Laerte Coutinho

Laerte Coutinho (born 10 June 1951 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a pioneering Brazilian cartoonist and screenwriter whose work has defined modern comic art in Brazil. Beginning her artistic training in 1968 at the Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado, she quickly moved into professional publishing, creating the character Leão for the magazine Sibila in 1970 and co‑founding the influential Balão magazine with Luiz Gê while studying at the University of São Paulo. Throughout the 1970s she contributed to notable periodicals such as Banas, Placar and the newspaper Gazeta Mercantil, and she produced political campaign material for the Brazilian Democratic Movement, showcasing an early blend of art and activism. In the 1980s Laerte became a central figure of the underground comics scene, collaborating with peers Angeli, Glauco and later Adão Iturrusgarai on the acclaimed strip Los Três Amigos and publishing satirical series for Chiclete com Banana, Geraldão and Circo, which culminated in her own solo magazine Piratas do Tietê that debuted in 1991 in Folha de S. Paulo. Her prolific output includes dozens of strip collections released by Devir Livraria and L&PM Pocket, as well as a first book, O Tamanho da Coisa (1985), and the illustrated volume Illustration Union (1986) used by labor unions across the country. Beyond comics, Laerte expanded into television, co‑authoring scripts for the cult comedy shows TV Pirata and Sai de Baixo, contributing to the children’s series TV Colosso, and hosting the Canal Brasil talk‑show Transando com Laerte, where she discusses gender, politics and culture. In 2009 she publicly came out as a cross‑dresser and later as a transgender woman, becoming a vocal advocate for trans rights and co‑founding the Associação Brasileira de Transgêner@s in 2012; she also created a Google Doodle comic for International Women’s Day 2018. Her legacy continues through her son Rafael Coutinho, himself a respected cartoonist, and through the enduring influence of her philosophically‑oriented strips that blend humor, social critique and personal narrative.