Meet political cartoonist Sergio Hernandez

There’s going to be something funny around here on Sundays… 

On Sundays, from now on, we will be publishing cartoons from Sergio Hernandez, a retired defense investigator who has gained an impressive following for his satirical cartoons that focus on local issues. The cartoons will be published in our newly created category called SATIRICAL SUNDAYS!

Satirical Sundays is published on the lower half of our front page.

Here’s more on Sergio (in his own words):

“I was born in Los Angeles in 1948 and raised in the South Central area of LA known as the Florence/Firestone District. My parents were working class folks who were also born in Los Angeles. I inherited my passion for art, as well as my art ability, from my father. My mother emphasized education and urged me and my siblings to go on to college. I heeded her advice, and am a graduate of CSUN. I majored in Chicano Studies and have a minor in Art.

I’m told that I began to draw about the time I started to walk. My parents did all they could to develop my talent and bought me pencils, crayons and surplus paper. At fifteen years of age I received a summer scholarship from LAUSD to Otis Art Institute. It was at this very prestigious, professional art school in Los Angeles that I was inspired to be an artist.

In the 1960s, America was in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War was beginning to ratchet up. The images of injustices and of war that were shown on TV–as well as incidents I personally witnessed such as the Watts Riots–were forever etched in my psyche. As one of the original artists for the trailblazing magazine Con Safos, I had many images from which to draw. These issues have been a constant theme in my work. As a kid, I loved reading Mad Magazine. I learned about satire and the power of cartoons; cartooning is also one of my loves.

I have been honored to be invited to lecture on the topic of Art and Activism at Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin and at Ankara University in Turkey. Together with my wife Diane, we present the lecture “From Barrio Kids to Chicanos of Conscience.” I am published in various books, textbooks, magazines and newspapers. Many of my paintings are in private art collections, and I was on the Mural team that painted the first Chicano Mural at UCLA in 1970.”

View Sergio’s first cartoon for The AV Times: Mayor Rex’s Bucket list may include running after the Bulls….

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