'Horatio' (1975). Translation: "What a hard head!".
Born in Santa Isabel, São Paulo, Mauricio De Sousa was raised in an artistic family. At the age of 17, Mauricio De Sousa worked as a crime reporter for the daily newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo. In 1959, he quit his reporting job and dedicated his career to the comics, starting at the publishing house Civita. His earliest creations were Bidù and Cebolinha and their gang, as well as the caveman Piteco.
'Franjinha', art by Mauricio.
De Sousa married and had a daughter, Monica, who was the inspiration for his strip: 'Turma da Mônica' ('Monica and her Gang'). He developed a gallery of children characters inspired by kids he remembered from his childhood, like Magali, Marina, Maria Cebolinha, Cascão, Nimbus e Do Contra, as well as the dinosaur 'Horacio'.
'Lobi em Transformaca'.
In 1970, Editora Abril launched a full-color monthly magazine around the Monica character. Eventually other De Sousa characters were given their own titles. The sales ran into the millions each month, surpassing Disney publications. From 1986 on, the comic books created by De Sousa and his studios were published by Editorial Globo.
Monica, special anniversary edition.
Among his studio co-workers are Laura C. Ferraz and Sidnei L. Salustre, as well as many other writers and artists. Mauricio De Sousa has become the most successful cartoonist in the Brazilian comic industry, and his creations have been featured in television series, video games and merchandising.
'Monica', art by Mauricio de Sousa (1974).Translation: "Be careful, Mônica! The pole!"