Farewell To Quino, Mafalda’s Unforgettable Father

When Quino created Mafalda, back in 1964, the other cartoonists recommended that he not focus only on a single character. It could be slave labor and it would limit your artistic potential. However, that irreverent girl conquered the world and her father took a few more years to get rid of her.

As often happens in those cases in which a character acquires such a powerful cultural significance, it is almost impossible to separate the creator from his creature. The same happened, for example, to Arthur Conan Doyle, father of Sherlock Holmes. Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón, known under the pseudonym Quino, could never get rid of Mafalda either.

Thus, despite leaving her forever in 1973 after having drawn around 1928 strips recounting his adventures and venting his ideas about the powerful and the underdog, the shadow of his little creature haunted him forever. Because, almost without knowing it, this Argentine with an exceptional critical gaze had given the world one of the most transcendent cultural figures. ..

Farewell to Quino, an unforgettable cartoonist and graphic humorist

Joaquín Salvador Lavado, known as Quino, surprised us this September 30 with his loss at the age of 88. The world of graphic humor, culture and social criticism has been more orphaned after his death.

Despite this, as always happens with someone who manages to enter the collective memory of several generations, they never die completely. At the end of the day, true death comes with oblivion and both Quino himself and his rebellious daughter will continue to live among us in infinite ways.

Mafalda will be like Peter Pan, a creature that will never grow up, that will continue to be a child to give us lessons in wisdom, freedom and reflection forever. Because, despite the fact that his last comic strip appeared in the early 70s, his humor is still rabidly topical.

Who was Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón (Quino)?

Joaquín Salvador Lavado was born in Guaymallén, Argentina, in 1932. His parents were Spanish and they decided to call him Quino from a very young age to distinguish him from his uncle, the illustrator Joaquín. In fact, he was the one who made him wish that same professional career.

He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Mendoza. With just over 17 years, he had already lost both parents and it was then that he decided to abandon his studies and try his luck in what he loved the most: comic strips.

As of 1954, he began to collaborate in various magazines, also in various advertising media as a cartoonist. Now, it was from 1963 when his life took a turn. It was after being hired by Agens Publicidad in order to promote the Mansfield appliance brand . He was asked to create a Peanuts-like comic strip, with some boy as the lead, one whose name began with “M”.

Now, the proposal that Quino presented to them did not like them, but they did like Joaquín Delgado, director of the magazine Primera Plana. Quino, who was sympathetic to the feminist movement, decided that the protagonist of those strips must be a girl.

But that girl he created in his mind was a bit peculiar. She was a reckless little girl who lived with her parents in an apartment in Buenos Aires. She was neither rich nor poor, she was fascinated by books, she had a radio to listen to The Beatles and the news, and she also had a globe …

What lessons did Quino leave us through Mafalda?

Quino used the figure of an Argentine girl like anyone at that time, to give her the voice and thought of an adult. Somehow, it followed the same vein as the Peanuts strips with Charly Brown and Snoopy. Possibly, he himself never predicted the success that that original creature born in 1964 would bring him.

Mafalda became the most popular girl in Latin America and, soon, it did not take long to reap the same successes in Europe. The reason for this is explained by the fact that the critical voice of this character, apparently so deeply rooted in Argentine culture, spoke of events that, in reality, were universal and also timeless.

No matter where we are from or at what time we are, Mafalda’s words always resonate, they always start a smile and make us think.

These are just some examples.

« It turns out that if you don’t rush to change the world, then it is the world that changes you »

With this idea, Quino makes us reflect on something that never stops happening. It does not matter the time, it does not matter the moment. One always dreams of undertaking, of creating something new, of transforming society and leaving old models behind. However, in the end, there comes a time when we let ourselves go with the flow and end up drifting into the same outdated models, almost without realizing it …

” As always: the urgent leaves no time for the important “

Unforgettable phrase by Mafalda. It does not matter that the character of Quino is already over 50 years old … His reasoning is applicable now more than ever. We are that sick society in a hurry, aligned by immediacy that no longer leaves space or has time for what is truly important …

« Start your day with a smile and you will see how much fun it is to go around being out of tune with everyone »

Malfalda was rebellious, resourceful, rebellious, a defender of freedom and, above all, extraordinary. This was undoubtedly one of his most mythical messages … In a world of serious faces, in a social scene marked by perpetual worries and musings , what if we challenge it by giving ourselves a big smile?

To conclude, Quino perhaps left us in his strips a social archetype of nonconformity that we should all integrate within ourselves. Acquiring a critical vision of things is an exceptional way to revalue our reality, to transform it and make it better … These days we say goodbye to one of the most endearing cartoonists of our culture but the truth is that his work, his talented girl, always will be with us.