Sarria in 1965
Gilberto Sarria (27 August 1912- 10 March 1989) was a Brunanter painter and cartoonist famous for his Hansworst comics series of the 1960s. Sarria started out as a painter though lack of any real recognition nor his ability to sell them led him to cartoons and cult-status for his drawings.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
Sarria was born to Brunanter expatriates living in Lisbon, Portugal. He was christened "Gilbert" though he went by the Portuguese Gilberto, or Gil, his whole life. He started painting in the 1930s but found very little success. In 1936 he moved back to Brunant.
Hansworst[]
Hansworst in Paris
Hansworst TV episode
In the 1950s he began planning out what would become Hansworst. In 1954 he released the first of several standalone comic books which would inspire and be an early basis for Hansworst. In 1957 he released a collection of short crime/detective stories which were drafts towards his final work. In 1959 he released the first book in the series, which was published by little-known Roodstad-based Fenix. Hanswost, with it's eye-catching drawing and novel-like suspense would become one of the best-selling picture-book series in Brunant. His use of cliffhangers and plot continuations on subsequent books led to an increased readership by older readers. The comic books were adapted for a cartoon series which was aired from 1966 to 1968 on BR&T. In 1966 Sarria created the "Hansworst in Paris" sub-series, which extrapolated the writer-detective into Paris, though facing some of the same issues with the police. In 1971 he stopped working on the Hansworst series.
Later work[]
Sarria returned to painting in the 1970s and 1980s, often with themes inspired by his cartoons. In 1976 he created the cartoon series The Black Cat, based off of the Hansworst character. Four books were published from 1976 to 1978. A Hansworst film was planned for 1977 with Sarria as director though this was left unfinished and was only released in 2001 as shorts. Sarria continued painting until his death in 1989.