Have you heard of Baldo, the comic strip creation of Hector Cantu and Carlos Castellanos? Us either, but we happened to stumble upon it when browsing the San Jose Mercury News this morning. Baldo is a “daydreaming teenager who’s trying to be the coolest kid in school. In the meantime, he’ll settle for a good game of soccer and building the sweetest lowrider car.” Hmmmm…sounds familiar. Soccer? check. Lowride car? check. Looks like we have us a Latino comic strip.

Baldo lives between American and Latino cultures and seeks to discover how he fits in the middle. It’s basically the story of you and me (but without the cursing and chanclasos you get from your mom when you don’t want to do something). Oh, did we mention Baldo does not have a mom?

That’s part of the allure of the story: finding out what happened to her. But he does have Papi, Gracie (his sister), and Tía Carmen. The comic plays up Latino stereotypes to show how silly the white man is and the hardships that Latinos have endured in this country. Its certainly not addictive. A sample below:

Oh Papi, you are just too funny. (Was that trying too hard?)

Baldo [San Jose Mercury News]