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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, India, Serbia, Bosnia, Israel and Spain.[1] Issues have also been published in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Tex series is an Italian-made interpretation of the American Old West, inspired by the classical characters and stories of old American Western movies, and occasionally by American history. The author took inspiration from Sardinia, where he grew up as a kid.
Tex is depicted as a tough man with a strong personal sense of justice, who becomes a Texas 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 politicians 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 (who became a ranger too), with a Native American woman, named Lilyth, the daughter of a NavajoChief; Lilyth died of smallpox early in the series, but remain a recurring character in flashbacks. 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
Tex Willer's first adventure appeared on 30 September 1948, as a comic strip. The "first" Tex is an unwillingly outlaw with a strong code of honour: he kills 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 Aquila della Notte (Eagle of the Night), and a defender of Native American rights. He also becomes the respected Indian agent of the Navajo tribe. 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 by 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 Nuvola Rossa (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).
A Tex Willer cosplay at the Torino Comics 20th edition
Main characters
Tex Willer, the protagonist, a Texas ranger, chief of the Navajo tribe and also the Bureau of Indian Affairs agent of the Navajo Reservation. Born in the Nueces Valley in Texas, Tex grew in his ranch's family, with his father Ken and his younger brother Sam. His mother Mae died when Tex and Sam were children. Tex lost his father Ken to a gang of cattle thieves, and became an outlaw when followed the thieves to Mexico and killed them. He later sold his part of the ranch to his brother and left. Sam later sold the ranch and moved to Culver City, planning to buy a bigger ranch; he then was killed by the town's lordling, Tom Rebo. Before becoming a Texas ranger, Tex officially lived as an outlaw but avoided committing any crime if not for self-defense, trying to clean his name. Tex Willer is physically modeled after actor Gary Cooper.
Kit Carson, Tex's best friend and mentor as a ranger, loosely based on the historical Kit Carson. He is older than Tex (his real age is never revealed, but he's described and drawn as being around 55 years old) and a famous frontiersman, respected both by Americans and Native Americans — the latter know him by the name Capelli d'Argento (Silver Hair) because of his grey hair. He has a lifelong experience as explorer and pioneer of the Western frontier, but he travelled nearly the whole U.S. territory and has a deep knowledge of its Native people and geography, which made him a sort of living legend. As a former military man, he is also the tactically most skilled among the main characters.
Kit Willer, Tex's son, named after his godfather Kit Carson. He is around 25 years old. He was born in the Navajo village where Tex resides and his father sent him to a Christian mission near the Navajo reserve. Initially, Tex wanted him to attend a military academy, but as Kit wanted to live freely among the Natives, Tex and Tiger Jack taught him the frontier's life and how to deal with guns and outlaws. Later, Kit became a Texas ranger himself. He is young and sometimes reckless, but also the most learned among the characters: for example, he once recognized the Greek 'pi' (π) used by a criminal as his sign and connected it to the name of the Greek god Proteus.
Tiger Jack, the most respected Navajo warrior and the second-in-command of the Navajo people, after Tex. He is a brave warrior, proud of his origins and faithful to the Navajo people's traditions and culture. He is the greyest of the main characters: he is the only one who, in the entire series (supplements included), knowingly opened fire towards an unarmed enemy, and it has repeatedly been implied that he would torture or kill women if needed — something nor Tex, nor Kit Carson, not Kit Willer would do. Born in a village in the Navajo mountains, before becoming Tex's friend Tiger had a girlfriend, Taniah, kidnapped by a Mexican outlaw, and who eventually took her own life during captivity.
Recurring friends and allies
Montales, former Mexican bandido, soldier and official of the rebel army, and current governor of the state of Chihuahua and vice-president of Mexico. "Montales" is his surname, while his real name has never been revealed.
El Morisco (real name: Ahmed Jamal), a warlock, scientist, naturalist and doctor from Memphis, Egypt, who lives in Pilares, Mexico, with his faithful assistant Eusebio. Although a pure scholar and not a man of action, he is Tex's main ally and consultant when the ranger has to face occultism, black magic, and necromancy. El Morisco is altruistic and completely devoted to his research, but the people of Pilares fear him and call him el brujo, "the Sorcerer".
Gros-Jean, Canadian metis, former outlaw and current trapper working in Canada.
Lilyth, Tex's deceased Navajo wife and Kit's mother. She was daughter to Freccia Rossa (Red Arrow), Navajo's chief at the time when Tex met Lilyth.
Lena and her daughter Donna Parker: Lena is a former singer in the saloon of Bannock, Montana, who now runs an inn in Heaven, Nevada; she is a former love interest to Kit Carson and it is implied that her daughter Donna — who she raised alone for twenty years — may in fact be Kit Carson's daughter. Donna Parker, on her hand, is a love interest to Kit Willer.
The "Innocents": loosely based on the criminal gang of the same name, the Innocents stole gold in Montana during the gold rush and were responsible for the killing of many miners. A young Kit Carson was sent to investigate. Although the gang was eventually destroyed by Carson, the plot line is a recurring one in Tex.
Main enemies or recurring
La Mano Rossa (The Red Hand), a criminal cartel of five people, and the first enemies faced by Tex. Its members were called Stone, Burke, Welles, Topler, and Randall; Mr Bannion, a banker, was their informant.
Fred Brennan and Jim Teller, two Arizonian businessmen who used to sell guns and whiskey to Navajos; seeking revenge upon Tex for having taken down their business, they sent smallpox-infected blankets to the Navajo village, killing tens of people. As Tex himself was absent from the village with his young son Kit, the two Willers avoided the infection, but the disease killed Lilyth, Tex's wife.
Mefisto (real name: Steve Dickart): originally an illusionist and a trickster, and secretly a spy working for Mexico, he later formed an alliance with evil powers and underworld demons and became a warlock; he has a sister, Lily, and a son, Blacky, later a warlock himself and known as Yama. He is Tex's nemesis and the longest-running antagonist of the entire saga, having debuted (as a mere illusionist) in volume 3 ("Fuorilegge" ["Outlaw"], 1964) and having appeared for the eleventh time in volumes 738 to 744 (all published in 2022).
Yama (real name: Blacky Dickart), a powerful warlock, the son of Mefisto. Seen four times so far, Yama inherited his father's powers in volume 125, "Il figlio di Mefisto" ("The Son of Mefisto"), and became one of the main antagonists in the saga.
Proteus (real name: Perry Drayton), a criminal master of camouflage. He uses his ability to rob trains and banks.
El Muerto (real name: Paco Ordoñez), a Mexican pistolero. He is horribly scarred in the face as a consequence of having been burned by in a fire, which gained him the nickname 'El Muerto' (Spanish for "the Dead [one, man]"). El Muerto sook revenge on Tex because, in the past, the ranger killed his older brothers, both outlaws, robbers and killers.
La Tigre Nera (Prince Sumankan), an exiled Malay prince from Borneo. His main goal is to collect enough money and an army to reconquer his reign, which was stolen by European colonialists.
Il Maestro (real name: Andrew Liddell), a mad scientist and a chemical genius, who tried to blackmail the cities of San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York, under the menace of a lethal poison developed by himself. After his first battle against Tex, he was infected with his own poison, which left him scarred for life.
Jack Thunder, a blind gunslinger who led a group of psychotic killers to Heaven, where Lena and Donna Parker reside.
Jack Thunders' Family: Thunder, a loner and a former confederate soldier, had a gang which he referred to as his "Family": Jeremy Monk, a hunchback and a former schoolteacher; Hammer, a giant black man who maneuvered a huge hammer; Lizard, a trapper, and his two cannibalistic Molossus dogs; Firebird, a Native (of an unspecified tribe) and a pyromaniac; No-Face, a mysterious man, mute and deaf, who used to cover his face with a leather mask; and Kid Rodelo, a seventeen-years-old pistolero and serial killer.
Zhenda, a Navajo witch, banished from the tribe by Tex because she used to drug young Navajos in order to subjugate their will.
The Arctic People, a mysterious, primitive and cannibalistic tribe of people who live in the Arctic circle; insofar, they are confirmed to live in Alaska and in the northern territories of Canada.
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 in 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 1970s, 1980s and 2010s under three different titles.
In India, Tex was published in the 1980s 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 the 1970s, reprinted several times since in limited editions, the 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 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, and was very popular among other Bonelli characters such as Zagor. In the 1990s 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 Kingdom, fourteen Tex Willer albums were published monthly since 1971 by Top Sellers Ltd.[9]
In the United States, Tex Willer appeared in an original book called The Four Killers, later published as Tex: The Lonesome Rider, written by Claudio Nizzi and illustrated by American comic artist Joe Kubert; it was published by Dark Horse Comics and Strip Art Features. Additional issues were also published in the USA by Epicenter Comics, with the stories and graphic novels Tex: Patagonia in 2017, Tex: The Magnificent Outlaw, Tex: In the Land of the Seminoles and the Zagor crossover Tex & Zagor: Bandera in 2022, and Tex: Captain Jack in 2023.[10]
Other media
Attempts had been made to adapt Tex into a film in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Italy.[11] The film was eventually made in 1985 by director Duccio Tessari as Tex and the Lord of the Deep.[12] The film was adapted from three Tex comics: El Morisco, Sierra Encantada and Il signore dell'abisso.[13] The film was intended as a pilot for a television series, but poor critical and box office reception of the film led to no television series being produced.[14][15]
In 1993 several Tex computer games (thirteen known ones) were released for the Amiga and IBM PC compatibles by Italian published Simulmondo. These games were only officially released in Italy and only had Italian text, which has made them quite rare and collectable by today.
Christopher Houston Carson was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and news articles; exaggerated versions of his exploits were the subject of dime novels. His understated nature belied confirmed reports of his fearlessness, combat skills, tenacity, as well as profound effect on the westward expansion of the United States. Although he was famous for much of his life, historians in later years have written that Kit Carson did not like, want, or even fully understand the fame that he experienced during his life.
Italian comics, also known as fumetto, plural form fumetti, are comics that originate in Italy. The most popular Italian comics have been translated into many languages. The term fumetto refers to the distinctive word balloons that contain the dialogue in comics.
Zagor is an Italian comic book created by editor and writer Sergio Bonelli and artist Gallieno Ferri. Zagor was first published In Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1961.
Notable events of 1948 in comics.
Alfredo Castelli was an Italian comic book artist and writer.
Notable events of 1949 in comics.
EsseGesse was an Italian team of cartoonists, most famous for their Western comics, which were popular in the 1950s. The comics were translated to French, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish, Greek, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian.
Sergio Bonelli Editore is a publishing house of Italian comics founded in 1940 by Gian Luigi Bonelli (1908–2001). It takes its name from its former president, comic book writer Sergio Bonelli (1932–2011), son of Gian Luigi.
Martin Mystère is an Italian comic book whose protagonist is Martin Mystère. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli and artist Giancarlo Alessandrini, it was first published in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1982.
Aurelio Galleppini, better known with his nickname Galep, was an Italian comics artist and illustrator, best known as graphic creator of Tex Willer in 1948.
Sergio Bonelli was an Italian comic book writer and publisher. He is best known as the creator of Zagor (1961) and Mister No (1975), as well as a comics publisher through the publishing house Sergio Bonelli Editore.
Giovanni Luigi Bonelli was an Italian comic book author and publisher, best remembered as the co-creator of Tex Willer in 1948, together with artist Aurelio Galleppini.
Franco Donatelli was an Italian comic book artist and illustrator. Donatelli is best known as the regular artist on the Zagor series.
Claudio Nizzi is an Italian comic author.
Fabio Civitelli is an Italian comic artist best known for illustrating stories for Tex Willer, a popular comic in Italy. Civitelli is often remarked as being highly skilled with ink drawings, which allows him to draw clean strips. His own interpretation of the character, Tex, respects the old tradition set by Aurelio Galleppini while being modern and pleasant. He often stated, in the past, that Marvel Comics authors, Gian Luigi Bonelli and Alex Raymond influenced his style of drawing.
Claudio Villa is an Italian comics artist who has primarily worked with Sergio Bonelli Editore, and is currently involved in illustrating several books in the Tex Willer comic series. He has mostly drawn covers since number 400th, but sometimes also draws stories, such as Tex #501 - 504.
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published from the late 1940s through the 1950s. Western comics of the period typically featured dramatic scripts about cowboys, gunfighters, lawmen, bounty hunters, outlaws, and Native Americans. Accompanying artwork depicted a rural America populated with such iconic images as guns, cowboy hats, vests, horses, saloons, ranches, and deserts, contemporaneous with the setting.
Marcello Toninelli is an Italian comics writer, best known as main writer of series of Zagor between 1982 and 1993.
Il Piccolo Ranger is an Italian comic book series centered on Kit Teller, a character created in 1958 by writer Andrea Lavezzolo in tandem with illustrator Francesco Gamba and later developed by numerous authors; they were published in Italy by Edizioni Audace in the striped format in the series of the same name and later in a new series in the Bonelli format published from 1963 to 1985. The character belongs to a group of teenage heroes very popular in the fifties and sixties, such as Captain Miki, the Little Sheriff and others, wanted so young to facilitate their identification with potential young buyers, that being their peers, they could reflect themselves in the protagonists of comic stories. The series presents its own originality, giving life to a long and engaging comic epic with both tragic and humorous tones among the most successful of the western genre of the period. The series was also published in France, the former Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece, Spain and Brazil.
Tex and the Lord of the Deep is a 1985 Western film co-written and directed by Duccio Tessari and starring Giuliano Gemma and William Berger. The film is an adaptation of the Tex comic series that were popular in Italy. Previously attempted to be made into a production in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the film was eventually made by Tessari who adapted the film from the comics originally to be a pilot for a television series.
Curti, Roberto (2016). Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN978-1-936168-60-6.
External links
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