[5] Jimmy Five first appeared in the second issue of the comic book Zaz Traz in 1960, as a supporting character for Franklin.

Mauricio de Sousa, creator of Monica's Gang, says he based the character on a child he knew while growing up in Mogi das Cruzes.

After the introduction of Monica (based on the Mauricio's daughter)[9] in the comic strips in 1963 he began to share the leading role with her over the years.

In some earlier stories, he made background plans to find out the secret of her strength, but he always ended up beaten solely by her.

[12] It was once revealed that Jimmy is not the first one in his family to have his famous speech impediment and that it caused all his relatives (minus his father) to believe he will never be able to pronounce 'r'.

[13] Mary Angela (Maria Cebolinha) is Jimmy's little sister, also introduced in 1960 in the comic book Zaz Traz.

[9] Her baby mind makes her a very curious and active person, which leads Jimmy to near-insanity, as he is the one to look for her when his parents are not home.

After the end of Zaz Traz and Bidu comics, in 1961 when Mauricio de Sousa was contracted to work on Folha de S. Paulo to produce new comics, he decided to use Jimmy Five as a protagonist separate from Blu and Franklin, thus creating the newspaper strip Cebolinha where the character was characterized as a normal boy who had many weird friends.

[18][19] In 2018 a graphic novel focused only on Jimmy Five entitled "Cebolinha: Recuperação" was published, having been made by the artist Gustavo Borges.

[citation needed] A Jimmy Five vinyl doll appears in the 2007 Australian horror film Black Water.