Artist Profile | Cartoon & Caricature

Mauricio de Sousa

Mauricio Araújo de Sousa was born in Santa Isabel on October 27, 1935. His father, Antonio Mauricio de Sousa, was a poet and his mother, Petronilha Araújo de Sousa, also dabbled in poetry. Mauricio developed an interest in caricature at an early age and began drawing posters and illustrations for periodicals. At the age of 17, he worked for a newspaper called “Folha da Manhã” as a police reporter. In 1959, Sousa quit that job and began his career in comics, creating "Monica's Gang." Mauricio de Sousa's comics have gained international fame, been featured in licensed merchandise, and have even been adapted for film, television, video games, and even a São Paulo amusement park, Parque da Mônica ("Monica's Park"). Two other “Parque da Mônica” facilities were also located in Curitiba and Rio de Janeiro, but both closed in 2000 and 2005, respectively. From 1970 to 1986, Mauricio's comics had been published by the “Abril” editorial, until Globo took over in January 1987. His work has been published in many magazines and newspapers since 1959. Since January 2007, the comic series is published by “Panini Comics”. In 1997, the cartoonist founded the Mauricio de Sousa Cultural Institute, whose mandate is to develop social action campaigns that translate serious issues into comic format to appeal to both young and adult readers. Mauricio began publishing "Turma da Mônica Jovem" ("Monica Teen") in 2008, a spin-off series of "Monica's Gang", which features Monica and her friends now as teenagers, adopting black and white pages as well as a style heavily influenced by the manga issue No. 34 of the "Monica Teen" comic, which features the first real kiss between Monica and Jimmy (they had already kissed twice before, but in a different context) had 500,000 sales. In 2012, Mauricio published a two-issue story arc in the comic “Monica Teen” with some of the main characters from “Osamu Tezuka”, such as Astro, Sapphire and Kimba, joining Monica and her friends on an adventure in the Amazon jungle. against a smuggling organization that cuts down hundreds of trees in the jungles of the Amazon. This is the first time that “Tezuka Productions” has allowed foreign animators to use Tezuka's characters. Rock Holmes, another character created by Tezuka, has appeared as a villain in the story arc. Awards: Mauricio's public service work has earned him international recognition. Among the honors he has received are the Brazilian Presidential Medal of Honor for his promotion of human rights; an honorary doctorate in public service from La Roche College of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Brazilian Association of International Press. In 2011, he was honored at the seventh edition of the International Quadrinhos Festival, in Belo Horizonte.