Asso di Picche was an Italian comic series featuring an eponymous masked crime fighter who combats an international crime syndicate known as the Band of Panthers - the action occurs all over the world, but chiefly in a dark, melancholic version of San Francisco. The series was created in 1945 by

Mario Faustinelli Mario Faustinelli (8 November 1924 – 31 July 2006) was an Italian comic book artist and editor. Faustinelli was born in Venice in 1924. After the end of World War II, Faustinelli, along with artists Hugo Pratt, Ivo Pavone, and Dino Battaglia, ...

Alberto Ongaro Alberto Ongaro (22 August 1925 – 23 March 2018), also known by his pseudonym Alfredo Nogara, was an Italian journalist, writer and comics writer. Biography Born in Venice, Italy, he lived for a long time in South America and England, before ret ...

, and

Hugo Pratt Ugo Eugenio Prat, better known as Hugo Pratt (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as ''Corto Maltese''. He was ind ...

. The editorial work was done by Faustinelli, Ongaro wrote the text, while Pratt did the initial pencil drawings which were later revised in ink by Faustinelli. It was terminated in 1949. The illustrative style of Pratt in ''Asso di Picche'' has been compared to that of

Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was an Eagle Scout and a r ...

in ''

Terry and the Pirates ''Terry and the Pirates'' is an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff, which originally ran from October 22, 1934, to February 25, 1973. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, ...

'' (1934). The character itself is thought to have been inspired by both ''

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The char ...

'' (1936) by

Lee Falk Lee Falk (), born Leon Harrison Gross (; April 28, 1911 – March 13, 1999), was an American cartoonist, writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the comic strips '' Mandrake the Magician'' and ''The Phantom''. At th ...

and Ray Moore and ''

The Spirit The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday edition of Register and Trib ...

'' (1940) by

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

References

External links

* Asso di Picche (fumetto italiano) (in Italian). *
Faustinelli - Ongaro - Pratt: "L'Asso di Picche"
' (in Italian). Italian comic strips 1945 comics debuts 1949 comics endings Crime comics Comics by Hugo Pratt Comics set in San Francisco Vigilante characters in comics {{Italy-comics-stub