Monica's Gang or Monica and Friends is a Brazilian comic book series and media franchise created by Mauricio de Sousa.
Mauricio Araújo de Sousa is a Brazilian cartoonist and businessman who has created over 200 characters for his popular series of children's comic books named "Turma da Mônica" or "Monica's Gang ".
Jimmy Five, known as Cebolinha in Portuguese, is one of Monica and Friends' main characters. He was created in 1960, at first as a support character for Franklin and Blu who the following year became the protagonist of his own series of newspaper strips, which was later replaced by the character Monica in the 70s. Currently Jimmy Five has his own printed comic book, called Cebolinha, which was first released in 1973.
Chuck Billy 'n' Folks is a Brazilian comic strip and part of the Monica's Gang comic book series, created by Mauricio de Sousa.
Horacio's World is a Brazilian comic strip, part of the Monica and Friends comic strips. The main character is Horácio, a baby Tyrannosaurus rex, created in 1961. He debuted as one of the supporting characters of Pitheco's comics in The Cavern Clan, but their solo stories started in 1963. Other minor characters appear occasionally, but Horacio's strips mostly consist of monologues and self-reflections, thus making him Mauricios's alter-ego. Also, all his stories are written by Mauricio himself.
Bug-a-Booo is a Brazilian comic strip, created in 1963 and part of the Monica's Gang series. All of the characters are monsters or other supernatural creatures, none of them being a human being. The main location for their stories is a cemetery. However, their stories are not intended to be scary, they are sometimes classified as “Terrir”, which is a Portmanteau of the Portuguese words "Terror" (horror) and "Rir" (to laugh). In some of the stories, they have to deal with the fact that vampires, ghosts, zombies and mummies are no longer appreciated as characters of horror films. People instead are opting for assassins, psychopaths, serial killers, etc.
The Tribe is a Brazilian comic strip, part of the Monica's Gang series. It centers around a tribe of indigenous people from the Amazon. Their tribe was once named "Tribo do Rio" (River's Tribe). Although the only characters are Tom-Tom, Tamoyo, Papaya and the Pajé, their stories feature a large range of themes, going from environmental concerns to the shock between indigenous and non-indigenous cultures. People from outside the jungle are called "Caras-pálidas" or simply "Caraíbas". When one of the Caraíbas approaches Tom-Tom's tribe, the encounter can be either friendly or unfriendly, the latter always happening when the Caraíba attempts to hunt, deforest, burn, or in any other way harm the environment. Tupã, the God of the Guarani people, and Jaci, the Moon, are occasionally mentioned.
The Funnies, also known as Bubbly the Astronaut is a Brazilian comic strip series, created in 1963 and part of the Monica's Gang comic strips. It centers around Bubbly, an astronaut, whose parents and ex-girlfriend Rita appear very rarely, making him the only recurring character. The comic strip can be defined as a science fiction adventure strip.
Lionel's Kingdom is a Brazilian comic strip created in 1961 and part of the Monica's Gang comic strips.
Monica is a Brazilian fictional character and Mauricio de Sousa's best-known creation. Introduced in 1963, she serves as the main protagonist and title character of the Monica and Friends comic book series and media franchise.
Blu (Bidu) is a character in the Brazilian comic strip Monica's Gang, created in 1959. He was the first character created by Maurício de Sousa, along with his owner Franklin (Franjinha). The character appears in the logo and is the mascot of Mauricio de Sousa Produções, the company founded by Sousa to release his works.
Astronauta – Magnetar is a 2012 Brazilian graphic novel written and illustrated by Danilo Beyruth based on the character Astronauta created by Maurício de Sousa. It is the first installment in the Graphic MSP series of graphic novels based on Maurício de Sousa characters.
Graphic MSP is a series of graphic novels published by Panini Comics based on the characters of Monica and Friends.
Piteco – Ingá is a 2013 Brazilian graphic novel written and illustrated by Shiko based on the Cavern Clan characters created by Maurício de Sousa. It is part of the Graphic MSP series of graphic novels based on Maurício de Sousa characters.
André Luiz da Silva Pereira, well known as André Vazzios is a Brazilian colorist, comics artist and architect. Graduated in Architecture from Mackenzie Presbyterian University, he began his career as an illustrator in 1995 at the Abril Jovem publishing house.
Monica Toy is a Brazilian franchise and animated series based on Monica's Gang comic books, and also a spin-off of the cartoon series. The series features the characters drawn in a chibi-like art style. The franchise debuted on 2013 in partnership with Mauricio de Sousa and the company Tok & Stok for the sale of products based on the characters, with a cartoon premiering on the official YouTube channel on May 23 of the same year. The cartoon also debuted on Cartoon Network in Brazil after a few months.
Monica and Friends: Bonds is a 2019 Brazilian family adventure film produced by Estúdios Mauricio de Sousa, directed by Daniel Rezende, with screenplay written by Thiago Dottori, and starring Giulia Benite, Kevin Vechiatto, Laura Rauseo and Gabriel Moreira. The film was based on the eponymous graphic novel by Vitor and Lu Cafaggi and the series of homonymous comic books created by Mauricio de Sousa. The movie was first released in US during the Hollywood Brazilian Film Festival, on 16 November 2019.
Parque da Mônica is a amusement park themed with the characters created by Maurício de Sousa. The first park had been designed by Maurício in 1993 at the Shopping Eldorado Paulistano, having operated until February 2010 when it closed for good its activities due to contractual problems with the mall's administrators and debts. Since then, Maurício has been in negotiations to reopen it at another location. A new park opened at Shopping SP Market on July 4th, 2015, in the location of the extinct O Mundo da Xuxa. In 17 years of activities, until 2010, the park received more than 9 million visitors.
