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Rating: “It doesn’t matter what I think of Mafalda. What really matters is what Mafalda thinks of me” Julio Cortazar – writer
“Quino teaches us that children are the custodians of true wisdom. As they grow, they lose their reason and eventually become miserable adults.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez - writer
The Argentine cartoonist Quino, in 1964, took advantage of the brilliant insight of Charles M. Schulz (that is, to redesign a child-sized world with the same dynamics and inter-relations of adults) and reworked it in his strip titled Mafalda, inserting massive doses of politics and social malaise but mitigated by a truly remarkable intelligence and humor (an approach that the American cartoonist, with his Peanuts, addressed very cautiously, absorbed in the actions and reactions of his characters seen from a psychoanalytic perspective).
Quino chooses the innocence and the "naïve gaze" of a child (in fact inspired by his neighbor's little daughter) to marvel, denounce, and ironize about the ills and ailments of society (Argentinian and otherwise) with a bitter and disillusioned smile.
Even more courageous when we consider that the comic was born during a dictatorial period in that country and that Mafalda, precisely because she was a child and therefore "unconsciously irresponsible," would speak out, express, and point out the things that were not working in society and the world, without explicit references to names, governments, or direct people ("what can a poor 7/8-year-old know?") but making profound, impartial, and straightforward speeches, often gifting us readers with true philosophical gems that are still very relevant today.
To her neighborhood friends Monolito, Miguelito, Susanita, and Felipe (also inspired by his daughter's friends), Quino assigns a well-defined character and psychological profile (the naïve, the ambitious, the romantic, etc.) that allows us to perceive, in small doses and through translated intercession, our pettiness, weaknesses, and small flaws of irredeemable adults.
These are simple yet complex reflections that sometimes touch on philosophy, ethics, or morals, treated with an indulgent and consoling adult smile (“look at what these children go on to think about!”).
There is talk about war, politics, price increases, labor market difficulties, television, injustices, the third world, population decline, absurd bureaucracies, and even addressing the delicate relationship between parents and children (here unlike Peanuts, parents are seen and interact with their children, often ending up in the wrong or looking rather foolish and ridiculous).
Mafalda appears to be a child, but in reality, she has an already formed ethical and moral conscience, mature and aware. Her speech is straightforward, direct, without the frills or metaphors that adults often adopt to mitigate certain uncomfortable truths. And she does it by unmasking hypocrisies, denouncing things or bad habits that would be obvious in a healthy society, with a truly enviable clarity and oratory flair.
Mafalda is already adult and formed. The real “irresponsible children” are us adults.
Mafalda teaches us that children are not so foolish and unaware as adults would have us believe, but often have an ethical and moral strength that adults have forgotten they possess.
Quino's message is ultimately simple: let us learn to read and interpret the events of the Society we live in with the moral rigor of our “inner child.” We will ONLY gain from it.
This splendid volume “All the World of Mafalda” (by Bompiani Editrice and with over 500 pages!!) collects all of Quino's work related to the character, with many unpublished pieces (censored at the time by publishers), sketches, studies, reflections, and curiosities of his saga, which has now become a “Universal Classic of Comics.”
An unmissable gem and a book that absolutely cannot be missing from the library of anyone who loves humor, satire, and intelligent and sharp reflection.
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