Comic strip for TBO
Valentì Castanys i Borràs was a versatile man, since the Catalan worked not only as an artist and writer, but also as radio broadcaster, satirist, cinephile and editor He was one of the driving forces behind the sports magazines Xut! from 1922 and El Once from 1945. He launched magazines like Cinòpolis (1929), El Senyor Canons (1930) and El Lliri Blanc (1934), while also contributing to many illustrated humor magazines such as En Patufet, El Be Negre, La Nuri, La Veu de Catalunya and La Rambla.
During the Spanish Civil War, he was in Donosti, where he contributed to publications like Flechas i Pelayos under the pseudonym As. He was subsequently present in Destino and the sports paper El Mundo Deportivo. Castanys developed a variety of comic strips for Chicos between 1938 and the mid-1940s, including 'Pepito Holmes', 'Sergapo, el Lusitano', 'El vado del valor', 'Andanzas de Loanillo', 'Don Bartolo' and 'Gotán, el Mono Sabio', and was also a contributor to TBO.
In 1946, he created the supplement El Once for El Correo Catalán, a paper he remained involved with until his death. He also gained popularity through his humorous radio plays starring 'La Família Sistacs' in the 1930s, a set of characters he also introduced in a comic strip for Paseo Infantil in 1956. During his productive career, Castanys has used a wide variety of pseudonyms, including Birostia, Bishop Magnessie, Desideri Dova, Eufemio Rodríguez, Floreal, Hau Passa Hajeure, Llangonissagoitibutfarramendi Chorizzari, Lord Baldufa and Perifrasio.
La Familia Sistacs