WeirdSpace - Culture without borders

Gloria




Alias: Borboleta Purpura


Eyes: Black
Hair: Blond
Race: Duck


Legal status: U.S. citizen
Marital Status: Single
Identity: Secret
Base of operations: Duckburg


Story: Gloria is Fethry's girlfriend and the heroin Borboleta Purpura.


Continuity: Disney
Publisher(s): Disney
First app.: As Gloria: Zé Carioca #1099 (1972)
As Borboleta Purpura: Peninha (1a. Série) #15 (1983)
Creator(s): Ivan Saidenberg
Sérgio Lima
Country of origin: Brazil Brazil


Background notes: Back in the early 1970s, when the hippie movement was all the rage, Fethry was given a flower power girlfriend, complete with bell bottom trousers, bandana, giant sunglasses and the generally unkempt and garish appearance of the hippies. She first appeared in the story Paz, Amor E Glória in Zé Carioca #1099 from 1972, created by Ivan Saidenberg and possibly the artist Sérgio Lima, and she was one of a number of characters created for the Brazilian market.

By her second appearance she got her present looks. Her beak was straightened out, her hair was changed from white to blond, her trousers removed, and the sunglasses changed to ordinary glasses. She still kept her hippie appearance, only it was toned down.

One of the characteristics of the character which was established by her third appearance was her infatuation with Morcego Vermelho, Fethry's Brazilian super-hero alter ego. At first this meant stories about Fethry's rival for Gloria's affection was himself (a common theme in the Superman stories at the time). Later, in 1983, Gérson L. B. Teixeira and Luiz Podavin made her into the super-heroine Borboleta Purpura (The Purple Butterfly) who would be Morcego Vermelho's partner in crime fighting.

While some of the stories were published outside Brazil, the character only appeared in Brazilian stories. When the stories with Morcego Vermelho started being made in Europe, Gloria was not used. The production of stories with the character stopped in the mid 1990s, with the last record being from 1996.

There are presently no records of her being transferred to other media, but it is highly likely she has has appeared as merchandise.


Related links/characters:
- Disney Characters
- Biquinho
- Cintia Paiva
- Fethry Duck
- Guida Paiva
- Junior Woodchucks, The
- Señor Paiva