Italy had recently entered the war when “a writer lent to comics and never returned” (as he called himself) sent the 331 issue of L’Audace, a newspaper just taken over, to newsstands. It was January 18, 1941, eighty years ago, the writer was Giovanni Luigi Bonelli who seven years later would create Tex. Soon the role of editor would pass to his wife Tea Bertasi, and then to his son Sergio, also a screenwriter like his father (he is the creator of Zagor and Mister No).
What has been called Sergio Bonelli Editore since the end of the 1980s is celebrated with an impressive exhibition at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan (Via Procaccini 4), “Bonelli Story.” 80 years of comics ››, from 8 October to 30 January 2022. It is curated by the editorial staff of Sergio Bonelli Editore with the super-expert Gianni Bono and with COMICON (the Neapolitan comic book fair) in co-production with the Municipality of Milan and it is a fascinating journey in the world of adventure and in eight decades of Italian comics.
And the fact that the exhibition is inaugurated almost exactly ten years after the death of Sergio Bonelli (who passed away on 26 September 2011, now his son Davide is at the reins of the company) adds a touch of emotion.
“Bonelli’s is also a piece of Italian history that even precedes the Republic – comments Michele Masiero, editorial director of the publishing house. – Tea Bertasi Bonelli became a publisher in 1945, when a woman in comics seemed crazy and our characters are known even by those who have never read them: they entered the collective imagination ››.
In the large rooms of the Fabbrica del Vapore (the exhibition is on two floors) many tables of the various characters are exhibited, from the West of Tex and Ken Parker to the adventure, with fantastic elements that of Zagor, with romantic shades that of Mister No, from mystery (UFO, Atlantis) by Martin Mystère to horror by Dylan Dog and Dampyr, from science fiction by Nathan Never to yellow by Julia to fantasy by Dragonero. Along with various memorabilia and curiosities, from the western magazine with short stories (written, not comics) edited by Giovanni Luigi Bonelli in the 1940s, to the diaries of Tex and Dylan Dog, to the Zagor clock (released this year for the sixties years of the character) in a limited edition at a price of over three thousand euros, with pages of script by Bonelli father and son.
“It is a journey into the past and into our emotions – comments Luca Del Savio, editor-in-chief of Bonelli and main curator of the exhibition. – Of course, setting up the exhibition, rummaging through our archives and asking collectors for help for original tables, illustrations and various memorabilia, was very tiring, but seeing the final result pays off, we find our emotions as readers. It is an exhibition that looks to our past, even if there is a section on our future projects ››.
One room is in fact dedicated to the Bonelliche will come: the animated series of Dragonero, the film about Dampyr, but also comic tables of soon to be published stories (the return of the evil wizard Mephisto on Tex, Zagor facing Supermike again, graphically experimental stories by Dylan Dog), with also the next team-up of some characters with the superheroes of the American DC Comics (Dylan Dog and Batman, Zagor and Flash, Nathan Never and the Justice League).
The numbers on the various characters are also very interesting: the criminals killed and the duels of Tex, the women of Dylan Dog, the times in which Zagor exclaimed his famous scream (Aahhyaaaakk!) Or when Alfredo Castelli appeared in the series of his Martin Mystère . But if the last data is not impossible to verify (for the record, Castelli has appeared ten times), others can leave us perplexed, probably not even the most fanatic reader would want to check, for example, if Zagor Cico’s friend has really organized 248 scam attempts over the course of the series.
“Zagor’s ninety-two smear wounds are too many – comments Moreno Burattini, screenwriter of the character for thirty years and curator of the series for about fifteen years.
It’s a narrative shortcut and in fact I always dissuade screenwriters from using it ››.
A Bonellian reader finds part of himself by wandering around the exhibition premises. Covers, tables, cartoons that he loved and excited him.
“This is the exhibition of Bonelli but also of all of us readers – concludes Burattini. – I am sixty, not eighty, but most of the tables on display I have seen in the books, I have read them, I am passionate about them, they have been part of my training. Of course, I’ve been working for Bonelli for years, but I still grew up with the publisher’s comics. One of Sergio Bonelli’s great merits is that of having made Italians read. From the truck driver to the company manager, from the most unknown worker to the university professor well-known abroad like Umberto Eco (great reader of Dylan Dog), Bonelli’s passion for comics has put them all on the same level.