Franco Bonvicini
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Franco Bonvicini, also known as Bonvi, (March 31, 1941 - December 10, 1995) was an Italian comic book artist, creator of Sturmtruppen and Nick Carter strips.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Bonvicini was born either in Parma or Modena, in Emilia Romagna region of Northern Italy: the exact site is unknown as his mother registered him in both places to obtain more war food supplies. Ironically, the author hinted at this fact in one of his Sturmtruppen comic books, where he usually hid autobiographical notes inside the dark humour of the books.
After a brief experience in advertisement, he made his debut in the comics world in 1968 for the newspaper Paese Sera with his most famous strip Sturmtruppen. Sturmtruppen was later translated in numerous countries outside Italy. While politically left-aligned and a pacifist, Bonvi was fascinated by war and as such had served in the tank corps in postwar Italy. He also had an encyclopedic knowledge of Wehrmacht's uniforms, weapons and equipment, which he faithfully recreated in his cartoonish universe. Each weapon and vehicle appearing in the strip is real; uniforms are also faithfully depicted apart from some simplifications. Sturtruppen, however, were not only a satire of military life and Nazism, but also a true, endless spring of comical and surreal situations; Bonvicini was also one of the first Italian cartoonists to use the horizontal format typical of United States' strips. Sturmtruppen strips were published with interruption until Bonvi's death, with the exception of a pause in the 1970s, in which he left Italy for a long trip to Africa.
Bonvicini was a friend of another famous Bolognese citizen, the writer and singer Francesco Guccini. As a duo, they produced a science fiction series called Storie dello spazio profondo (1972), whose main protagonist has Bonvi's features.
In 1969 he also created Cattivik, another surreal strip parodying the anti-hero Diabolik. The series was to be continued with success by his pupil Guido Silvestri, better known as Silver. The second most famous Beonvi's character was created in 1971, in collaboration with writer Guido De Maria: this is Nick Carter, an exhilarant series featuring a trio of detectives working in the New York of 1910s. Nick Carter appeared also in TV in the 1970s.
In this decade Bonvi created an adult science fiction series, Cronache del dopobomba ("Afterwar Chronicles"), featuring a grotesque post-apocalyptic world, as well as Milo Marat (for the French market, with Mario Gomboli) and his most serious comic book, L'uomo di Tsushima ("The Man of Tsushima"). For the latter's protagonist Bonvi used again his face as that of the US author Jack London, one of his favourite writers. In 1973 Bonvicini received the award as Best European Cartoonist.
In the 1980s Bonvi became member of Bologna commune's council and founded a publisher with the music expert Red Ronnie: this published a monthly magazine featuring new Sturmtruppen strips and reprints of old Bonvi stories, as well as articles about music and comics in general.
Bonvi's last works was Zona X, in collaboration with Giorgio Cavazzano. It was published posthumous as he died in the December of 1995, in Bologna, injured by a car while he was directing to a Red Ronnie's radio show devoted to ask financial help for the famous cartoonist Roberto Raviola.
[edit] Works
- Sturmtruppen (1968)
- Cattivik (1968)
- Capitan Posapiano (1969)
- Nick Carter (1970), with Guido De Maria, Silver and Claudio Onesti
- Storie dello spazio profondo (1972), with Francesco Guccini
- Cronache del dopobomba (1974)
- L'Uomo di Tsushima (1978)
- Marzolino Tarantola (1979)
- Truppen Italien (1995), a Sturmtruppen version in collaboration with the Italian Army
- Blob (1995, unpublished)
[edit] Cinema
Bonvi co-wrote the screenplay for the 1977 Sturmtruppen movie adaptation of Sturmtruppen, directed by Salvatore Samperi. He also appeared briefly in the second film of the series, Sturmtruppen II (1983), playing a German officer. He also starred in the 1967 Come rubammo la bomba atomica, directed by Lucio Fulci, and in the movie Cavalli si nasce (1988), directed by the comic strips authoer Sergio Staino.
