'Mafalda' and all of Quino's work pass into the hands of a multinational

“Starting tomorrow, July 1, 2025, Ediciones de la Flor will cease publishing the books of Quino, the iconic author of our imprint. We regret that, at the decision of his nephews and heirs, we cannot continue to care for his work as we have since he chose us as his home more than half a century ago. In any case, we are certain that history will keep our names inextricably linked, as it has been until now.”

With this social media announcement, Ediciones de la Flor announced the loss of one of its most important authors, the father of Mafalda. Back in 2007, after publishing him for years, they lost Roberto Fontanarrosa, author of Inodoro Pereyra, Boogie el aceitoso, as well as several novels and short story collections, following his death. The other loss: Rodolfo Walsh. Both to Editorial Planeta.

This is a terrible blow for a national publishing house like Ediciones de la Flor, founded in 1966 by Ana María Miller—current owner—and Daniel Divinsky. The publishing backlist, more precisely the titles in a catalog that are reprinted and keep an author's work alive, not only generates royalties but also fuels the publishing machine that allows for investment and the development of new releases. This is the asset, the symbolic and cultural value that sustains every publishing house. Hence the book ecosystem: one success sustains the others, which may not sell as well, but deserve and make their publication possible.

Joaquín Salvador Lavado, known as "Quino," was born in Mendoza in 1932. He achieved international fame and recognition with Mafalda, originally published between 1964 and 1973 in the magazines Primera Plana and Siete Días, and in the newspaper El Mundo. He worked with de la Flor for 55 years, to the point that upon his death—September 30, 2020—his work was inherited by his wife's niece, Julieta Colombo, a collaborator in his work as a cartoonist, who ensured the continuity of that relationship.

Julieta Colombo died on May 8, 2023, and the work passed into the hands of her immediate nephews: Alfredo, Guillermo, and Diego Lavado. According to Ediciones de la Flor, it was they who made the decision to change publishers. And to which publisher did they take Mafalda? The multinational company Penguin Random House (PRH). The new heirs argued that the presence of Quino's books, both in Latin America and outside of Buenos Aires, was deficient, and that De la Flor could not meet demand.

Thus, starting in August, Quino's work will be published and distributed in Argentina by Sudamericana. While the announcement by Ediciones de la Flor is recent, the disassociation dates back to last year, when the Lumen imprint, also owned by PRH, published and distributed Mafalda in Latin America, as it has done in Spain for 40 years.

Diego Lavado, interviewed by the newspaper La Nación, stated: “My brothers and I took over the management: Guille, as a musician in Chile, handles all the important artistic side; Alfredo, as an accountant in San Rafael, handles all the tax matters; and I, as a lawyer, handle all the legal and publishing matters. In fact, I moved to Spain because we kept receiving requests. It's crazy what we're going through; we can't believe how Julieta handled everything.”

It also emerged that a Russian translation of Mafalda is being published, and that Elsewhere Editions (USA) presented five volumes translated into English on June 10. And there's more: Diego Lavado himself is involved in the production of the animated series about Mafalda. Produced by Netflix and directed by Juan José Campanella, it will have three seasons premiering in 2026. Speaking to Radio Nihuil in Mendoza, Diego Lavado himself added: "Everything that Quino always stipulated regarding his work, of which he was always very careful and jealous, will be respected."

1982. Comic strip by Quino. First painting: the housewife and the maid in a messy, dirty living room, with Picasso's Guernica on the wall. Second painting: the living room is clean and tidy, the housewife is surprised; Guernica also looks tidier, nothing of Cubism remains. Let the triangle of heirs keep this metaphor in mind.