''Il Grande Blek'' is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Western comic book, first 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 re ...

on October 3, 1954, by Editoriale Dardo. ''Blek'' was written and illustrated by Giovanni Sinchetto, Dario Guzzon and Pietro Sartoris, a trio also known as

EsseGesse EsseGesse was an Italian team of cartoonists, most famous for their Western (genre), Western comics, which were popular in the 1950s. The comics were translated to French language, French, Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish language, T ...

Fictional character

Blek is the leader of a group of

trapper Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

s during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, who fight against the cruel Redcoats, the symbol of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonialist oppression. Blek's best friends and allies are his stepson Roddy Lassiter and Professor Cornelius Occultis. Although not present in every episode, lawyer Connoly, the leader of American revolutionaries in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, is another prominent character.

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

also made occasional appearances.

Publication history

Italy

The

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

of the character was published in another comic called ''Il Piccolo Trapper'' in 1953, inspired by the works of

Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought ...

and

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...

. The blonde giant appeared a year later. From 1954 to 1967, 654 strips were published in the ''Collana Araldo'' series. In its heyday, the strip boasted a weekly circulation of 400,000. However, the authors moved on to create ''

Comandante Mark Comandante Mark is an Italian comics book originally published in Italy by Daimi Press (future Sergio Bonelli Editore). The original series was published in Italy monthly between September 1966 and January 1990, reached 281 numbers (mostly episod ...

'' after a financial disagreement with the original publisher in 1965. In addition to Italy, ''Blek'' was reprinted in other countries such as Greece (as ''ΜΠΛΕΚ''), Turkey (as ''Teksas, Çelik Blek''), France (as ''Blek le Roc''), and former Yugoslavia (as ''Veliki Blek''). The

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n national minority in Italy was introduced to Blek in Slovene in 1959 (as ''Silni Tom,'' meaning ''Tough Tom''); Slovenian translation was changed to ''Veliki Blek'' in 1990s. In Scandinavia he was called Davy Crockett, although he has nothing to do with the

historical figure A historical figure is a significant person in history. The significance of such figures in human progress has been debated. Some think they play a crucial role, while others say they have little impact on the broad currents of thought and social ...

France

Carlo Cedroni, Nicola Del Principe and many others continued the production for Éditions Lug, while the list of French authors included Jean-Yves Mitton and André Amouriq. The title peaked at 300,000 copies. Blek also received a revamped origin; writer Marcel Navarro revealed "Blek" means "Golden Hair" in the language of Native Americans, but that he was born Yannick Leroc in

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

, France on November 27, 1749.

Yugoslavia

In former Yugoslavia, Blek was published in the ''Lunov magnus strip'' and ''Strip zabavnik'' series. The character reached the print run of 100,000, so in 1978 the local publisher ( Dnevnik from

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

) decided to produce its own licensed material, colloquially known as ''YU Blek''. The writers were Petar Aladžić, Predrag Ivanović, Miodrag Milanović, Ivica Mitrović and

Svetozar Obradović Svetozar Obradović Toza (12 November 1950 – 15 August 2020) was a Serbian writer, best known for his comic books. He also wrote articles, essays, stories, books and radio dramas. Professional career Obradović debuted with ''Lieutenant Tara ...

. The list of artists included Stevan Brajdić, Milorad Žarić, Miodrag Ivanović, Predrag Ivanović, D. Ivković, Branislav Kerac, Bojan Kerzan, Pavel Koza, Vladimir Krstić, Spasoje Kulauzov, Marinko Lebović, B. Ljubičić, Stevo Maslek, Nikola Maslovara, Radič Mijatović, Željko Mitrović, Ahmet Muminović, Slavko Pejak, Dušan Pivac,

Branko Plavšić Branko Plavšić (1949 – 2011) was a Serbian comic book artist, best known for his work on ''Tarzan'' and '' Blek''. Professional career Still a student, Plavšić published his early drawings in ''Male novine'' (Oslobođenje, Sarajevo). Ins ...

, Zdravko Popović,

Sibin Slavković Sibin Slavković (b. 1953, Žunjevići, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian comic book artist, illustrator and editor. Professional career Since making a debut in '' Politikin zabavnik'' in 1973, Slavković worked as a comic book writer and artist for maj ...

(

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

"S. Žunjević"), Ljubomir Filipov and Adam Čurdinjaković. More than 70 episodes were produced, including a

sticker album A sticker album is a book in which collectable stickers are stuck into designated sections. Sticker album themes can be sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, English Premier League or TV shows, Movies, Animals or Music. Panini were the fi ...

Hellas (Greece)

In Greece, it was journalist and comic writer Stelios Anemodouras (1917 - 2000) who firstly published ''Il Grande Blek'' stories on a weekly basis for almost 25 years (1969 - 1994). He, then continued the Blek edition on a monthly basis, until 2011 when his publishing house titled "Periodikos Typos" (by his son, Giorgos Anemodouras) ended its operating. From 2014 Stelios Anemodouras' grandson, Leokratis Anemodouras has been publishing the new Blek magazine ("ΜΠΛΕΚ, τα Καλύτερα Κόμικς" by "Mikros Iros" Co), today on a 2montly basis. During the 70s, Stelios Anemodouras along with illustrator Byron Aptosoglou (1923 - 1990) created 8 new ''Il Grande Blek'' stories, which were published, mainly in "Μεγάλος ΜΠΛΕΚ" mag. New Greek stories by writers Nikos D. Nikolaidis and Giorgos Pol. Papadakis, illustrated by comic artist Kostas Fragiadakis were published both in Greek and Italian edition, a few years ago.

Influence

The strip inspired ''Il Grande Blek'', a 1987 film directed by

Giuseppe Piccioni Giuseppe Piccioni (born 2 July 1953) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He has directed nine films since 1987. His 2004 film ''The Life That I Want'' was entered into the 27th Moscow International Film Festival. Selected filmography ...

about a boy who loves comics.

Sources

{{Authority control 1954 comics debuts 1967 comics endings Grande Blek Grande Blek Grande Blek Grande Blek Fictional soldiers Fictional American Revolutionary War veterans American Revolutionary War Comics set during the American Revolutionary War Comics set in the United States Serbian comics characters