Guglielmo Guastaveglia was one of the big Italian humorists of the early 20th century. He was the editor of Il Travaso delle Idee from 1908, and became head of the publication in 1921. By 1925, the magazine sold over 300,000 copies, but Guastaveglia was fired because of his anti-fascist sentiments. The artist continued to draw for other magazines, such as Il Corriere dei Piccoli, La Trincea and Il Giornalino della Domenica. In 1924, his work 'Il Libro della Mosca e dello Scoiattolo' was published.
In 1928, he became a professional journalist, and began a collaboration with the newspaper Il Popolo di Roma. There, he drew several sequential stories with 'Topolino' ('Mickey Mouse'), for the occasion accompanied by 'Mio Mao' ('Felix the Cat'), his girlfriend Topolina and the Gottfredson character 'Kat Nipp'. These 1931 panels were in fact the first Italian Disney comics, presumably with authorization from Disney.
Guasta joined the staff of Marc' Aurelio in 1932, where he worked as a lay-out man and writer. In 1937, he published 'La Reginetta Creduta Pazza'and 'Arca di Noè 1900'. In 1944, he founded the Funny Faces Shop with Federico Fellini and Carlo Bompiani, and worked in the theatre field. He became head of Il Travaso in 1946, and remained in this occupation until 1962. In 1951/52, he wrote 'Storia d'America' for the magazine, which was illustrated by Vittorio Cossio. He continued to work in the graphic field throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
