Baldo by Hector D. Cantú and Carlos Castellanos for August 27, 2011

I’m not convinced that she isn’t actually a guy. She’s drawn like one.

Baldo is totally getting some action!

I wonder what she looks like in regular clothes?

What bookgirl12 Said.

Think Gracy, but 10 years older.

fusilier, surfacing from lurk mode James 2:24

Yeah! He’s got a life!

Hahaha! Awwwwww!

xxx

I like bookgirl2’s interpretation, too! That totally would have been me if I were prettier and had dated in high school. Down to the laughter and the pushing into the pool.

There is nothing wrong with being a bit awkward in high school. Baldo is not a built, rich, straight-A football player himself- he’s a kid with a lot to offer, but not perfect, and he might do well with a girl like tihs- but not too well, because he doesn’t grow up to college in this strip

Alright!

They’re both a couple of nice, sometimes awkward, kids. I think they’ll get on great together!

I’m with bookgirl about 80% of the way. I’m not getting “awkward” vides off Estella, at least not to the extent it translates to “insecure.” I think she knows what she’s doing. My read of her giggles isn’t nervousness/relief, rather that she finds the idea of “hanging out” (which she understands as “dating”, even if Baldo doesn’t) cute, but she’ll go with it. I’m getting a LOT of confidence off Estella, along with a “Let’s go with it” impetuosity.

I’ll get a better read on her when she’s out of that bathing suit (no, I don’t mean it THAT way), but given the hairstyle and choice of eyewear I still predict that she’ll be a bit…alternative. Something of a hipster. She might have “interesting friends,” which might lead to intimidation for Baldo. What kind of name is “Estella Dank” anyway? As bilingual wordplay, wouldn’t it suggest something like “Star of Darkness”?

(By the way, I’m COMPLETELY aware that almost all of the above is my own projection, based on very little information.)

Estella: Stella (Latin): “star-like; love”. “Dank” is German for “thanks.” A very odd name combination.

“Parents can’t choose their last names , just the first for their children.”

No, but Hector and Carlos HAVE chosen “Dank,” possibly for a reason.

Baldo, ragtop Impala?

definitely getting a vibe of confidence from this gal. this could shake up baldo’s world. i like it.

Hadn’t thought of that, Lew. A girlfriend can quickly deplete a young man’s savings account.

(I’m not saying she’ll expect him to spend mony on her, I’m saying he’ll probably do it anyway.)

Still, one of Baldo’s stated motivations for getting his lowrider was to attract girls. If he gets a girl before the lowrider, he may reorder his priorities. That’s what happened with me and my motorcycle…

Never having been a teenage girl myself, bookgirl, I have no first-hand experience in the matter, but I’ve observed both kinds, the confident ones and the insecure ones. Again, the vibe I’m getting from this PARTICULAR teenage girl is one of confidence. From her outburst over the beachball the other day, to her dunking Baldo yesterday, to the pattern of her laughter today (at least the way I’M reading it), I think she’s fully in control here (although she’s letting Baldo PRETEND that he’s the one taking the initiative).

Baldo’s insecurity is clearly evident, right from the first panel: his face is averted, he’s couching his language with “maybe” and “you know”; his dismay in the second and third panels over Estella’s laughter is relieved in a HUGE way in the last panel: just look at that grin. But even as she says “Okay”, she’s walking away. She’s playing with him. It’s in a GOOD way, but she’s still calling the shots. “Men choose, but women decide.”

Of course, future developments will reveal which of us is closer in our guess (we might BOTH be way off)…

I’ll just guess your phone number