M le Magicien

Massimo Mattioli started his career in comics in 1965 with series like 'Il Ragneto Gigi', 'Ipo, Rita e Pino' and 'Vermetto Sigh' for the Italian magazine Il Vittorioso. Later in the sixties, he moved to London, where he created work for various magazines, such as Penthouse, Mayfair and Plexus. He eventually settled in Paris, where he contributed to Plexus, and where he created the series 'M le Magicien' in Pif until 1973. Also in that year, he contributed to Le Canard Sauvage, before returning to Italy. Back in his native country, he created 'Pasquino' for the daily Paese Sera. He became a regular contributor to Il Giornalino from the 1970s throughout the 1990s, drawing the comic strip 'Pinky'. Mattioli is co-founder of Il Cannibale, the alternative magazine for which he created characters like 'Lucertola', 'Gatto Gattino' and 'Joe Galaxy'. This latter science fiction series was continued in Frigidaire and later Comic Art during the 1980s. Also for Frigidaire, of which he was also co-founder, he created 'Friske the Frog', 'Superwest' and his most famous character, 'Squeak the Mouse'. In addition, Mattioli has written scripts for television and has done illustration work for magazines like Vanity. Text (c) Lambiek