La Cucaracha

By Lalo Alcaraz

An anthropomorphic hipster cockroach is on the cutting-edge of American comic-strip humor. La Cucaracha (aka Cuco Rocha) and his pals voice the concerns and observations of the Latino-American community with an edgy, insightful wit.

Through La Cucaracha, creator Lalo Alcaraz makes blunt social commentary both hard-hitting and hilarious. The result is not just a pleasure, but also a craving. The strong undercurrent of modern Latino themes and issues adds a sharp layer of meaning to the humor. In one strip, an immigrant bartender has listened to two customers rant, "I'm telling ya, there's too many immigrants pouring into this country." When one of the customers asks for another drink the bartender declares, "I'm an immigrant, and guess what? I'm not pouring!"

This first of perceptive La Cucaracha humor will delight and gratify all audiences that appreciate intelligent, progressive, deeply amusing comics.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449437602

Book preview

To Gus Arriola, Sergio Aragones, Ruis, Los Hernandez Bros, Quino, and all the unsung cartoonistas in Latin America

Introducing La Cucaracha

(This review by comics scholar R. C. Harvey first appeared in the Comics Journal 2002 Review of the Year.)

The latest entry into the lists of deliberately antagonistic comic strips is La Cucaracha, a Latino land mine planted in the Hispanic boondocks, by Lalo Alcaraz, a 38-year-old comedian, writer, illustrator, political agitator, public speaker, and cartoonist. It is no coincidence that Alcaraz’s strip is syndicated by Universal Press, which also distributes The Boondocks and Doonesbury, as well as Baldo, a strip launched in 2000 about an agreeable Latino teenager and his family by Hector Cantú and artist Carlos Castellanos. Looking at this lineup, you’d think Universal has a corner on the controversy market. It also distributes Pat Oliphant’s ferocious editorial cartoon as well as Ted Rall’s endeavors.

The comics pages need sharp-edged, culturally critical voices, says Greg Melvin, who is Aaron McGruder’s and Alcaraz’s editor at Universal. The comics have to reflect the world is changing.

Alcaraz’s parents were Mexican natives but he was born and educated in the U.S., spending summers in Mexico, where he was exposed to that country’s prolific cartoon industry, which produces comic book print runs in the millions. At San Diego State University, Alcaraz drew editorial cartoons for the campus paper, graduating in 1987 and going to