Gonzales began drawing comics while he was in
high school. His amateur comic strip was called
The Adventures of Chico Loco, and the characters were based on "
barrio guys," as Gonzales grew up on the tough streets of a poverty-ridden Mexican-American neighborhood. The main character, based on Gonzales himself, was called "Hollywood." The strip, which later changed its title to
The Adventures of Hollywood, In 1998, Gonzales released the first set of Homies figurines, initially sold in supermarket vending machines located in
Chicano communities. The first series featured the male characters
Eight Ball, Smiley, Big Loco, Droopy, Sapo, and
Mr. Raza. The toys were widely popular, with the first series selling a million Homies figures in four months. The figures caused controversy after their initial release as members of the
Los Angeles Police Department argued that the "urban, inner-city Latino" figures glorified
gang life. Law enforcement entities pressured retailers to stop selling Homies; as a result, many mainstream stores, such as
Walmart and
Safeway, stopped selling the toys. In response, Gonzales repeatedly explained that he "did not create Homies to glamorize gang life." He created stories for each of the characters on the Homies website, with each one embodying a positive trait. Stores quickly returned the Homies to their shelves; the resulting media coverage of the controversy helped Homies gain ever more popularity. According to Gonzales, he has received orders from countries in Europe, South America, and Africa requesting Homies characters representing people from those continents. By 2005, the Homies line featured female characters, as well as characters with
Puerto Rican,
Filipino, and
Japanese backgrounds. There have been
14 series of Homies, with more than 200 characters. == Description ==