What was the first comic book released by Mauricio de Sousa?

Launching comic books for over 60 years, the cartoonist, who is now 27, turns 88: Mauricio de Sousa, created several striking characters that appeared in Folha de S.Paulo comic strips, some of the examples being the boy with the infallible plans known as Cebolinha and the beloved Dona da Rua, Mônica.

However, despite being included in comic books that circulate throughout Brazil and are part of children’s fun and learning moments to this day, they were not the pioneers to receive solo comics. In fact, it was the first figures created by the cartoonist who had this opportunity.

Bidu and Franjinha

Appearing in 1959, Bidu and Franjinha starred in Folha de S.Paulo comic strips, thus marking the debut of the first characters in Mauricio traveling around the country. The fact that made them gain popularity also culminated in the addition of new characters in their stories and even their first appearances in magazines through ‘Zas-Trás’, from Editora Continental.

The first comic

However, they were not yet the protagonists of the plots, a fact that changed just a year later, where Bidu ended up getting his first solo comic book.

Entitled ‘Bidu nº1’, the comics, which were still in black and white, featured the famous scientist and his little blue dog in several different everyday adventures. See the cover!

The first among the narratives was “The talking dog”, where a frustrated magician had his attempt to hypnotize Bidu interrupted by Franjinha, as the boy threw a stone at his head, causing the magician and the doggo to change personalities, and as a result, transform Bidu into a talking dog.

Note of curiosity: The adventure ended up getting an updated and colorful version in ‘Mônica’ no. 1, the first comic book about the girl who wears a little red dress.

Another story that deserves to be highlighted is “The Bidu complexes!” which had some of its pages published on the official Twitter of ‘Turma da Mônica’, where it shows that a bully cat ends up scaring Bidu, causing Franjinha to look for an animal psychiatrist. Check out!

In addition to “The Talking Dog” and “The Bidu Complexes!”, the comic also had the following titles: “The Fighting Dwarf”, “Franjinha”, “Cãozinho Mechanical”, “The Ghost Puppy”, “The Egg of discord” and another last story, which I had not stated.

It is worth remembering that the narratives featured not only Bidu and his owner, Franjinha, but also Titi, Manezinho, Jeremias, Humberto, Roy Rogers, Trigger, Seu Carlos (Franjinha’s father) and Dona Elza (Franjinha’s mother).

Still, despite being the first comic book created by Mauricio de Sousathe stories that had Bidu as the protagonist ended up receiving only eight editions, since soon after, the artist ended up having to dedicate himself to his other works, since he still did not have a large team, as he does today.