Roman Odysseys

Roman Odysseys (in portuguese: Odisseias Romanas) is a series of comic book albums created by the Brazilian cartoonist and history teacher Bráulio Romão Serqueira, who wrote under the pen name Groselho, in partnership with Jair de Barreto and Cícero Plinta de Arruda. The series is considered the most popular Brazilian production in the world, having notable fandoms in the United States, Italy, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, the Arabian Peninsula and also in various parts of the African continent. The series and its derivatives (cartoons and toys), for cultural reasons, were censored until early 90s in Northern Europe, which saw as an "unfavorable image" how the Vikings and other Nordic peoples were portrayed in the albums as well as in the cartoon based on these albums produced between 1982-1987, over time, Nordic countries also joined countries with a strong Roman Odysseys fandom.
The series accompanies 6 protagonists: Gnaeus, Octavia, Marcus, Pompeia, Festinia and Floria, who go on adventures through the Roman Empire and through other localities and groups of ancient peoples, such as African, Nordic, Asian, Celtic-speaking peoples, and even Tribal groups of American continent.
The series first appeared in Paulistinha, a youth supplement of the São Paulo-based Brazilian newspaper O Paulista. The series success led, in 1933, to Paulistinha becoming a monthly magazine and ceasing to be a supplement, where Roman Odysseys remained the magazine's flagship until 1945, at the same time Groselho became editor-in-chief.
In 1945, Groselho resigned from Paulistinha magazine and a year later created his own individual company, Groselho Quadrinhos, which was responsible for publishing all editions of Roman Odysseys until 1995, when Hasbro, company which Groselho Quadrinhos was a subsidiary of since 1976, declared the company completely closed.
Since 1995, the Roman Odysseys comic books were produced by three publishing companies, the first was Star Comics (between 1995-2004), then by Platinum Studios (between 2004-2018) and since 2018, the series comic books are produced by IDW Publishing.
== History ==
=== Paulistinha (1927-1945) ===
History teacher Bráulio Romão Serqueira, known by his pen name Groselho, was 28 years old when, after 9 years working as a teacher, he decided to resign from the school where he worked, to spend more time doing something he loved as much as teaching, drawing and search. During this period when he was unemployed, in 1927, he made a trip through Europe, among the countries he would pass through on that trip, was Italy, specifically Rome, Groselho loved researching and reading books about the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, and while was visiting the ruins of ancient Rome, he decided to take a small notebook and pencil that he had carried in his luggage and began to draw. While drawing, he remembered the famous myth of Romulus and Remus, and consequently, the she-wolf that nursed them when they were babies, he then began to draw a she-wolf dressed as Roman commoners, this would later become the inspiration for the creation of one of the 6 protagonists: the she-wolf Floria.
When he returned to Brazil, he continued improving his techniques of drawing anthropomorphic animals, since he was a great appreciator and enthusiast of Anthropomorphism, when one day while sitting in one of the several parks in São Paulo, he let slip one of the drawings he was making, this drawing was a completely realistic anthropomorphic wolf, the drawing ended up being found by Augusto Domingos e Silva, who "by coincidence or fate" (the words of Groselho himself years later) was one of the editors-in-chief of the newspaper O Paulista, Augusto was visibly surprised by the boy's scribble, and offered Groselho a small note with the address of Paulistinha's headquarters, Paulistinha was the youth supplement of the newspaper O Paulista, and at that time it was looking for new illustrators by auditioning, Groselho then decided to compete for one of the vacancies, and ended up coming out first in the test, surprising the auditors, the others who passed these auditions would subsequently join Groselho and form the team of illustrators for Roman Odysseys, among these were the 17-year-old Jair de Barreto and 19-year-old Cícero Plinta de Arruda. Jair and Cícero would be creators of many characters in Roman Odysseys, such as Octavia, Festinia, Marcus and the antagonists Dama Gazelle and Trupo.
Before the first story in was published, much was discussed about the design, Jair supported something more cartoonish while Groselho something more realistic, Groselho then decided to leave a middle ground between cartoonish and realistic, and decided to select Jair to be his assistant on character designs, and Cícero was responsible for the scenery, backgrounds and plot. As part of the plot, it was agreed between the three creators, that it would take place in Rome, during the reign of Emperor Nero, and the climax is due to the theft of a jewel present for generations in the family of an aristocrat by underage boys, the young consul and noble Gnaeus, and his servant Octavia, are drawn into the case due to the murder of one of the robbers, which Octavia watches unnoticed, and discovers that the theft is commanded by an influential foreign merchant, and that it is apparent friend of Gnaeus's father, Poncius Lopulus. As a result, The Jewels of the Roman Aristocrat, the first story of Roman Odysseys, was serialized between December 1927 and August 1928, then the adventure was released in comic book format in January 1929.
With the success of The Jewels of the Roman Aristocrat, in 1928 the second story was released, bringing back Gnaeus, this time in the ancient city of Mediolanum, the plot of the adventure, again produced by Cicero, is that Gnaeus is on a study trip through the ancient city, and while strolling through the city he discovers an old enoch of golden color and Golasecca origin, Gnaeus then begins to be pursued by some criminals, interested in the relic for its monetary value. As a result, between September 1928 and September 1929 the story The Golden Enoch, this is the only story in which Octavia does not appear. This story was even more successful than the previous one and consolidated Roman Odysseys in Paulistinha once and for all, likewise its predecessor, was released in comic book format in March 1930.
==== First appearances of Marcus and Pompeia ====
Until 1931, the stories of Roman Odysseys only starred Gnaeus and Octavia, but Jair de Barreto thought it was necessary to add new characters, generating creativity for new plots, Cícero Plinta agreed with his partner and then idealized two new characters: The cheetah brothers Marcus and Pompeia, they are princes and sons of Nero by his late wife Claudia Octavia, and stepsons of Poppaea Sabina, Marcus is the eldest son and next Roman emperor after his father while Pompeia is the youngest and has a keen gift in painting and arts in general. Groselho was afraid to add them to the series due to the fact that they brought with them a great political weight, due to the fact that they were princes, and that their presence would collide with something that Grupo Paulista, the company responsible for Paulistinha, which was a newspaper of republican and left-wing ideas, seen as an apology to the monarchist right, but Cícero and Jair threatened to withdraw from the production of those comics if Groselho did not accept their characters, Groselho then ended up adding the new characters, but in return he intervened fiercely in the debut story of the cheetah brothers in the series. Thus, between September 1931 and November 1932, the 4th story of Roman Odysseys was serialized in Paulistinha, entitled The Children of Nero. The plot of the story revolved around the new characters, who, when visiting Poncius Lopulus, father of Gnaeus, end up getting lost on the way, Gnaeus discovers however that the cart driver who would be responsible for picking them up ended up being unconscious, and his cart was stolen, so the princes ended up being kidnapped, and Gnaeus then ends up going in search of Marcus and Pompeia, following a clue left in the abandoned wagon that the kidnappers stole, in addition to being the first appearance of Marcus and Pompeia, this story also marks the first appearance of Trupo, one of the main villains of the series.
The Children of Nero was a critical hit and Marcus and Pompeia became popular with audiences, prompting Groselho to add them as frequent characters, until placing them as protagonists alongside Gnaeus and Octavia in 1939, the story, like its predecessors, was released in comic book format in June 1933. This story was also the last published by Paulistinha as a supplement to the newspaper O Paulista, since from February 1933, Paulistinha began to be published as an independent youth magazine, coming from a decision by the management of Grupo Paulista in 1932.
==== First appearance of Festinia ====
Following the appearance of Marcus, Pompeia and Trupo, in 1931, the series spent 8 years without introducing any new character that appeared frequently in the stories. In 1939, Cícero Plinta decided again to create a new character, which in its initial concepts was a female serval, daughter of an important merchant, just like Gnaeus, but instead of studying to become a consul, she would study to become a prominent diplomat, as well, being able to open doors to stories that took place outside the Roman Empire, but while on vacation in northern Europe, at Christmas 1938, he visited a zoo, and saw a Eurasian lynx in one of the cages, and when he returned to Brazil in early 1939, he abandoned the idea of the new character being a serval and began to draw her like a lynx, thus Festinia was born. At that time, Paulistinha was already an independent magazine and no longer a supplement, and that year he had decided to color his magazines, the debut story of Festinia would end up being the first color story of Roman Odysseys, Cícero then introduced the character to Groselho, who behaved differently than when Marcus and Pompeia was introduced 8 years earlier, this time he seemed more open to adding a new character than before, so he decided to allow the addition of the new character.
Between March 1939 and February 1940, The Harp of Nero, 9th story of Roman Odysseys, was serialized in the magazine Paulistinha having been one of the most acclaimed stories in the series, and like all its predecessors, after the end of its serialization in Paulistinha, it gained a comic book format in January 1940, being one of the best-selling books in Brazil in 1940. The plot of Festinia's opening story was that Nero was preparing a great feast in Rome, and all the nobles were invited, including Gnaeus, who takes his servant Octavia in secret, and the daughter of the merchant Lincius Praetextus, Festinia, who had been representing her father and the entire Praetextus family, however the party becomes one of the adventures of Gnaeus and Octavia, when Nero's harp is stolen and a false harp is left in its place, and when Nero decides to play it , notices that his harp has been stolen, and when the wolf and his servant were looking for the harp as well as some others present at the party, they bump into an old acquaintance, Trupo, who was carrying in his hands the exact harp of Nero, Gnaeus chases him, but ends up being despised by the cunning fox. Thus, Gnaeus and Octavia, who know Trupo and know all his tricks, decide to go in search of the harp and capture him.
Although Festinia appears a few times in this story, in the later story, Journey to the East (1941), Festinia stars in the story alongside Gnaeus and Octavia, due to the fact that she is learning to be a diplomat, and was purposely created to give Roman Odysseys stories outside the Roman Empire.
==== Beginning of publications in the Europe and United States ====
In 1936, aiming to expand his work, Groselho spoke with the executive president of Grupo Paulista, Cornélio Barroso de Souza Brasil, proposing that they look for foreign publishers to translate and publish the books of Roman Odysseys, Cornélio accepted the proposal, and thus Grupo Paulista started looking for interested parties, right away the first country that showed interested publishers to publish the series was Italy, the companies that were interested in publicizing the work of Groselho, Jair de Barreto and Cícero Plinta were 19, among which the following stood out: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Editoriale Campi, Hoepli, etc. In the end, the publishing house that won the dispute was Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, which started publishing and translating
Roman Odysseys in Italy in October 1936, starting with the 5th volume of Roman Odysseys, The Lost Note of Caesar, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore is, no wonder, the publisher that has published the Roman Odysseys series in the world for the longest time, surpassing even even the Brazilian publishers, since in Brazil, Roman Odysseys has already been published chronologically by:
* Livraria do Globo (currently Editora Globo, 1929-1947)
* Groselho Comics (series creator's own company, 1947-1995)
* Panini Brasil Ltda (1995-2015)
* Companhia das Letras (2015 to date)
Roman Odysseys was a real hit, and Italian readers greatly admired the Brazilian work, causing its creators to be awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy in 1961.
After Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, the dispute reached the British publishers, this time the dispute was less "indecisive", since only 3 actually interested Grupo Paulista, these were Blackie and Son, David Fulton Publishers and J Salmon Ltd, and The choice was arguably easier than the previous one, and without much delay, Blackie and Son won the race to publish Roman Odysseys in the UK, starting from January 1937, publishing the 3rd volume of Roman Odysseys, Octavia among the Legionnaires (1931)
Unlike Italy, where the success was almost instantaneous, in the United Kingdom, the true boom of fame of Roman Odysseys in United Kingdom came only in the 50's, with the story Britannia Terras (1952), when the people, induced by the positive critic of this volume and the wave of fame that was making Roman Odysseys a global phenomenon, began to give prestige to the work of Groselho.
The United States was the last to present some kind of publisher attracted by Roman Odysseys, in the case of Grosset & Dunlap, the only one that showed interest in the Brazilian work. The success in the United States came at the end of the 40s, when the story Voyage to the New World (1945) was published in the United States, in 1947, something that even further helped this wave of fame was when the photo of the President Harry S. Truman reading such a book, which led to American readers reading the book, and thus starting the wave that made Roman Odysseys an international phenomenon in the 1950s, and making Roman Odysseys secure its place in pop culture, the success was .
==== Groselho's disagreements with Grupo Paulista, Cícero's complaints and Paulistinha's departure ====
In the early 1940s, Groselho was falling out a lot with the executives of Grupo Paulista, this was caused by the fact that Groselho and his partners wanted their own magazine to serialize the adventures of Roman Odysseys, since they felt uncomfortable with the distribution of the Paulistinha, since the stories that were beginning were prioritized, while those that were in their climax or end, took longer to be published, this delayed even new stories. The Grupo Paulista, however, did not accept a own magazine for Roman Odysseys, which irritated Groselho, Jair and Cícero, they reached their limit in 1945, after the end of the serialization of Voyage to the New World (which became the last to be serialized by Paulistinha and overall, since from Amicus Meus (1947), the stories would be published complete, without serializations) Groselho asked for the last time that Grupo Paulista would give Roman Odysseys its own magazine, one more once refused, Groselho handed over a letter written by him and his partners, who were simultaneously resigning from Paulistinha magazine.
The end of Groselho's trajectory at Paulistinha is also marked by several complaints made by Cícero about the direction the series was taking, he was several times complained by his superiors for "generating blasphemies and slander" and telling them to Groselho, however when Grupo Paulista began to reject Groselho's requests for Roman Odysseys to have its own magazine, what Cícero was talking about began to become a possible reality, this was also due to the fact that every day more and more Grupo Paulista demanded more and more from the Roman Odysseys group, almost leaving them with no time to spare for their families. in 1945, Cícero however complained to Groselho about his "weakness" in imposing himself against Grupo Paulista, and warned Groselho that he would end up resigning and ending the partnership, to prevent this, Groselho met with his partners, and so together they signed the letter delivered to one of the superiors of Grupo Paulista, warning them about the joint resignation of the three illustrators, thus ending the era of Roman Odysseys at Paulistinha.
After leaving Paulistinha, Groselho, Jair de Barreto and Cícero Plinta spent the years 1945 and 1946 in their homes, and as they lived in the same neighborhood, it was easy for them to get together and discuss ideas for the return of Roman Odysseys in 1947, as well as they then decided to pool their profits and buy a medium-sized plot of land, and with the help of some entrepreneurs to erect a two-story building, where Groselho's own company, Groselho Quadrinhos, would be located in December 1946.
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