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'Baldo' Strip Includes What 'The War' Series Mostly Omits
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© 2007 Baldo Partnership/Dist. by Universal Press Syndicate
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By
Dave Astor
Published: September 24, 2007 10:25 AM ET
NEW YORK When Ken Burns' World War II
documentary began airing yesterday, the "Baldo" comic strip was already
six days into a story line inspired by content the public-television
series was mostly lacking.
The "Baldo" sequence, which continues through this
Thursday, is about an elderly barber named Benito Ramirez who looks
back on his World War II experiences. "Baldo" co-cartoonists Hector
Cantu and Carlos Castellanos created the character after learning this
summer that Burns' massive "The War" documentary had little content
about the huge number of Latino-Americans who fought between 1941 and
1945. (Burns reportedly added some footage about Latino veterans after
the complaints.)
"We saw an opportunity to do a story that wasn't being
told," said "Baldo" artist Carlos Castellanos during a phone interview
from Florida.
"We have this little spot in the newspaper where we
can talk about things that might not be talked about elsewhere," agreed
Texas-based "Baldo" writer Hector Cantu, also reached by phone.
Indeed, "Baldo" -- a rare Latino-themed comic in
syndication -- periodically focuses on topical issues such as
immigration, voting rights, health care, lottery scams, and more. The
Universal Press Syndicate humor strip also offers plenty of
less-topical content as it focuses on the lives of the teenaged Baldo,
his younger sister Gracie, his widowed father Sergio, his great-aunt
Tia Carmen, and other characters.
"A lot of the strip is fun and family," said Castellanos.
Cantu added that in "Baldo" -- as in real life -- most
people aren't "constantly going through social controversy. But at
times it comes up."
Benito, who lost a leg in the military, is sort of a
composite character based on research conducted by Cantu. He found much
of his information by studying material collected by Dr. Maggie
Rivas-Rodriguez, a former Dallas Morning News reporter who's now an
associate professor at the University of Texas-Austin School of
Journalism. Rivas-Rodriguez began the U.S. Latino and Latina World War
II Oral History Project in 1999.
Cantu, also a former Morning News staffer, not
surprisingly confirmed in his reseach that Latino soldiers fighting for
their country faced a lot of discrimination from fellow U.S. soldiers
and officers. This was at a time when stores and restaurants in some
parts of America had signs like "No dogs and no Mexicans," said
Castellanos, who noted that two of Cantu's uncles (one living, one
deceased) served during World War II.
A handful of "Baldo" readers didn't believe that
Latino-Americans faced discrimination in the 1940s reminiscent of the
kind faced by African-Americans. But the "Baldo" cartoonists said
reader reaction to the partly upbeat story line (Benito is a resilient
character) has been mostly positive -- with the volume of e-mail at
least double what it usually is. Many e-mailers talked about the World
War II experiences of their own relatives.
Cantu said of the current story line: "I'm by no means
pretending that this series is the be-all and end-all of Latinos
serving in World War II. It's a snapshot."
Will Benito return to "Baldo" after this story line is over? "We don't know," replied Castellanos.
"Baldo," which runs in more than 200 newspapers, was
introduced by Universal in 2000. The previous year, Cantu was working
for Hispanic Business magazine in California and using Castellanos'
illustrations in the publication. When Cantu came up with the idea for
"Baldo," he asked Castellanos (who he'd yet to meet) if he wanted to
draw it.
The two have since met a number of times, but mostly
collaborate via e-mail. While Cantu is the writer and Castellanos the
artist, they do have some input into each other's work on the comic.
Cantu said it's amazing how much the two have in
common -- noting that both are 46, both have three children, both have
"beautiful wives," both have similar cars, etc. "We're like a Match.com
couple," joked Cantu, whose current day job is editorial director of
the Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas.
Castellanos continues to spend about half his working
hours on a thriving illustration career -- freelancing for magazines,
book publishers, ad agencies, and corporate clients.
Even as Burns' documentary airs, a "Baldo" animated TV
series is being shopped around. Thirteen episodes have been completed,
and two of them were shown to appreciative audiences at the San Diego
Latino Film Festival this past March.
For more about "Baldo," see the comic's Web site .
Dave Astor
(dastor@editorandpublisher.com)
is a senior editor at E&P.
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