When you think about it, the Universal Press Syndicate does have kind of a sinister ring to its name. Did you know that this outfit, which distributes most of our daily comics, flies deadline-dodging artists to its Kansas City headquarters to work out some strips–under supervision? Indeed, “they are locking me in a room to draw,” Lalo Alcaraz sheepishly told us en route to K.C. The creator of La Cucaracha admitted that this month he was even later than famed deadline scofflaw Aaron McGruder, who creates The Boondocks, and who with Alcaraz dents the overwhelming whiteness of most daily comics pages. (Alas, the Star Tribune recently replaced the often politically charged Cucaracha with 9 Chickweed Lane, a strip about ballerinas. Draw your own conclusions about our recently redesigned daily.) But it’s not like the guy is twiddling his thumbs. In addition to his daily syndicated strip, Alcaraz draws editorial cartoons, writes the satire magazine Pocho and hosts the Pocho Hour of Power radio show, and recently took on animation projects for the Telemundo network. Locked in a Syndicate office with nothing but his pens, paper, and wit (and that supervisor), it’s possible that this L.A.-based artist already felt as if he were stranded on a desert island, but we asked him to imagine a beach and some palm trees in the scenario.Here’s what he’d like to have with him:
1. My Pixies CD collection. I saw them in June in L.A., and it was a religious experience. I’ve got BBC stuff, bootlegs, all kinds of great stuff. The quality of their songs and the oddness of them is just so great. They rock.
2. An oil tanker full of Bacardi and a second one full of Coca-Cola. They could just run aground on my beach. That will keep me busy for a long time.
3. My black markers, some Bristol board, and a never-ending nine-by-twelve sketchbook. I’d have to keep drawing, to stay sane.
4. Either an electric guitar or congas. Maybe I should go for the congas, since I can’t play guitar, and I won’t have electricity. But I’ll have time to learn. I can’t play congas, either, but I have natural rhythm. Everyone in my family is either an artist or a musician, and I’m already an artist, so maybe it’s time for me to learn an instrument.
5. A lifetime supply of Mad magazines. Mad magazine inspired me… to become a jerk. The cartooning came later. English is my second language, but satire is my third. I grew up a little Mexican kid, and Mad magazine taught me amazing things about the United States. It had all these pop cultural messages from another generation. It’s like watching a Warner Bros. cartoon from the 1940s–you learn about things from the past. Mad made me realize that there was more than one way to look at things.
Lalo Alcaraz will appear at Landmark Center on November 1 as part of the Latino and Chicano Writers Festival, sponsored by the Friends of the St. Paul Library. 75 W. Fifth St. (Landmark Center), St. Paul; 651-292-3225
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