Wilmer Cuba

In Da Hood Wilmer Cuba

Drawn-both figuratively and literally-from his own experiences growing up and teaching art at high schools in inner city Newark, New Jersey, artist Wil Cuba invites readers to experience grinding poverty, race relations, young lust and first love through the eyes of four unforgettable characters.

A series of seven interconnected short stories told both in word and pictures, In 'Da Hood chronicles four adolescent boys and their lives in the projects of Newark.

Meet Cholo, a lovable boy whose weight makes him insecure and who has trouble getting out of the messes in which he finds himself. Tito, the ringleader, doesn't go looking for trouble, but it somehow always finds him anyway. The Socrates of the bunch is Lil Tyrone, a smart, smart-ass kid prone to finding humor in even the most difficult situations-and using his smarts to make arguments. The only white kid in the projects is White Boy John, a troublemaker who connects with the Puerto Rican and black kids in the neighborhood over their shared experiences with poverty and crime.

Hilarious, shocking, and completely engaging, In 'Da Hood will engross anyone open to finding humor, truth, and even beauty in dysfunctional places.