Gordo by Gus Arriola ran from 1941 to 1985 with a short break while Arriola served in WW II and was, as far as I know the only widely-popular comic strip set exclusively in Mexico. It depicted a Mexico that was unmistakeable. It's images helped shape the US public's image of life there. The AP credited him with popularizing expressions such as "hasta la vista". Though Arriola was of Mexican extraction, he never visited Mexico until 1961. Gordo (which means "fat") started out pretty darn chubby but had slimmed down considerably by 1959.
Gordo Had a large number of animal characters, including livestock that lived in the house, and an artistic (complete with beret) spider. This strip features most of the strip's human characters, notably Gordo himself (holding the statue of Jesus), his artist friend Paris and Paris's American wife.
Gordo started as a bean farmer and then became a tour guide. Though he was often seen dating lovely senoritas, the strip ended tragically when he married the dumpy over-the-hill Tehuana Moma in order to escape the claws of a rich and prettier lady.
