By: Dave Astor Pioneering Hispanic-American cartoonist Gus Arriola died Saturday in California at the age of 90. The "Gordo" comic creator reportedly suffered from Parkinson's disease.
Arriola did "Gordo" from 1941 to 1985. The United Media strip -- which ran in more than 200 newspapers at its peak -- starred a Mexican bean farmer who later became a tour guide.
"Gus was a groundbreaking cartoonist," Hector Cantu, who co-creates the "Baldo" strip, told E&P today. "He made newspaper 'funnies' beautiful and had an art style rarely seen on the comics pages. He's influenced so many people."
The cartoonist added that people often ask if "Baldo" is the first "Latino strip. I always had to remind them that Gus broke ground for Latino strips. He was a tremendous inspiration to me and Carlos."
Cantu -- who creates his Universal Press Syndicate comic with Carlos Castellanos -- said he did a "Gordo" crossover in "Baldo" several years ago, spoke with Arriola many times, and had recently been talking with the "Gordo" cartoonist about donating samples of his art to the Smithsonian.
In addition to Gordo and other human characters, Arriola's comic featured animals such as Senor Dog.
According to a San Francisco Chronicle obituary, Arriola said in 1989 that his "main goal" with "Gordo" was to "maintain a positive awareness of Mexico through all the years, every day, without being political. When I started, words like 'burrito' were unknown in the United States."
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