Hector Cantu

Journalist and creator of Baldo

Hector Cantú is an award-winning journalist and co-creator/writer of the nationally syndicated newspaper comic strip Baldo. He is co-executive producer of the Baldo TV show, and author of two Baldo books, “The Lower You Ride, The Cooler You Are” and “Night of the Bilingual Telemarketers.”

The comic strip's lead characters are quickly squeezing their way onto the American pop culture stage, from the car-crazy teen Baldo and college-obsessed sister Gracie to the tradition-protecting Dad, and the lottery-playing Tia Carmen. Through sophisticated, gentle humor, Cantú and partner Carlos Castellanos seek to bring a different perspective to daily comic pages, giving a peek into the daily lives of a Latino family.

The comic strip appears in 200 daily and Sunday newspapers, including The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, The Los Angeles Daily News, and The Houston Chronicle. Baldo is one of Universal Press Syndicate's most-successful comic strip launches, after The Boondocks, For Better or For Worse, and Calvin and Hobbes.

In addition to writing the comic, Cantú is Editorial Director at Heritage Auction Galleries. He previously was an editor at Quick, a daily news tabloid in Dallas that targets young readers. He was managing editor of Hispanic Business magazine and his writing has appeared in The Los Angeles TImes and The Hollywood Reporter. Cantú has worked with other artists to bring various characters to life, including a line of vending-machine stickers for Cutting Edge Industries in California. His new book “Collectible Movie Posters” shares the world’s rarest, most valuable and most exciting newspaper movie posters known to exist.  

Cantú has appeared on CNN, NPR, and the nationally syndicated television special, Hispanic America: The Year in Review, and has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. He is featured in the new book “Your Brain On Latino Comics: From Gus Arriola to Los Bros Hernandez” by Frederick Luis Aldama.