Pinky

Pinky is an Italian comic character and comic series created by cartoonist Massimo Mattioli in 1973. The series first appeared in the children’s magazine Il Giornalino in October of that year and became one of the publication’s best-known recurring features, with Pinky serving as a mascot-like character for the magazine. Although the supplied input identifies France as the country, the canonical subject is an Italian comics property: its creator, original publication history, characters, and awards are associated with Italy. The protagonist is Pinky, a small pink rabbit whose exaggerated curiosity and chaotic energy drive the stories. He works as a photojournalist for La notizia, a newspaper managed by Perry Pachiderma, a vain, authoritarian, and self-interested elephant. Pinky’s professional assignment is to photograph unusual events and bizarre people, but his pursuit of news routinely turns into comic misadventure. His romantic interest is Petulia, a pink rabbit who works as a secretary at the newspaper. His closest colleague and friend is Giorgione, an overweight bear with whom he frequently argues. Pinky’s professional rival is Joe Cornacchia, an unscrupulous journalist at the competing newspaper Il Giornalaccio, who repeatedly attempts to take Pinky’s scoops. The series combines newspaper satire, surreal humor, parody, adventure, and visual absurdity. In addition to stories with changing subjects, it developed recurring formats and thematic cycles. These included one-page features such as UFO, Fantasy, and Microfilms; numerous chronicles, including the frequently used Cronaca nera format; and the two 20-story cycles Senza orecchie and Senza naso. The Blues cycle consisted of 23 noir-influenced stories narrated by Pinky, who investigated or confronted strange cases including a dead marker, werewolf carrots, and a lovestruck traffic light. Other recurring concepts included Universi paralleloi, in which Pinky was transported into parallel universes, a five-story time-travel cycle, and Man-sink, a set of stories centered on Giorgione. The nine-chapter serial La mosca involved an atomic fly and Pinky’s effort to stop it from exploding. The property has also appeared in collected and standalone publishing projects. A Pinky volume was issued in the I Fortissimi series by Epipress in 1979. Later books included Pinky. Il clik più veloce del mondo, published by Mondadori in 2006, and Pinky. Maestri del fumetto, also associated with Mondadori, in 2009. Supplementary publications connected to Il Giornalino included a 2005 Massimo Mattioli profile and the Extra Pinky supplement in 2011. Recognition for the series and its creator includes the Yellow Kid award received by Mattioli in 1975 at the International Comics and Animation Fair in Lucca, cited as an achievement connected with Pinky. The series later received the Attilio Micheluzzi Award for Best Humorous Comic Series in 2010 and for Best Series with Unrealistic Drawing in 2012. No reliable information in the supplied material establishes a separate corporate owner, current licensing structure, headquarters, website, financial performance, or current publication status. Accordingly, Pinky is best documented as a comics intellectual property rather than as a conventional consumer-staples brand.

Pinky was created by Italian cartoonist Massimo Mattioli and introduced in October 1973 in Il Giornalino, a children’s magazine. The feature followed a pink rabbit working as a photojournalist for La notizia, a newspaper led by the elephant Perry Pachiderma. Pinky’s assignments focused on strange events and eccentric citizens, giving the series a flexible premise that supported short jokes, visual gags, investigative plots, and surreal adventures. Over time, Pinky became one of Il Giornalino’s most popular characters and functioned as a recognizable emblem of the magazine. The supporting cast broadened the series’ comic range. Petulia was Pinky’s romantic interest; Giorgione was his large, argumentative bear colleague and friend; Joe Cornacchia was a rival reporter at the competing Il Giornalaccio; and characters such as Crocodylus, a disruptive inventor, and Scarrafone, a garbage-loving cockroach, supplied additional sources of disorder and grotesque humor. The series developed multiple recurring structures rather than relying on one continuous storyline. One-page formats included UFO, Fantasy, and Microfilms. The Chronicles, particularly the Cronaca nera stories, used mock-news and crime-reporting conventions. The Senza orecchie and Senza naso cycles each extended to 20 stories. The 23-story Blues cycle shifted toward noir and thriller parody, with Pinky narrating unusual investigations. Universi paralleloi transported the character through alternate realities, while Viaggi nel tempo explored time travel in five stories. Man-sink placed Giorgione at the center, and the nine-part La mosca created a longer serialized adventure involving an atomic fly that Pinky had to prevent from exploding. Pinky’s cultural recognition was reflected in awards associated with Mattioli and the series. In 1975, Mattioli received the Yellow Kid at the International Comics and Animation Fair in Lucca in connection with Pinky. The series later won the Attilio Micheluzzi Award for Best Humorous Comic Series in 2010 and Best Series with Unrealistic Drawing in 2012. The character also appeared in book and supplement formats. Epipress published a Pinky volume in the I Fortissimi series in 1979. Mondadori later published Pinky. Il clik più veloce del mondo in 2006 and Pinky. Maestri del fumetto in 2009. Additional editorial material included a Massimo Mattioli profile in a 2005 Il Giornalino supplement and Extra Pinky, published as a supplement to Il Giornalino in 2011. The available reference material does not establish a current publisher, active licensing program, corporate owner, or definitive end date for the series.

• 2012

  Second Attilio Micheluzzi Award

  [1]Pinky (comics)en.wikipedia.org

  The series received the Attilio Micheluzzi Award for Best Series with Unrealistic Drawing.

• 2011

  Extra Pinky supplement

  [1]Pinky (comics)en.wikipedia.org

  Extra Pinky was issued as a supplement to Il Giornalino.

• 2010

  Attilio Micheluzzi Award

  [1]Pinky (comics)en.wikipedia.org

  Pinky received the Attilio Micheluzzi Award for Best Humorous Comic Series.

• 2006

  Mondadori book publication

  [1]Pinky (comics)en.wikipedia.org

  Mondadori published Pinky. Il clik più veloce del mondo.

• 1979

  First listed collected volume

  [1]Pinky (comics)en.wikipedia.org

  A Pinky volume was published by Epipress in the I Fortissimi series.

• 1975

  Yellow Kid recognition

  [1]Pinky (comics)en.wikipedia.org

  Mattioli received the Yellow Kid at the International Comics and Animation Fair in Lucca for work associated with Pinky.

• 1973

  Debut in Il Giornalino

  [1]Pinky (comics)en.wikipedia.org

  Massimo Mattioli’s Pinky comic series began appearing in the Italian children’s magazine Il Giornalino in October 1973.

A surreal, humorous Italian children’s comics property centered on a pink rabbit photojournalist, combining slapstick, newsroom satire, fantasy, noir parody, and experimental visual storytelling.

• Comic series · 1973

  Pinky

  The core Italian humorous comic series follows Pinky, a pink rabbit photojournalist working for La notizia. Stories use news assignments as a framework for surreal incidents, eccentric characters, newsroom rivalry, romance, parody, and visual comedy. The feature appeared in Il Giornalino from 1973 and later developed numerous recurring story formats and cycles.

• Collected comic book · 2006

  Pinky. Il clik più veloce del mondo

  A Pinky book published by Mondadori in 2006, collecting material centered on the character and his comic photojournalist adventures.

• Collected comic book · 2009

  Pinky. Maestri del fumetto

  A Mondadori volume associated with the Maestri del fumetto series and published in 2009, presenting Pinky material within a broader recognition of Massimo Mattioli’s comics work.

• Magazine supplement · 2011

  Extra Pinky

  A supplementary Pinky publication issued with Il Giornalino in 2011.

1. 1Pinky (comics)en.wikipedia.org