Correos issues a new stamp from the Characters series to Francisco Ibáñez coinciding with the first anniversary of his death.
Francisco Ibáñez (Barcelona, March 15, 1936 - Barcelona, July 15, 2023) is, without a doubt, our most nationally and internationally recognized comic author. On January 20, 1958, the first Mortadelo and Filemón comic strip appeared in number 1394 of Pulgarcito magazine, from the Bruguera publishing house. From here Ibáñez creates his best series and characters: "Mortadelo y Filemón", "La familia Trapisonda", "13, Rue del Percebe", "El Buttons Sacarino", "Rompetechos" and "Pepe Gotera y Otilio" . He is the most prolific artist, accumulating some 20,000 pages drawn throughout his professional life, and Mortadelo y Filemón is the longest-running series of Spanish comics, with more than 65 years of history.
In the years 1969, 1974, 1975 and 1976 he received the Aro de Oro award for the most popular children's characters of the year for Mortadelo y Filemón. In 1994 he was awarded the Grand Prize of the Comics Fair for his entire work, in 2002 he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts 2001 and in 2022 the Generalitat awarded him the Creu de Sant Jordi.
Paris 2024, a new adventure by Mortadelo and Filemón in the Olympic Games, was his last work, published posthumously, and which he never finished.
