Mafalda

This article is about the comic strip. For information about the Italian princess, see Mafalda Maria Elisabetta of Savoy.

Mafalda is the fictional heroine of a comic strip written and drawn by the Argentine cartoonist Quino. The strip, featuring a little girl with a deep concern about humanity and world peace that rebels against the world as it is, ran from 1964 to 1973, enjoying high popularity in both Latin America and Europe.

She has occasionally been compared to Charles Schulz's Charlie Brown, most notably by Umberto Eco in 1968.

History

The character itself, whose name was inspired by David Viñas's novel Dar la cara, and a few others, were created in 1962 for a promotional cartoon that was meant to be published in the daily Clarín. Ultimately, however, Clarín broke the contract, and the campaign was cancelled altogether.

Mafalda only became a real cartoon following the suggestion of Julián Delgado, at the time senior editor of the weekly Primera Plana and a personal friend of Quino. It ran in that newspaper from 29 September 1964, featuring only the characters of Mafalda and her parents, and adding Felipe in January 1965. A legal dispute arose in March 1965, and so publication ceased on 9 March 1965.

One week later, on 15 March 1965, Mafalda started appearing daily in Buenos Aires' Mundo, allowing the author to follow current events more closely. The characters of Manolito and Susanita were created in the following weeks, and Mafalda's mother was pregnant when the newspaper shut down on 22 December 1967.

Publication recommenced six months later, on 2 June 1968, in the weekly Siete Días Illustrados. Since the cartoons had to be delivered two weeks before publication, Quino was not able to comment on the news to the same extent. He definitely ceased publication of the strip on 25 June 1973.

Since then, Quino still drew Mafalda a few times, mostly to promote human rights. For example, in 1976 he made a poster for the UNICEF illustrating the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Characters

• Mafalda: The main character, a little girl of around six years old, who hates soup. She acts like a typical little girl, but also has an acute and questioning view of life.
• Mamá (Raquel, 6 October 1964) and Papá (unnamed, 29 September 1964): Mafalda's parents are a very normal couple, without any particular distinguishing features (her dad works in a very run-of-the-mill insurance office) which contrasts with their daughter's personality.
• Felipe (19 January 1965): A dreamer who hates school but who often wages intense internal battles with his conscience and innate sense of responsibility. He was inspired by journalist Jorge Timossi, a friend of Quino's.
• Manolito (Manuel Goreiro, 29 March 1965): The son of a Spanish shopkeeper, concerned more about business and money than anything else.
• Susanita (Susana Beatriz Chirusi, 6 June 1965): A frivolous girl. Her only goal in life is to find a rich and good looking husband when she grows up, and to have above-average children.
• Guille (Guillermo, 1968): Mafalda's little brother.
• Miguelito: Somewhat younger than the others. He is somewhat selfish but has a good heart.
• Libertad (15 February 1970): A very tiny girl whose name means "Freedom". Everybody makes the obvious remark.

Books and translations

Most strips that were not too closely tied to current, now forgotten events have chronologically been reedited in (unnamed) books. This excludes the very first ones, published in Primera Plana, but never reprinted in books until 1989.

1. 1966
2. 1967
3. 1968
4. 1968
5. 1969
6. 1970
7. 1972
8. 1973
9. 1974
10. 1974

• Mafalda Inédita (Unpublished Mafalda) (1989)
• 10 Años con Mafalda (Ten years with Mafalda) (1991)
• Toda Mafalda (1992)

Although most strips were translated in different European languages as well as in simplified and traditionnal Chinese, they were little published in English – in fact not at all in the United States of America.

Adaptations

Although Quino opposes Mafalda being adapted for cinema or theatre, one animated film has been realised by Carlos Márquez in 1982. It remains little known.