''Eureka'' was a monthly comic magazine published in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

from 1967 to 1989.

History and profile

''Eureka'' was founded in 1967 by Luciano Secchi, who also served as editorial director for 222 of the first 240 issues. It was the second Italian magazine following '' linus'' entirely devoted to comics, but differently from ''linus'' it avoided any intellectualism and any political stance. The magazine initially focused on English and British productions. The contents included humorous comic strips such as '' Al Capp'' (who also served as mascotte of the magazine), ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', Hugh Morren's ''Tommy Wack'', and he comic strips of Don Martin; crime and adventure series published by the magazine included '' Kerry Drake'', '' Joe Palooka'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', '' Red Barry'', Burne Hogarth's ''Drago''. In the first years Italian production was only represented by '' Maxmagnus'' and by occasional short stories. There was also a significant room devoted to articles of comics criticism. Starting from the 1970s the Italian contents gradually grew, and included

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's '' Sturmtruppen'' and ''Cronache del Dopobomba'',

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's ''

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'',

Pino Zac Giuseppe Zaccaria (23 April 1930 – 25 August 1985), best known as Pino Zac, was an Italian illustrator, cartoonist and animator. Biography Born in Trapani, Sicily, Zac spent his childhood in Pratola Peligna, Abruzzo and eventually moved to R ...

's ''Kirie e Leison'' and ''L'Orlando Furioso'', Secchi's and Paolo Piffarerio's ''Fouche'', Sergio Barletta's ''Mr. Manager'', Luca Novelli's ''Historiettes''. Between 1977 and 1978, the brief direction of Maria Grazia Perini tried to expand the political and social commitments of the magazine, but the lack of response in terms of sales led to Secchi returning as a director and to the magazine returning to focus almost entirely on comics. In the 1980s sales started to decline, and in an attempt to appeal new readers the magazine introduced several manga series and the supplement ''Urka'', a separate magazine fully in color. In July 1983, direction passed to

Alfredo Castelli Alfredo Castelli (born 26 June 1947) is an Italian comic book artist and writer. Biography Born in Milan, Castelli began his comic book career at an early age, creating the strip '' Scheletrino'', a humor series for Italian comic book ''Diabolik' ...

and

, who tried to innovate the magazine introducing new columns and new series. The magazine eventually closed in August 1984. In October 1988, after over four years of hiatus, Secchi tried to relaunch the magazine. The magazine mainly republished old material and closed after only 8 issues. Between 1990 and 1992 four special volumes of the magazine, variously titled ''Eureka Sole'' and ''Eureka Avventura Classic'', were released. The ''Eureka'' brand was later used by Secchi for three "Eureka Graphic Novel" anthology volumes, destined for libraries and printed in limited edition, published between 1992 and 1994.

Notes

{{Reflist 1967 establishments in Italy 1989 disestablishments in Italy Defunct magazines published in Italy Comics magazines published in Italy Italian-language magazines Monthly magazines published in Italy Magazines established in 1967 Magazines disestablished in 1989

History and profile

See also

Notes