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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. 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.[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. Galleppini also took inspiration from Sardinia, where he grew up.
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 the 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, such as the U.S. Army, politicians, businessmen, sheriffs or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Tex had a son, Kit (who also became a ranger), with a Native American woman, Lilyth, the daughter of a Navajochief; Lilyth died of smallpox early in the series, but remains 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 comic books have around 240 pages and some artists known outside the Tex universe have been involved, like Jordi Bernet, Joe Kubert and Ivo Milazzo.
Tex Willer's first adventure appeared on 30 September 1948, as a comic strip. The "first" Tex is an unwilling outlaw with a strong code of honour: he kills only for self-defence. Almost immediately, however, Tex becomes a ranger. Because of his marriage with the beautiful Navajo woman 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, a skilled shot, and an enemy of prejudice and discrimination, Tex is very quick and smart and has a marked disregard for strict rules; however, he has no pity for criminals of any stripe, nor regard for their rights if they do not immediately cooperate with the law.
Tex's closest friend in almost every adventure since becoming 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 the importance of the last two has diminished. Other recurring characters include El Morisco (a kind of warlock-scientist of Egyptian origin, living in north-eastern Mexico), the Mexican Montales (originally a bandido who fought against a corrupt government, and afterwards a successful politician), the Canadian trapper Gros-Jean, the Irish boxer Pat Mac Ryan, the Mountie 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).
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 up in a ranching family with his father Ken and 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 becomes an outlaw when he follows the thieves to Mexico and kills them. He later sells his part of the ranch to his brother and leaves. Sam later sells the ranch and moves to Culver City, planning to buy a bigger ranch; he is then killed by the town's lordling, Tom Rebo. Before becoming a Texas ranger, Tex officially lives as an outlaw but avoids committing any crime if not for self-defense, trying to clean up 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 is described and depicted 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 lifelong experience as an explorer and pioneer of the Western frontier, but he has travelled nearly the entire U.S. territory and has a deep knowledge of its Native people and geography, which makes 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 wants him to attend a military academy, but as Kit wants to live freely among the Natives, Tex and Tiger Jack teach him frontier life and how to deal with guns and outlaws. Later, Kit becomes a Texas ranger himself. He is young and sometimes reckless, but also the most learned among the characters: for example, he recognizes the Greek 'pi' (π) used by a criminal as his sign and connects 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 opens 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 has a girlfriend, Taniah, kidnapped by a Mexican outlaw, and who eventually takes her own life during captivity.
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 steal gold in Montana during the gold rush and are responsible for the killing of many miners. A young Kit Carson is sent to investigate. Although the gang is eventually destroyed by Carson, the plot line is a recurring one in Tex.
La Mano Rossa (The Red Hand), a criminal cartel of five people, and the first enemies faced by Tex. Its members are called Stone, Burke, Welles, Topler, and Randall; Mr Bannion, a banker, is 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 send smallpox-infected blankets to the Navajo village, killing tens of people. As Tex himself is absent from the village with his young son Kit, the two Willers avoid the infection, but the disease kills Lilyth, Tex's wife.
Mefisto (real name: Steve Dickart): originally an illusionist and a trickster, and secretly a spy working for Mexico, he later forms an alliance with evil powers and underworld demons and becomes 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,[as of?] Yama inherits his father's powers in volume 125, Il figlio di Mefisto ("The Son of Mefisto"), and becomes 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. His face is horribly scarred as a consequence of having been burned by in a fire, which gains him the nickname El Muerto (Spanish for 'the Dead [one, man]'). El Muerto takes 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 tries to blackmail the cities of San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York, under the menace of a lethal poison he develops. After his first battle against Tex, he is infected with his own poison, leaving him scarred for life.
Jack Thunder, a blind gunslinger who leads a group of psychotic killers to Heaven, where Lena and Donna Parker reside.
Jack Thunders' Family: Thunder, a loner and a former Confederate soldier, has a gang which he refers to as his "Family": Jeremy Monk, a hunchback and a former schoolteacher; Hammer, a giant black man who wields 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 covers his face with a leather mask; and Kid Rodelo, a seventeen-year-old pistolero and serial killer.
Zhenda, a Navajo witch, banished from the tribe by Tex for drugging 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, by the name of Colt Miller.
In Brazil, Tex has been published uninterruptedly since 1971. Currently, it is published by Mythos Editora.[2]
In Finland, Tex Willer was published from 1953 to 1965. After a break of five years, Tex Willer has been published continuously since 1971. The series is still popular and 16 issues 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 published in Lion Comics due to its wide popularity across generations.[5]
In Israel, Tex was published in the 1970s and has since been reprinted several times in limited editions, the latest in 2007.
In Norway, Tex Willer has also run continuously since 1971, with 11 to 17 issues (each 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 began to be published 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? - ), and Oğlak Yayınları are the series' Turkish publishers.[9]
In the United Kingdom, fourteen Tex Willer albums have been published monthly since 1971 by Top Sellers Ltd.[10]
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.[11]
Attempts had been made to adapt Tex into a film in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Italy.[12] The film was eventually made in 1985 by director Duccio TessariasTex and the Lord of the Deep.[13] The film was adapted from three Tex comics: El Morisco, Sierra Encantada and Il signore dell'abisso.[14] 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.[15][16]
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.
Curti, Roberto (2016). Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN978-1-936168-60-6.
