the closure of the magazine (after 13 issues), the three worked on other projects in the greeting card division of the same company. That company folded, and the trio launched Madam & Eve in July 1992. Dugmore left the partnership in 2001. Rico Schacherl Known professionally by his first name, Rico is a cartoonist and illustrator living and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. Born in Austria in 1966, he claims he was drawing cartoons ever since he was old enough to hold a pencil. After less-than-successful studies in graphic design and architecture during the late 80s, Rico decided to get a real job as a cartoonist. Besides his work on Madam & Eve, Rico also produces illustrations in a wide variety of styles ranging from serious editorial or humorous magazine illustrations to children's comics. Rico specialises in the fields of corporate communications, graphic storytelling and character design for cartoons, animation and education. He has worked on highly successful projects for clients such as Telkom, Old Mutual, Avmin, Pick 'n Pay, SABC Education and the Human Rights Commission. This work includes The Bottom Line, a cartoon strip about the South African workplace, which is widely syndicated in company newsletters. He has also worked for the Mail & Guardian, Tribute, The Teacher, Style Magazine and Penguin Books. Stephen Francis Stephen Francis, born in the US in 1949, moved to South Africa in 1988 with his then wife, Wendy, whom he met at the South African consulate in New York City. His parents live in New Jersey. The fifth anniversary Madam & Eve book credits many of the strip's original ideas, including the title, to Francis. Harry Dugmore Harry Dugmore, born 1961, was the native South African of the founding group. Harry was described in 2000 as handling all of the business for the partnership. He left Rapid Phase in 2001. Main characters Madam Gwen Anderson, also known as Madam, is a typical white South African woman. The original "Madam" is loosely based on Stephen Francis' own mother-in-law, also named Gwen. Of her family we have met one son, Eric, and her mother and aunt. Eve Eve Sisulu is Madam's "domestic maintenance assistant." Eve frequently opens a booth selling different goods and services for a side income, and is sometimes found asleep on her ironing board, both deliberate homages to Charles Schulz' Peanuts (Lucy and Snoopy, respectively). When Schulz died, a tribute cartoon