I grew up in Tucson, AZ, and no newspaper in the US loved Gus Arriola's "Gordo" more than the Arizona Daily Star. It gave me a nice education in at least the latter years of Arriola's acclaimed style. A couple years back, for no reason I could articulate, a particular stretch of Gordo comics came to mind and I started hunting around for resources online. There aren't many! Even the eponymous GordoComics.com has huge gaps in the strip's run, although it has a (low-res) collection of rare art. Excellent stuff if you swing by.
I've written a couple of books on comics ("The League of Regrettable Superheroes" and its sequels) and I'm interested in pitching an art book of Arriola's work in the future. I have a lot of legwork to do beforehand, but I can't miss an opportunity to dig up other fans or to introduce an appreciative audience to his craft. He's an amazing artist, his comic contributed a great deal to mainstream American culture at the time, and I am blown away that he's so little-known and underappreciated.
In the meantime, I've been running around picking up art and original strips (I've even been to UC Berkeley's special collections department to look at what they've got!). I just picked up a run of the 1945 color Sundays -- hard to find! -- and I'd love to share at least one with you (hopefully that doesn't cross any rules -- the strips aren't public domain).
Arriola's style evolved dramatically over the strip's run. These early ones owe a great deal to his time as an MGM animator.
Anyway, if you're a fan, holler, I'd love to meet more!
Cheers!
-Jon