Wednesday, January 3, 2018

FERNANDO LLERA - Mini-Biography

FERNANDO LLERA is a comic book artist, editorial cartoonist, illustrator, actor and writer from Mexico City.   He created his first comic strip, "MOBSTER NICK" in 1970. Six comic book issues of MOBSTER NICK were published by NOVARO under the Domingos Alegres banner in 1973-74.     From 1974 to 1992, he wrote and drew the Spanish language versions of "THE PINK PANTHER" and "BEEP BEEP, THE ROAD RUNNER" comic books for Western Publishing Company's Latin American licensees, Editorial Novaro and later Editorial VID.  He performed as a comedian at several local dinner theaters.  In 1985, he wrote and appeared in two comedy TV series. He's also a licensed radio announcer and from 1995 to 2007, he co-hosted a daily two hour radio talk show for Grupo Radio Centro, a large Mexican radio network.  He has illustrated several humor books and his cartoons have been published in several magazines. He published some editorial cartoons for Mexico's Reforma newspaper from 2004 until 2006. He has also appeared as an actor in Mexican films: HASTA MORIR ('Til Death - 1994) and BORRAR DE LA MEMORIA (2010). He was interviewed on-screen for a feature length documentary about the NOVARO era: NOVARO, THE MEXICAN COLOSSUS (2016). Since 2006, his editorial cartoons have been appearing regularly in Excelsior, a Mexican daily newspaper. 





















Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Checking up on Mobster Nick's MO!

The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition is a 2005 children's picture book, written by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell, and illustrated by CoĂ« Steinwart. The book tells a Christmas-themed story, written in rhyme, that explains how Santa Claus knows who is naughty and who is nice. It describes elves visiting children between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, after which they return to the North Pole until the next holiday season. The Elf on the Shelf comes in a keepsake box that features a hardbound picture book and a small soft toy in the form of a pixiescout elf.
Although not all elves stick to checking up on children. One in particular seems to be fascinated by Mobster Nick's highly malfeasant and shady activities.


Saturday, November 18, 2017

Leonardo Da Vinci's "SALVATOR MUNDI" sold at auction!



After 19 minutes of dueling, with four bidders on the telephone and one in the room, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” sold on Wednesday night for $450.3 million with fees, shattering the high for any work of art sold at auction. It far surpassed Picasso’s “Women of Algiers,” which fetched $179.4 million at Christie’s in May 2015. The buyer was not immediately disclosed.

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Happy Third Birthday to my beautiful little Princess!

My little granddaughter is 3 years old today and I am the happiest grandfather ever! Life is passing by at a dizzying rate so I have to grasp every single moment before it's all over!!! - Don't we all?

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

MOBSTER NICK in Syndication...NOT!

After sending a request to every known Newspaper Syndicate in hopes of getting the MOBSTER NICK comic strip syndicated, the reactions have been quite disappointing. As expected, some syndicates didn't even bother to send a reply. Those who did, sent the same, standardized automatic response: 
"Regrettably, our editorial board has decided we are unable to distribute your material at this time. Please understand that this does not reflect on your talents but rather on our needs at present. Because the cost of launching a new feature is so high, only a few of the thousands of submissions received each year by syndicates can be accepted. Nevertheless, we would encourage you to continue developing your work and feel free to submit new samples at any point in the future."
Well, that's more or less what I was expecting, so the level of disappointment is not really that high! Nonetheless, although MOBSTER NICK may have gotten the pink slip treatment, he's not out yet! I expect to try some other means of publishing the strips, come rain or come shine. And even if it still doesn't work out, nobody will take away the fun of doing this strip! Frank Sinatra said it and I repeat it: "The best is yet to come!" 



"Please be advised that Tribune Content Agency has received the material you sent through our electronic submissions process. If we are interested in discussing your inquiry, we will contact you. Thank you for your interest in Tribune Content Agency."
Sincerely,
The Editors at TCA