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)

This article contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (May 2009)

Tex Willer is an Italian comics series featuring the character of the same name, created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on September 30, 1948. It is among the most popular characters of Italian comics with translations to many languages with fans around the world. The fan base in Brazil is especially large.

The Tex Willer series is an Italian-made interpretation of the American Old West. Tex is depicted as a tough guy with an unstoppable sense of justice. Native Americans are portrayed in a complex way, emphasizing positive and negative aspects of their culture. Tex has a son with a Native American woman (the daughter of a Navajo Chief) and later becomes a leader 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" because of their bigger size). The Texone have around 240 pages and some artists famous outside the Tex universe have been involved, like Jordi Bernet and Joe Kubert.

Fictional character background

The first Tex Willer's adventure appeared on September 30, 1948 as a comic strip. The "first" Tex is an unwillingly outlawed man with a code of honour: to kill only for self-defence. Almost immediately, however, Tex becomes a ranger. Thanks to the marriage with the beautiful Native American Lilyth, he becomes head of the Navajos, known as "Eagle of the Night," and a defender of Native American laws. Tough, loyal, infallible with guns, enemy of prejudice and discrimination, Tex is very quick, and has a marked disregard for rules.

Tex's closest friend in almost every adventure since his enlistment as a ranger is Kit Carson. A fundamental 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 Arabian origin), the Mexican Montales (originally an outlaw that fought against a corrupted government, after he became a politician), the Canadian trapper Gros-Jean, the Irish boxer Pat Mac Ryan, the red coat Jim Brandon, police officer Tom Devlin, the Apache chief Cochise, and the wizard Navajo Red Cloud.

Tex Willer's nemesis is Mefisto, a wizard who practices dark magic. Other enemies include Yama (Mefisto's son), The Black Tiger (a Malaysian prince who hates the white race and wants its annihilation in the USA), and Proteus (able to shapeshift his own face, and impersonate other people).

Characters

Main characters

• Tex Willer, the protagonist, Texas ranger and chief of Navajos
• Kit Carson, Tex's best friend and pard ranger
• Kit Willer, Tex's son
• Tiger Jack, Navajo

Friends

• Montales, former Mexican outlaw and current governor of the state of Chihuahua and vice-president of Mexico
• El Morisco, a warlock/scientist/medic from Memphis, Egypt who resides in Pilares, Mexico
• Gros-Jean, Canadian metis, former outlaw and current trapper working in Canada
• Jim Brandon, Colonel of the Mounted Police in Canada
• Cochise, chief of the Apache Chiricahua tribe
• Tom Devlin, police officer in San Francisco, California
• Pat MacRyan, an Irish boxer
• Lefty Potrero, owner of a gym in San Francisco
• Nat MacKennet, sheriff in New Orleans
• Ely Parker, head of the Federal Commission on Indian Affairs from 1869 to 1871

Enemies

• Mefisto (Steve Dickart), a powerful and evil warlock, Tex's arch nemesis
• Yama (Blacky Dickart), a powerful warlock, son of Mefisto
• Proteus (Perry Drayton), a man who can camouflage himself and change appearance with ease
• El Muerto (Paco Ordoñez), a Mexican pistolero, one of three brothers, who were killed by Tex
• The Black Tiger (Sumankan), a malay prince from Borneo
• The Maestro (Andrew Liddell), a mad scientist

Authors

• Giancarlo Berardi
• Gian Luigi Bonelli
• Sergio Bonelli
• Mauro Boselli
• Decio Canzio
• Tito Faraci
• Gianfranco Manfredi
• Michele Medda
• Claudio Nizzi
• Pasquale Ruju
• Antonio Segura

Illustrators

• Jordi Bernet
• Jesús Blasco
• Angelo Ricci
• Guido Buzzelli
• Renzo Calegari
• Aldo Capitanio
• Raul e Gianluca Cestaro
• Fabio Civitelli
• Victor De La Fuente
• Pasquale Del Vecchio
• Raffaele Della Monica
• Roberto Diso
• Alfonso Font
• Fernando Fusco
• Aurelio Galleppini
• Francesco Gamba
• Ernesto Garcia Seijas
• Alarico Gattia
• Alberto Giolitti
• Joe Kubert
• Guglielmo Letteri
• Roberto Raviola
• Carlo Raffaele Marcello
• Ivo Milazzo
• Vincenzo Monti
• Virgilio Muzzi
• Erio Nicolò
• José Ortiz
• Goran Parlov
• Miguel Angel Repetto
• Rossano Rossi
• Manfred Sommer
• Erasmo Dante Spada
• Giovanni Ticci
• Mario Uggeri
• Claudio Villa
• Colin Wilson
• Sergio Zaniboni

Foreign versions

Tex Willer as he appeared in Lion Comics.

In Argentina, Tex was published in the 50s by Editorial Abril in his weekly magazine Rayo Rojo, with the name of Colt Miller.

In Brazil, Tex has been published uninterruptedly since 1971^[1]. Currently, it is being published by Mythos Editora.

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.^[2]

In India, Tex was published in the 80s by the famous South Indian Tamil Comics publisher, Lion comics. The series is still regularly being published in Lion Comics as of 2008, due to its wide popularity among the generations.

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, and 80s, and was very popular among other Bonelli characters such as Zagor. In 90s after the break-up of Yugoslavia Tex Willer starts publishing in Croatia with various publishers in different forms. In Serbia, Tex is published by Veseli Cetvrtak as of 2008.

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.

References

1. ^ Tex Normal - Edições Brasileiras
2. ^ "Villi Länsi" (in Finnish). http://www.tunturisusi.com/wildwest/texwiller.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-24. 

External links

• SERGIO BONELLI EDITORE official page
• Unofficial info site on Tex Willer comics
• Tex Willer FAQ's, [1]
• [2] site unofficial of Tex Willer
• [3] unofficial site for Tex Willer videos

+Joe Kubert's Tex Willer page.