Goodbye, Gus Arriola

February 20, 2008

I missed the news: Gus Arriola died on February 4, in Carmel, California. He was 90.

Heck, I’ve missed his strip, Gordo, for years. One of a kind — Arriola’s work alone was worth the price of any newspaper that carried it.

Gordo, a Sunday strip

It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized the strip was a real ground breaker, a vanguard of Mexican-Americans in daily newspapers.

Really good strips are just really good strips.

So long, Gus.

Tip of the old scrub brush to Baldo’s Tia Carmen, for the news.

Tia Carmen of Baldo says good bye to Gus and Gordo, 2-20-1008

Copyright © 2008 Universal Press Syndicate