La Cucaracha has actually been running in alternative newspapers since 1992, but it was not until six years ago that Universal Syndicate picked it up for development. By 2002, Alcaraz had fleshed out his strip with a core cast of characters. Cuco Racha may best represent Alacaraz himself. Cuco is far to the political left and none too quiet about it. His best friend, Eddie, is a bit more centrist but mostly wants to enjoy life. The main cast also includes Eddie’s kid brother Neto, and Eddie’s girlfriend Vero. Neto is capable of many high-tech tricks (like so many comic and cartoon kids these days) and some sassy speech to boot. Vero is sometimes the conscience of the strip and is probably much brighter than either Cuco or Eddie. Through these characters are filtered the conundrums of racism, political power and the influence of an emerging culture. The process uses heavy doses of humor, sarcasm and, at times, pathos.

Alcaraz’s recent strip depicts Vincente Fox, the president of Mexico, in an unflattering light.

Alcaraz also uses, at times, stand-alone strips where he lets his sharpest barbs fly. One such strip depicts Vincente Fox, the president of Mexico, proudly standing in front of a post office boasting of how he has made Memin Pinguin stamps available to collectors; standing in line at the door is a row of hooded Klansmen. In another strip, “How to Spot a Mexican Dad,” the titular subject is revealed to be a slovenly couch potato. The deliberate stereotyping appears to be a parody of common prejudices. Alcaraz is somewhat comparable to Boondocks cartoonist McGruder, but Alcaraz insists that both he and La Cucaracha are actually much tamer. “My number one goal is to show Latinos as normal people… everyday people.” says Alcaraz.

Note to animators: Alcaraz is a competent cartoonist but his poses are a bit stiff and there is a very two-dimensional feel to the strip. Animators will need to limber the characters up a bit and model sheets may be needed in order to get the proper turnaround on them. Apart from this, La Cucaracha should be easy and fun to animate. Watching the show could be even more fun; this would be a good strip for either a one-time special or a series.

Who might buy: Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, MTV.

Brewster Rockit: Space Guy grew out of a Star Wars send-up by cartoonist Tim Rickard. After its July 2004 debut, this sci-fi comedy quickly gained a popular following.

Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!
Everyone loves a good, well-written sci-fi spoof, which is why cartoonist Tim Rickard once wrote a Star Wars send-up. This experience was so enjoyable that Rickard developed his own comic space saga. Brewster Rockit: Space Guy made the funny pages in July of 2004 and quickly gained a popular following among fans of Futurama and other sci-fi comedies. Brewster Rockit is somewhat reminiscent of the old Icebox toon, Starship Regulars. In that series, the enlisted help — a bunch of ill-tempered slackers who are barely competent as people (let alone able crewmembers) — constantly undermine the commanders of a starship similar to the USS Enterprise. In Brewster Rockit it’s hard to believe that even the commander knows what he’s doing.

Rickard is enamored of puns, and uses them copiously throughout the strip. Brewster’s ship is the R.U. Sirius; his crew consists of waspish second-in-command Pamela Mae Snap, Dr. Mel Practice, the sinister Science Officer, inefficient Chief Engineer Cliff Clewless, Oldbot, an antiquated, leaky robot of no great use, and a designated Cute Kid named Winky. The latter appears to be Rickard’s take on the despised Wesley Crusher of Star Trek: The Next Generation infamy. Winky often demonstrates Rickard’s maxim that “A space station isn’t really a safe place for a child.” More conflict comes from Agent X, a government operative with an obsessive interest in denying the truth about alien life forms.

Every member of the crew has some major personality flaw, phobia or quirk that Rickard plays for fun. No alien is as dangerous to the R.U. Sirius as its own crew, whose bickering and silliness barely stop long enough to allow the saving of Earth.

The strip runs in serial form, with storylines sometimes stretched out over a week or two. This suggests that Rickard could adapt some of them for animated episodes. Whether spiced up for a more adult audience or run as a conventional space comedy, Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! just might be a universal hit in cartoon form.