Tex Willer

Tex Willer
Publication information
Publisher Sergio Bonelli Editore
First appearance (vol. 1) #15 (September 1948)
Created by Gian Luigi Bonelli
Aurelio Galleppini.
In-story information
Notable aliases Aquila della Notte (Eagle of the Night)

Tex Willer is the main fictional character of the Italian comics series Tex, created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on 30 September 1948. It is among the most popular characters of Italian comics, with translations to numerous languages all around the world. The fan base in Brazil is especially large, but it is very popular also in Finland, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, France, Tamil Nadu, Serbia and Spain.[1]

The Tex Willer series is an Italian-made interpretation of the American Old West, inspired by the classical characters and stories of old American Western movies.

Tex is depicted as a tough guy with a strong personal sense of justice, who becomes a ranger (even if living in Arizona) and defends Native Americans and any other honest character from exaction and greed of bandits, unscrupulous merchants and corrupt politician and tycoons.

Native Americans are portrayed in a complex way, emphasizing positive and negative aspects of their culture. The same can be said of the American authorities, like the U.S. Army, the politicians, the business-men, the sheriffs or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Tex had a son, named Kit Willer (who would become a ranger too), with a Native American woman, named Lilyth, the daughter of a Navajo Chief (she would later die of smallpox). Later, Tex himself went on to become the Chief of the Navajo tribe.

Tex is not only featured in a monthly comic book series, but also in a special series called Tex Albo Speciale (sometimes called Texone, meaning big Tex, because of their bigger size). The Texone have around 240 pages and some artists known outside the Tex universe have been involved, like Jordi Bernet, Joe Kubert and Ivo Milazzo.

Fictional character background

The first Tex Willer's adventure appeared on 30 September 1948, as a comic strip. The "first" Tex is an unwillingly outlawed man with a strong code of honour: to kill only for self-defence. Almost immediately, however, Tex becomes a ranger. Thanks to the marriage with the beautiful Navajo girl Lilyth, he becomes Chief of the Navajos, known as Eagle of the Night, and a defender of Native American rights. Tough, loyal, infallible with guns, enemy of prejudice and discrimination, Tex is very quick and smart, and has a marked disregard for strict rules; on the other side, he has no pity for criminals, of every race and census, nor regard for their rights, if they do not immediately cooperate with the law.

Tex's closest friend in almost every adventure, since he became a ranger, is Kit Carson, loosely inspired to the historic figure of the same name. A main role has been held by Tex Willer's son, Kit Willer, and by the Navajo warrior Tiger Jack; though importance of last two has been diminishing in recent stories. Other recurring characters include El Morisco (a kind of warlock-scientist of Egyptian origin, living in the north-east of Mexico), the Mexican Montales (originally a bandido that fought against a corrupted government, and after a successful politician), the Canadian trapper Gros-Jean, the Irish boxer Pat Mac Ryan, the Mounties Colonel Jim Brandon, San Francisco Police Department Captain Tom Devlin, the Apache chief Cochise, and the Navajo wizard Red Cloud.

Tex Willer's nemesis is Mefisto, an evil magician and illusionist. Other enemies include Yama (Mefisto's son), The Black Tiger (a Malay prince who hates the white race and wants its annihilation in the United States), and Proteus (able to shapeshift his own face, and impersonate other people).

During the American Civil War Tex fought for the Union, although his home state, Texas, sided with the Confederacy. He participated in the battle of Glorieta Pass and briefly served in the 7th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry.

Characters

A Tex Willer cosplay at the Torino Comics 20th edition

Main characters

Recurring friends and allies

Recurring enemies

Authors

Illustrators

Foreign versions

Tex Willer as he appeared in Lion Comics.

In Argentina, Tex was published in the 1950s by Editorial Abril in his weekly magazine Rayo Rojo, with the name of Colt Miller.

In Brazil, Tex has been published uninterruptedly since 1971. Currently, it is being published by Mythos Editora.[2]

In Finland, Tex Willer was published 1953–1965. After a break of five years, Tex Willer has been published continuously since 1971. The series is still popular and 16 numbers are published a year. [3] [4]

In Greece, Tex was published in the 70s, 80s and 2010's under three different titles.

In India, Tex was published in the 80s by the South Indian Tamil Comics publisher, Lion comics. The series is regularly being published in Lion Comics, due to its wide popularity among the generations.[5]

In Israel, Tex was published in 70s, reprinted several times since in limited editions, latest one in 2007.

In Norway, Tex Willer has also run continuously since 1971, with from 11 to 17 numbers (each on 114 pages) issued a year.

In former Yugoslavia, Tex was published in the late 60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s, and was very popular among other Bonelli characters such as Zagor. In the 90s after the break-up of Yugoslavia Tex Willer starts publishing in Croatia [6] Serbia[7] and Slovenia.[8]

In Turkey, Tex was published by a large number of publishers and it is still being published in irregular hardcover book formats. Ceylan Yayınları (1961 - 1969) (1978 - 1986), Zuhal Yayınları (1970 - 1978), Inter, Alfa Yayıncılık (1991), Galaksi Yayıncılık, Doğan/Egmont (AD, DE - 1996), Aksoy Yayınları (2000), Maceraperest (200? - ), Oğlak Yayınları are the numerous publishers who made Tex hundreds of thousands of fans in Turkish language.

In the United States, Tex Willer appeared in an original book called The Four Killers, written by Claudio Nizzi and illustrated by legendary comic author Joe Kubert. It was published by Dark Horse Comics.

Other media

Attempts had been made to adapt Tex into a film in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Italy.[9] The film was eventually made in 1985 by director Duccio Tessari as Tex and the Lord of the Deep.[10] The film was adapted from three Tex comics: El Morisco, Sierra Encantada and Il signore dell'abisso.[11] The film was intended as a piolet for a television series, but poor critical and box office reception of the film led to no television series being produced.[12][13]

In 1993 several Tex computer games (thirteen known ones) were released for the Commodore Amiga and PC by Italian published Simulmondo. These games where only officially released in Italy and only had Italian text, which has made them quite rare and collectable by today.

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Casa Editrice / Licensing" (in Italian). Sergio Bonelli Editore. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  2. ↑ "Quadrinhos / Bonelli" (in Portuguese). Mythos Editora. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  3. ↑ "Villi Länsi" (in Finnish). Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  4. ↑ "Tex Willer-kirjat" (in Finnish). Egmont Kustannus. 2012. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  5. ↑ http://lioncomics.in/
  6. ↑ "Tex" (in Croatian). Libellus. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  7. ↑ "Tex" (in Serbian). Veseli Cetvrtak. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  8. ↑ "SAF Comics - Graphic Novels". Strip Art Features. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  9. ↑ Curti 2016, p. 184.
  10. ↑ Curti 2016, p. 182.
  11. ↑ Curti 2016, p. 185.
  12. ↑ Curti 2016, p. 186.
  13. ↑ Curti 2016, p. 187.

Sources

  • Curti, Roberto (2016). Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1-936168-60-6. 
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