘Baldo’: Comic strip author Hector Cantú spoke at Summit Middle School Friday", Summit Daily News (Summit County, Colorado), January 18, 2008
Categories: American comics writers | Writers from Texas | 1961 births | Living people | People from Hidalgo County, Texas
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