Page 16 - Phoenix2002-03

NEWS Wednesday, September 25, 2002 - Page 4 Bordick sets the mark 'Baldo" creator's presence on campus attracts for defensive diverse audience The characters excellence, but gets Continued from Page 2 little praise from peers of "Baldo": Although he seemed rather shy in per- ters of 'Baldo.' It took two to three sketches Continued from Page 3 son, Cantu has gained quite a lot of recogni- and different variations. ...LL P~!OTOS COtJRTESY OF ales everyday shortstop, committed his only tion. He is nationally known for his comic That just goes to show you that the best BALDOCOMICS.COM. error of the season in early April. By com- strip, an award-winning journalist and an things take time, and you can', always come parison, all-star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra expen on the U.S. Hispanic market. "Baldo" up with a character on the first try." has committed twenty-four. appears in 150 U.S. daily and Sunday news- Crisunab Fadahunsi also attended this Each year, Gold Glove awards are given papers and is said to be the fourth most suc- event out of curiosity. "I enjoyed his pre- to the best defensive player at each position. cessful cartoon launch for Universal Press sentation," said Fadahunsi. Bordick would be the obvious choice this Syndicate. "When he was talking, it didn't really year, but the voting rarely goes by numbers The topic of his speech was "Latino Im- seem like he was a nationally known car- ages in Pop Culture: From Banditos to Chi- toonist. It seemed as if he was an ordinary alone. Well-known Cleveland shortstop Omar huahuas." He gave a brief history about the person discussing the issues and his experi- Visquel won the award last year, even though portrayal of Latinos in comic strips, where ences." his numbers were less impressive than those they are commonly represented in a nega- She also admired his personality, "It just of Bordick. Hopefully the voting will fairly tive light. goes to show you that if you work hard for give Bordick, in possibly the last season of The comics overflowed with stereotypes something you can achieve anything." his career, the well- deserved award. regarding the appearance and character of Jessica Wright, another fellow student in The record will never compare to the Latinos. attendance, learned a lot from Cantu's pre- excitement of the McGwire/Sosa home run These images ranged from Speedy sentation. entourage in '98. Gonzales, with his big Mexican hat to im- "I learned a variety of hispanic words and It will never overshadow Ripken's ages of Latinos presented as thugs. slang terms, as well as the importance of "streak," or be discussed in the same sen- In the comic strip "Baldo," Cantu and co- having a comic strip that's influenced by a tence as DiMaggio's 56-game hilling streak. creator Carlos! Castellanos tries to rid the culture that isn't prevalent in the media." But Bordick's determination and flawless media of the stereotypical representations of With Cantu's popularity, the Hispanic defensive play, night after night for a non- Latinos. comic strip is making new breakthroughs in contending team is truly remarkable. The strip is about an average boy, Baldo, the media. trying to get through his teenage years and The first "Baldo" book, "The Lower You Above, the main character "Baldo," is an just happens to be Latino. Ride, The Cooler You Are" was just recently adolescent teen that faces challenges of The people in Baldo's life are his father, published in 2001 and is available for the everyday teenage life. Mr. Bennudez, his sister, Gracie, and his public. aunt, Tia Carmen. It is not intended to be a They are also working on a cartoon ver- political cartoon; it's just supposed to show sion too, which will first appear on Spanish an average Latin American family without channels. stereotypes. Gamarra adds "One question that Iasked Cantu's presence on campus attracted a Cantu was where the characters in his comic very diverse audience, many whom put aside strip are from, because it never really speci- school-related tasks to learn about Hispanic fies. culture and go behind the scenes of the cre- He gave a good answer; he told me that ation of "Baldo." they shouldn't be characterized by where "I never really heard of a Latino cornie they are from. Nobody ever asks where strip before, so I was kind of curious about 'Garfield' is from." that," said Melanie Oamarra. "And I am also The importance of "Baldo" is that it into cartoons, so that's another reason why shows positive images of Latinos. The strip this presentation interested me." sends out a message to kids to be proud of Gamarra is a member of the Hispanic! themselves and their Latin culture. Latino Alliance and aided in the promotion Latinos can now open their newspapers of this event. and view images of themselves in an encour- "What I really enjoyed was when he aging way. spoke on how he came up with the charac- CANCLW. ACA?ut.~ t JAMAICAf 6NlAMM • FL"2IDA Above, is Gracie, the jubilant tiute sister of Baldo. ~1,rg~T~U~¥~E~LT E~~SERVICES PROMOTETRIPS ON CAMPUS EARNWH & TDVEL FREE! 1.800.648.4849 CALL TODAY FOR DETAILS! www.ststravel.com Above, Dad, the/ather of Baldo that ins/ills knowledge to his SOli.