Mauricio writes...
Story 89 - Rounding Out Nimbus (Part One)

In the beginning, I created characters.

But they were somewhat lifeless and not clearly defined. I decided I needed a lot of study to give the whole creation more light and color -- and also more technique, humor and love.

During the first six years, I developed the style for the main characters. But by the seventh year, which according to the books is when one can rest a little, my art studio was already up and running at a fast clip. There was no time for rest any more. At most, I stop for a few days for what might be called a vacation. That's when I take time to look over how things are doing in the creative and business areas of the company.

In fact, it was during one of those moments, long after the early years, that new characters came into being. As usual, based on my children.

Along came Mauro, Mauricio and Marina, re-born in the comics as Nimbus, Nick Nope and Marina. In previous stories I have written about them and how they were created. ("Nimbus, the weatherboy," "Nick Nope does it his way," and "Marina's chair.")

But what I want to show readers here is how the work of research and development is done in our studios so that the characters continue to be alive, active, dynamic and fit into situations with which readers are familiar. Except for the element of fantasy (which is necessary in this type of production), Monica's Gang and the new characters are kids just like the ones who read the comics: they speak the same language, want the same things and relate to the reader (and readers to them).

And one more thing: although I started out creating and drawing everything myself, after many years I succeeded in orienting and now coach a team of storywriters who help draft the stories and dialogues. The material these writers create is passed along to me for evaluation, review of the philosophy behind the story, the rhythm, the technique and eventual corrections and approval (or not) for publication. In the midst of this process, I still pen some scripts to indicate new paths for the writers to explore.

Having said that, I will now show you parts of a memorandum I sent to our in-house storywriters recently about filling out these characters, which I mention at the start. The fact is that the time is always right to try to improve any kind of work.
"TO BE STUDIED:

The characteristics of my children Mauro, Mauricio and Marina, in order to round out the characters based on them.

Their counterparts in the comics -- Marina, Nimbus and Nick Nope -- are not appearing often enough in the world of Monica's Gang. We need to reinforce them, have them interact more with the other characters and at the same time expand the personal universe of each one.

Nimbus, for example, based on Mauro (my son), could have a few more characteristics in addition to his repetitive fear of rainstorms and bad weather. And, as always, we can look to real life (Mauro's own characteristics) for some new traits to add to the character and make him more human.

One of these is his talent for acting which makes him stand out as the best actor of the gang. He "puts on," lives and really acts out each role. And to fill out his type even more, we can use his new hobby to develop many new themes for stories: he (Mauro, in real life) loves to do magic tricks. He reads books that explain the tricks, watches videos on the subject, and every time he gets together with his pals, he tries (most of the time with success) to impress his audience, usually with sleight-of-hand stunts. When he can set everything up beforehand he tries other more complicated tricks.

He is still super charming, melting the hearts of young and not-so-young girls (I think his type and personality arouse the maternal instinct), making friends easily with younger groups of kids (he acts as a sort of big brother, a pal), and loving animals of any kind (although they present a problem). He's allergic to their fur (like Maggy's dad), which triggers asthma attacks, making it hard for him to breathe and requiring inhalation. When he just can't resist, he has to wash his hands quickly after touching the animal, eventually change his clothes if he holds it on his lap and just be careful.

Maybe Nimbus's asthma problem, common to so many readers, will make kids identify even more closely with the character once it's possible to include the subject of allergies in the stories. To find out how best to deal with this, we need to talk with Mauro himself, with his mother Alice, and also with Dr. Sergio Timmerman, health advisor to the Mauricio de Sousa Cultural Institute. By doing this, we will get our facts straight and approach the subject correctly.

Another characteristic of Mauro's that we can use to round out Nimbus is his know-how as a pianist. He is a virtuoso, actually able to play any type of music with skill and sensitivity although he prefers classical and Brazilian pop tunes. He takes lessons at a contemporary music school and is influenced by great Brazilian composers like Tom Jobim, Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque de Holanda and others. His classical training is given by Betina, from our cultural institute.

Since we look to live persons for inspiration -- people like ourselves, sometimes people we know well -- Mauro has much more to give to the character Nimbus."

May 15, 1998



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