'Nérd e Sua Turma', 1995.
Raquel Gompy is a Brazilian animator and comic artist. Her signature series, 'Nérd e Sua Turma' (1995-1997), was the first Brazilian webcomic. She also created another animal-themed webcomic, 'Pluma, A Gata' (2000-2010).
Life and career
Born in São Paulo in 1971, Raquel Gompy graduated in Publicity from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP) and worked as an animator at Estúdios Mauricio de Sousa and HGN Produções. There, she was part of the team who worked on Disney's 'Aladdin' TV show in the 1990s. Raquel's main influences are Laerte, Fernando Gonsales, Henfil, Gary Larson, Quino, Bill Watterson, Jim Davis and Charles M. Schulz.
Nérd e sua turma
In April 1995, Gompy launched the first Brazilian webcomic: 'Nérd e Sua Turma'. It was a comic strip about a group of geek birds with jokes about technology and behavior. The webcomic was published on a website associated with the Laboratory of Integrated Systems at the University of São Paulo (USP), where Gompy's boyfriend (and current husband) worked. The commercial internet in Brazil wasn't introduced until 1995. Before then, the use of the Internet was almost exclusively limited to universities. This was an important reason for the author to pick the theme of her webcomic. She first wanted to reach the audience already strongly linked to this new technology, and then expand to new readers who would arise with the expansion of the Internet.
Pluma, a gata
Gompy published a total of 178 strips of 'Nérd e Sua Turma' until 1997, until she gave up this webcomic, dismayed because she couldn't get a financial compensation for her work. Yet, soon after, she created another webcomic, 'Pluma, a Gata' (2000-2010), about a cat named Pluma and her friends.
Recognition
'Pluma, A Gata' was published on the website Gompy, which in 2000 won the Starmedia Award in the categories "Best Site, as chosen by the Jury", "Best Site Category Leisure and Entertainment" and "Best Site by the Public". The prize was associated with Starmedia, an important Brazilian internet portal in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
'Plumo, A Gata'. Translation: "So beautiful!" "How cute!" -Oba!" - "Come, let's send him to China!" - "Suuuper cute!" - "Cute!".