ONE WEEK IN LOS ANGELES AND SAN DIEGO WITH MY DAD...

November 7 to November 14 is a week that will live in infamy...
That is the week I traveled with my 90 year-old father to Los Angeles for what was supposed to be a fun-filled excursion, visiting the great tourist attractions and doing some leisurely sightseeing around the LA/San Diego area.  The trip took a turn for the worst when dad insisted in doing all the driving himself and, after several heated arguments, the trip became an exercise in endurance. The final result was: one hour in Long Beach, one hour in Coronado, one hour at the Kodak Theater Shops in Hollywood and the rest of the trip spent inside cheapie stores like Big Lots, DD Discounts, The Thrift Store, Dollar Tree and Fallas. But, I figured it was my dad's last trip with me so I decided to just grin and bear it. Hopefully, my dad enjoyed the trip immensely.  I sure didn't!

Okay, so now, Blofeld has taken over the United States, and we're all James Bond!

HALLOWEEN HOWLS!

FUN FOR TRICK-OR-TREATERS!

THE CASTLE presents: CREEPY CONDO

Back in 1964, during the height of the great 60s "Monster Craze", I developed a private comic book named "THE CASTLE". I was 13 years old and drew the comic in simple bond paper with pen and ink with color added with markers and color pencils. I only completed four issues and left the project for something else. "THE CASTLE" was never intended for publication of any kind and as I left my parents home years later, the comic books were lost. I recently recreated the cover of the first issue by memory and I am reposting it here as well as a few samples of a new comic strip inspired by the same characters. The new strip is called "CREEPY CONDO" and it was done just for fun in the spirit of the forthcoming Halloween. Hope you enjoy it!

A WARNING FROM DONALD TRUMP TO ALL U.S. CITIZENS!

TIDBITS

These are some reflections of everyday events:

Revisiting my MOBSTER NICK (El Mafioso Nick) covers from 1973!

THE FROGTOWN CHRONICLES - 1993

Back in 1993, I created THE FROGTOWN CHRONICLES, a comic strip depicting the life of a frog community. The gags always related to everyday events or some current topics. The strip was published rather obscurely in La Jornada (The Working Day), a local newspaper, on its Sunday Comics section.  The strip was not very successful and I stopped doing it after about a year. Here are some brief samples.

MOBSTER NICK in MEXICO!

THE LAST OF MY PINK PANTHER COMIC BOOK COVERS (Unpublished).

This was the last PINK PANTHER comic book cover I ever did for Editorial VID, which never saw the light of day.  Late in 1992, I was informed that the comic book branch was closing up shop and all artists and writers were being let go. However, VID  kept publishing and reprinting the same stories for several years more, without paying any royalties.

This is the original pen and ink artwork. I always signed my drawings even when I knew they would be white-washed out by the editors.

The cover was a reworking of my original NOVARO cover for DOMINGOS ALEGRES No. 2-1202, published in September 30, 1977. I substituted the Inspector for the generic little guy.