BIG PANEL
- Pelezinho
On a plane trip—nobody knows exactly what year it was—star footballer Pelé met cartoonist MaurÃcio de Sousa. That's when they came up with the idea of creating a children's comic book version of Pelé. In October 1976, the character Pelezinho made his comic strip debut in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. The whole gang was inspired by Pelé's childhood friends, such as Cana Braba, Teófilo, Frangão, and Neusinha. Pelezinho got his own comic book in August 1977, after the King of Football had already ended his career.
At the time, the character had no nose and a pink contour around his mouth, just like other black characters in Turma da Mônica (Monica's Gang). As time went by and debates raged about blackface, Pelezinho was given a new look. This was in 1990, during the celebrations for Pelé's 50th birthday. In 2014, MaurÃcio de Sousa Produções released an official statement explaining the changes to the character. Pelezinho magazine stopped being published in 1982. After that, there were only special editions and almanacs. MaurÃcio de Sousa would later release comic books featuring Ronaldinho Gaúcho and Neymar. Projects with Maradona and Ronaldo Fenômeno (Ronaldo 'The Phenomenon') never got off the ground.
2 .Zé Carioca
Manual do Zé Carioca, 1974
paper
Editora Abril
Private collection
Published by Editora Abril on the occasion of the 1974 World Cup, Manual do Zé Carioca (The Handbook of Zé Carioca) was the first football almanac for an entire generation of children. Three years prior, the seventh volume in a collection that started with Manual do Escoteiro-Mirim (The Boy Scout Handbook) showcased the Brazilian parrot created by Walt Disney in 1942. Throughout 192 pages, it explains the history of football and its rules, presents the greatest stars in history, the pioneering female players, and the main Brazilian clubs, along with a small dictionary of football slang. The comedic element was provided by the team Brejeiros da Tijuca, led by Zé Carioca himself.
3 .Stickers and Albums