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Zagor's real name is Patrick Wilding, the son of Mike and Betty. He is a western-tarzanesque character living in a fictional forest named Darkwood, located in Pennsylvania, north eastern United States. His name Zagor comes from his Indian name "Za-Gor Te-Nay", whose fictional meaning is "The Spirit with the Hatchet". Though the writers do not mention exact dates, Zagor is supposed to be active during the first half of the 19th century, or around 1825–1830. Zagor fights to maintain peace all over his territory, protecting the Indian tribes and hunting down criminals regardless of their skin color. Son of an army official retiring to live as a pioneer and trapper in the forests of the north-east, Patrick Wilding sees his parents die at the hands of a band of Abenaki Indians, led by Salomon Kinsky. Taken in by the middle-aged trapper nicknamed "Wandering Fitzy", the boy grows up with only one thought on his mind: revenge. Fitzy teaches him how to make a deadly weapon out of a hatchet, and when he is old enough to fulfill his vengeance, Patrick goes on to track down and mercilessly slay his family's assailants. As he is about to enact his revenge on defeated Kinsky, Patrick is presented with the evidence of his father's dark past. Lieutenant Mike Wilding was a ruthless leader of the force which massacred the Abenaki community on the banks of Silver Lake, an event which saw him dishonorably discharged from the army. The attack on the Patrick's home on the shore of Clear Water river was, in fact, a rightful retribution for commander Wilding's wrongdoings. As Kinsky is about to gun down confused and distracted Patrick, Fitzy arrives in time to save the life of his protégé but, in doing so, is mortally wounded and dies in Patrick's arms. The boy's understanding of the relativity of the concepts of good, evil and justice comes in question as he is devastated with pain, grief, confusion and the genocide of his own that mirrors the one committed by Mike Wilding years ago.
To atone for his father's sins, as well as his own, Patrick is compelled to transform himself (with his accomplices the Sullivans, a family of acrobats who are his image makers) into Za-Gor-Te-Nay, shortened to Zagor. He is a kind of avenger always ready to side with the weak and the oppressed, whether red, white or black, whoever they may be. Moving his shack to an island surrounded by quick-sand in a marshy area of Darkwood Forest, Zagor begins his work as a peacemaker. He takes Darkwood tribes under his wing earning himself a distinction of the Lord of Darkwood, beloved and respected by peaceful natives and trappers, and feared and hated by anyone who would endanger the peace between reds and whites. Zagor is not a typical western character, as his stories mix horror and science fiction by side with a bit of humour coming mostly from his sidekick Chico, a short, fat Mexican man who became his best friend. His full name is "Don" Chico Felipe Cayetano Lopez Martinez y Gonzales.
Abilities
Zagor's abilities include almost superhuman strength, agility and endurance. His fighting prowess is extraordinary whether he finds himself in a gunfight or plain brawl. If needed, Zagor is more than capable of dealing with multiple opponents and is basically invincible in a one-on-one bout. In many occasions, he is also seen fighting North American wildlife (such as cougars, alligators and even bears) with nothing more than his hatchet or knife. He is infallible with his oval bladed hatchet, whether he uses it as a melee weapon or as a projectile. Zagor is also shown possessing an incredible speed that, paired with his almost catlike reflexes, often allows him to catch a traveling spear or even an arrow, a feats which usually leave Indians in an awe further solidifying Zagor's status of an emissary of the Great Spirit (a superstition that Zagor uses to his advantage). Zagor can quickly cover great distances using his trademark branch-to-branch way of traveling where he jumps from one treetop to another. His war cry seems to be a roar of an unidentifiable (and presumably horrific) creature. This is one of Zagor's calling cards, the one which usually leaves wrongdoers in a frantic state of mind.
Throughout the series, it is strongly suggested that Zagor, although not a demi-god that he claims to be, is indeed in Manitou's good graces and on more than few occasions he has served as a champion of heavens against the forces of evil drawing his strength from the divine intervention (best example being the storyline of Hellingen's Return - episodes #275 through #280). Later stories have also hinted that Zagor's great abilities could come from him being a descendant of an Atlantean royalty or perhaps a reincarnation of an ancient African deity.
Although capable of near-superhuman feats, there were rare instances when Zagor was bested by certain extraordinary individuals. In a contest of skill (trials of power, speed, reflexes, marksmanship, breath-diving and beast-fighting) against multi-talented villain Supermike, Zagor is forced into a seventh round tie-breaker - a life-or-death duel atop of a small platform surrounded by the garden of spikes and daggers (which he, eventually, wins convincingly while even managing to spare the life of an opponent).
When it comes to a fair slugfest, there were very few foes able to hold their own against the Spirit with the Hatchet. Such is the case with the Alchemist Robert Gray. In the episodes Criminal Genius (#252) and The Rebellion of the Mohawks (#253) Zagor and Gray duke it out twice with Zagor coming on top the first time around and Gray winning the second duel. It is worth noting, though, that Gray had an advantage of his steel prosthetic hands thus forcing brutally beaten Zagor to dishonor himself by resorting to shoot the unarmed opponent. Another example of worthy adversary comes in the face of Captain Otto Kraus, commander of the special paramilitary unit called the Black Wolves (episode #32 - The Fugitive). Kraus, proficient practitioner of the unnamed oriental martial arts, although weary from hours of being chased by Zagor and the Pennacooke Indians, still manages to K.O. Zagor in a convincing fashion, just before he is, ironically, shot dead by a surviving member of his own unit for deserting the squad on the battlefield.
Allies and enemies
Notable allies:
Chico (Felipe Cayetano Lopez Martinez y Gonzales) - Short obese bumbling but kindhearted Mexican. He is Zagor's loyal companion and a comic relief throughout the series.
Tonka - Chief of Mohawk tribe and Zagor's blood brother.
Digging Bill - Treasure hunter.
Captain "Fishleg" - Commander of a whaler.
Colonel Norman Perry - Military doctor and influential person in the army brass.
Baron Icarus LaPlume (Feather) - An inventor obsessed with flying who always ends up victim of his own devices.
Drunky Duck - Indian postman whose unorthodox ways of delivering mail infuriate Chico.
"Doc" Lester - Trapper and former dentist. Has an elusive past.
Rochas - Trapper always engaged in fists challenges with Zagor.
Bat Batterton - Private detective who always fails the disguises.
Many Eyes - Shaman which embraces white people's medicine and technology. One of the few Indians to know Zagor's true identity.
Frida Lang - Austrian countess and Zagor's love interest.
Memorable enemies include:
Professor Hellingen - Mad scientist and Zagor's nemesis. Not only that he is capable of creating a doomsday devices but he has also managed to cheat death and return to the land of the living to wreak havoc not once, but twice.
Kandrax - Celtic druid who wields mystical powers.
Mortimer - Scheming genius and a conspirator. Inspired by A. C. Doyle's professor Moriarty.
SuperMike - Man of many talents and abilities and Zagor's evil counterpart.
The Alchemist (Robert Gray) - Terrorist with prosthetic arms and expert in chemical warfare. One of very few persons to defeat Zagor in a fistfight.
One-eyed Jack - Glass-eyed outlaw.
Baron Rakosi - Vampire.
Popularity outside Italy
Even though Zagor is popular in Italy, it is even more popular in Croatia, North Macedonia and Serbia, where it is being published to this day; his stories are also published in other former Yugoslav republics Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. In former Yugoslavia, Zagor was published by the Serbian publication Dnevnik in its Zlatna Serija edition from 1968. Although not as popular, Zagor comics are also published in Austria. Zagor has been published in India by Lion Comics in October 2022.
Zagor is one of the most popular comic heroes in Turkey since the 1960s. Two unofficial Zagor movies have been produced in Turkey in 1971, Zagor - Kara Korsan'in hazineleri and Zagor - Kara Bela.[1] Zagor was also published in Greece and in Israel in the 1970s, where, during that time, Tex Willer was published as well.
Since 2015, Epicenter Comics released in the United States the English-language edition of Zagor comics, still ongoing in 2024. The first of the three-part story Zagor! Terror from the Sea was published in 2015, including extra essays, introduction texts and original covers with an exclusive Michele Rubini cover; in 2016, a second Zagor book in English was published, titled "The Red Sand", including essays and texts, with 400 pages and a Rubini cover. The third book "Voodoo Vendetta" was also published in 2016, with three essays. In 2017 a fourth book named "Zagor vs Supermike" was released with a poster celebrating Ferri. They also released a book called: "1000 Faces of Fear" with three different covers by Michele Rubini, Stefano Andreucci and Pasquale Frisenda. The next year was productive for Epicenter Comics, as they published "The Origins" containing comics about Zagor's childhood and young days: "Zagor Story", "Darkwood: Year Zero" and "Rainbow Bridge". Later that year was published: "The Lost World" which was completely drawn by Michele Rubini. It is a hardcovered, A4, B/W book with exclusive illustrations, essays, sketches and an interview with Rubini himself. It has two covers: Rubini's and Martinere's. In 2018 they published "Alien Saga" on more than 700 pages of classic Zagor stories. After "Alien Saga" Epicenter Comics published a new A4 book named "In The Jaws Of Madness". It is the longest single Zagor story ever made. It has three exclusive covers by Rubini, Ferri and Shy. Later they published a book "American Odyssey"; another classical comic book with two covers. Their next book was Donatelli's and Castelli's "The Great Conspiracy", funded with Indiegogo. It also had two special covers. This year they are going to publish another special Zagor book named "In The Shadow Of A Vampire" containing the first two Zagor stories with vampires. Epicenter Comics also published Magic Wind, Dylan Dog, Tex Willer, and Dragonero; it was founded in San Diego, CA by Igor Maricic.
A crossover with DC Comics character The Flash, titled The Flash/Zagor – La scure e il fulmine, was published on March 10, 2022.[2]
Authors
Sergio Bonelli (pseudonym Guido Nolitta), inventor of the series, main writer of series from number 1 until number 182. He also wrote first 5 editions of Speciale Chico.
Mauro Boselli, main writer (with Burrattini) of series from number 334
Moreno Burattini, main writer of series (with Boselli), beginning with number 310
Decio Canzio, writing for Zagor between numbers 139 and 212
Ade Capone, writing for Zagor between numbers 263 and 331
Dylan Dog is an Italian horror comics series created by Tiziano Sclavi and published by Sergio Bonelli Editore since 1986.
Notable events of 1961 in comics.
Notable events of 1996 in comics.
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.
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. The series is among the most popular Italian comics, with translations into numerous languages 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. Issues have also been published in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Ken Parker is a fictional character from a series of eponym Italian comics created in 1974 by Giancarlo Berardi and Ivo Milazzo. He is a widely appreciated character in Italy and all over former Yugoslavia. It was also published in Turkey under the title Alaska but failed to become as popular as Zagor though while it was in publication it was ranked above Tex.
Alfredo Castelli was an Italian comic book artist and writer.
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.
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.
Gallieno Ferri was an Italian comic book artist and illustrator. He was born in Genoa.
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.
Tiziano Sclavi is an Italian comic book author, journalist and writer of several novels. Sclavi is most famous as creator of the comic book Dylan Dog in 1986, for Italian publishing house Sergio Bonelli Editore. More than 300 issues have appeared in the series, which has sold millions of copies. It has been in collaboration with several artists, including Claudio Villa, Corrado Roi, Gustavo Trigo, Carlo Ambrosini, Luigi Piccatto, Angelo Stano, Mike Mignola, Andrea Venturi, Giampiero Casertano and Bruno Brindisi.
Franco Donatelli was an Italian comic book artist and illustrator. Donatelli is best known as the regular artist on the Zagor series.
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.
Massimo Rotundo is an Italian comics artist.
Paolo Bisi, is an Italian comic book artist, mostly known for his work on "Mister No", "Zagor" and "Lazarus Ledd" series.
Loredano Ugolini is an Italian comic artist and illustrator.
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