'Maria' strip (2025). Translation: "What are you reading?" - "Love poems, to relieve these angry times." - "Do something more useful!" - "We need a library!"
Henrique Magalhães is a retired Brazilian university professor, and a scholar in the fields of Brazilian comics, linguistics and alternative culture. Active in the indie comics scene since the mid-1970s, he is the creator of several fanzines, as well as the longrunning comic strip 'Maria' (1975- ), about a middle-aged lesbian woman with a strong political stance. Through his Marca de Fantasia publishing imprint, Magalhães has published comic books, as well as books on pop culture, visual arts, fanzines and linguistics.
Early life and career
Henrique Paiva de Magalhães was born in 1957 in João Pessoa, in the state of Paraíba, in Brazil's Northeast region. His father was a bank employee, and later a civil servant for the State government. His mother was a homemaker, who sewed to supplement the family income. The eldest of six children in the family, Henrique was the one who went further in pursuing his artistic interests, becoming active in comics, theater, film and visual arts. Throughout his career, Magalhães has combined his study and research of comics and pop culture with activities as a creator himself. Active in Brazil's indie comics scene since the mid-1970s, he has found inspiration in humorous comic creators such as Henfil, Angeli and Laerte from Brazil, and the Argentine Quino. Also working as an editor and designer, Magalhães has occasionally done graphic art for postcards and billboards.
'Maria' strip from the 1990s. Translation: "How come, Maria, didn't you say we should fight the establishment?"
Comic creator: Maria
As a cartoonist, Henrique Magalhães' main body of comic work has centered on the character 'Maria' (1975- ), at the start of the strip a single woman in her thirties in search of a husband, but she gradually aged over the years. With this indie feature, Magalhães was a pioneer in the Brazilian representation of women as protagonists. Maria is a critical character, who addresses politics and the conflicts of everyday life, marked by the way Brazilian society was affected during the time of military dictatorship (1964-1985). Her opinions often bring her in conflict with Zefinha, a character who almost always contradicts Maria’s stances. To the young Pombinha, however, she is a source of inspiration.
Book covers of 'Maria' collections.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Magalhães released 10 issues of the magazine Maria, as well as the book collection 'Maria: A Maior das Subversões' ("Maria: The Greatest of Subversions", 1984). In this book, Maria declares her love for Pombinha, marking the introduction of homosexuality in Brazilian comics. From then on, Maria continued to address political and local issues, but also more universal subjects like prejudice, discrimination of minorities and loneliness in urban centers. However, Maria also has her poetic and intimate moments, reflecting the author's own lived experience.
Besides appearing in alternative, self-funded magazines and comic books, since 1995 through the author's own Marca de Fantasia imprint, the 'Maria' comic strip also found its way to the local mainstream press. Between 1977 and 2014, during intermittent periods, Magalhães published daily comic strips in the newspapers O Norte and A União, both from his home state. Since 2015, several 'Maria' albums were additionally published in Portugal through Edições Polvo, run by publisher Rui Brito. In 2025, the Paraíba publisher A União released the anthology 'Maria: 50 Anos de Humor e Provocação' ("Maria: 50 Years of Humor and Provocation"), marking the character's 50th anniversary.
'Maria' strip (2021). Translation: "I have dreams. They are the clean energy of life. Travel in the heights! No, right here on the ground! Ah, browse with a computer! I use it even with my hands!"
Scholar
In 1983, Henrique Magalhães graduated from the Social Communication/Journalism program at the Universidade Federal da Paraíba. He went on to earn a Master's degree in Communication and Arts from the Universidade de São Paulo, graduating in 1990 with a master's thesis on Brazilian comic book fanzines. In 1993, part of the thesis was published in the book 'O Que é Fanzine', part of the Primeiros Passos collection of Editora Brasiliense. Subsequently, Magalhães earned a PhD in Sociology from the Université Paris VII in France with the doctoral thesis 'Bande Dessinée: Rénovation Culturelle et Presse Alternative'.
An expert in the field of Information Science, with a specialization in comic books, publishing, fanzines and alternative culture, Henrique Magalhães worked as a professor at the Federal University of Paraíba. Until his retirement, he coordinated the university's research group in comic book history of the postgraduate program in communication, also known as the Henfil Comic Book Library (not to be confused with the comic book library of the same name located in São Paulo).
'O Que é Fanzine' (1993) and 'Humor em Pílulas' (Marca de Fantasia, 2015), scholarly works by Henrique Magalhaes.
Publisher
In addition, Magalhães has released a variety of fanzines on pop cultural subjects. An avid promoter of the comics medium, he published the fanzine Marca de Fantasia (1985-1988), and coordinated the 1980s supplement Leve Metal of the magazine Presença Literária, containing work by Paraíba comic book creators. In 1995, he founded his own publishing house, also called Marca de Fantasia. One of its first projects was the magazine Tyli-Tyli, later renamed Mandala, featuring poetic-philosophical comics by authors such as Flávio Calazans, Gazy Andraus and Edgar Franco. Through Marca de Fantasia, Henrique Magalhães has since then published several 'Maria' collections, as well as academic studies on comics, visual arts, pop culture, and linguistics.
Recognition
For his scholarly work, Henrique Magalhães has received the 1994 HQ Mix Trophy in the category "Best Theoretical Book" for his thesis 'O Que é Fanzine'. A 2003 Marca de Fantasia publication of the full text of the author's master thesis, 'O Rebuliço Apaixonada dos Fanzines', won the Prêmio DB Artes in the category "Independent Album".
As a comic creator, Magalhães won the 2010 Angelo Agostini Award in the category "Master of National Comics". In 2016, the Portuguese book 'Seu Nome Próprio... Maria! Seu apelido, Lisboa!' ("Your Proper Name… Maria! Your Nickname, Lisboa!"), won the award for "Best Humor Book" at the Amadora International Comics Festival, the leading event of its kind in Portugal. Through a bill passed by the Legislative Assembly of Paraíba, 'Maria' became, in 2024, an "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Paraíba" - an extraordinary achievement for comics in Brazil. Henrique Magalhães is also a member of the Association of Researchers in Sequential Art (ASPAS).
Henrique Magalhaes.