Mauricio de Sousa

Mauricio Araújo de Sousa is a Brazilian cartoonist who has created over 200 characters for his popular series of children's comic books. At 17 years of age, he worked for a daily newspaper called Folha da Manhã as a crime reporter. In 1959, Sousa quit that job and began his comic book career, and created Monica's Gang. The comics of Mauricio de Sousa have gained international fame, been featured on licensed merchandise, and have even been adapted for movies, television, video games, and even a São Paulo amusement park, the Parque da Mônica ("Monica's Park"). He was also friends with Osamu Tezuka, having drawed one chapter for "Princess Night".

(Source: Wikipedia, edited)