Monica's Gang (originally titled Turma da Mônica in Portuguese) or Monica & Friends is a popular Brazilian comic book franchise created by Mauricio de Sousa. The series was originally based on a newspaper comic strip in which the protagonists were Blu (Bidu) and Franklin (Franjinha), launched by the newspaper Folha da Manhã in 1959. Over the years the series has been gaining a large audience, with new characters constantly being added to the lineup. Jimmy Five (Cebolinha) and Monica (Mônica) were eventually given their own comic books, hence the title "Monica's Gang." The characters and comics were eventually adapted into cartoons, video games, movies, theme parks and a wide range of products.