Luciano Bottaro (16 November 1931 – 25 November 2006) was an Italian comic book artist. He was influenced by

Otto Messmer Otto James Messmer (August 16, 1892 – October 28, 1983) was an American animator known for his work on the Felix the Cat cartoons and comic strip produced by the Pat Sullivan studio. The extent of Messmer's role in the creation and populari ...

's ''

Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon charac ...

'',

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he worke ...

's ''

Little Nemo in Slumberland Little Nemo is a fictional character created by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. He originated in an early comic strip by McCay, ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend'', before receiving his own spin-off series, ''Little Nemo in Slumberland''. The f ...

'',

Frederick Burr Opper Frederick Burr Opper (January 2, 1857 – August 28, 1937) is regarded as one of the pioneers of American newspaper comic strips, best known for his comic strip ''Happy Hooligan''. His comic characters were featured in magazine gag cartoons, cov ...

's ''

Happy Hooligan ''Happy Hooligan'' is an American comic strip, the first major strip by the already celebrated cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper. It debuted with a Sunday strip on March 11, 1900 in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers, and was one of the first ...

'',

Rudolph Dirks Rudolph Dirks (February 26, 1877 – April 20, 1968) was one of the earliest and most noted comic strip artists, well known for ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' (later known as ''The Captain and the Kids''). Dirks was born in Heide, Germany, to Joh ...

's ''the

Katzenjammer Kids ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).Barks Barks may refer to: * Carl Barks (1901 – 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter * Coleman Barks (b. 1937), an American poet, and former literature faculty at the University of Georgia * Samantha Barks (b. 1990), a Manx actress and ...

and Gottfredson's Disney adaptations.

Biography

Born in

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, located in the Liguria region of northern Italy. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and Chiavar ...

, he abandoned his

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

studies for cartooning in 1949. That year, he began his career for ''

Lo Scolaro ''Lo Scolaro'' ("The Schoolboy") was a weekly magazine dedicated to school children and published from 1912 to 1972. The magazine was headquartered in Genoa, Italy. History and profile The magazine was founded by G. B. Barletta and started its p ...

'', an Italian

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

, with the character Aroldo il bucaniere. He worked for ''

La Domenica del Corriere ''La Domenica del Corriere'' was an Italian weekly newspaper which ran from 1899 to 1989. It came out every Sunday free with ''Corriere della Sera'', but was also sold separately. It was famous for its cover drawings, and its issues are still col ...

'',

Edizioni Alpe Edizioni Alpe (also known for a time in the late 1940s as Edizioni Subalpino) was an Italian publishing house founded in 1939 and active until the late 1980s. Based in Milan, it published a series of magazines focusing on popular fiction genres— ...

and

Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

, the Italian

Disney comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with ...

publisher: his first story was "

Paperino Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American Pekin, white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shi ...

e le onorificenze" written by

Alberto Testa Alberto Testa may refer to: *Alberto Testa (dancer) (1922–2019), Italian dancer *Alberto Testa (lyricist) (1927–2009), Italian composer and lyricist {{Hndis, Testa, Alberto ...

and published in 1952. In the same year he began to collaborate with Guido Scala and Franco Aloisi. They were subsequently joined by

Carlo Chendi Angelo Carlo Chendi (10 July 1933 – 12 September 2021) was an Italian cartoonist. Since 1952, Carlo Chendi wrote hundreds of stories with characters from Disney comics. Early life Chendi moved at a young age from Ferrara, to Rapallo, in Lig ...

. Unofficially they were called "Rapallo's School", before the birth of the "Bierrecì Studios".

Bierrecì Studios

Besides his work on Disney's characters, he worked on other

s, creating a lot of characters ('' Whisky & Gogo'', '' Baldo'', ''

Pon Pon Pon Pon is the title character of an Italian comic strip created by Luciano Bottaro. Background Pon Pon was created by Bottaro in 1955 as Sor Funghetto and was published until 1970 in the children magazine ''Lo Scolaro''. In 1967 it was rename ...

'', ''Giò Polpetta'', ''Maramao''), and in 1958 he founded the Bierrecì Studios with

and

Giorgio Rebuffi Giorgio Rebuffi (7 November 1928 – 15 October 2014) was an Italian comics artist. Born in Milan, Rebuffi started his career in 1949 when, still being a university student at the Faculty of Medicine, he created the character Sceriffo Fox ("Sheri ...

. The first Bierreci Studios' publication was ''

Re di Picche Re di Picche (i.e. "King of Spades") is the title character of an Italian comic series created by Luciano Bottaro. History and profile ''Re di Picche'' debuted in 1969, as the leading character of a short-lived comics magazine with the same nam ...

'', a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

that published the adventures of the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

of the

card Card or The Card may refer to: * Various types of plastic cards: **By type ***Magnetic stripe card *** Chip card *** Digital card **By function ***Payment card ****Credit card **** Debit card ****EC-card ****Identity card ****European Health Insur ...

s, a pitiless and

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

-thirsty

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of military world, inspired by ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

''. One of his most popular characters was '' Pepito'', the comical adventures of a 17th-century

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from Stuart Restoration, the Restoration in 16 ...

who fights, among others, the greedy, grasping but essentially lovable Governor of a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

. Published in various countries in magazines that ranged from monthly to fortnightly, ''Pepito'' proved surprisingly more popular outside of Italy than in its country of origin. Several cartoonists began working with them, including Maria Luisa Uggetti, Tiberio Colantuoni,

Ivo Milazzo Ivo Milazzo (born 20 June 1947) is an Italian comic book artist. Born in Tortona, Milazzo worked mainly for Sergio Bonelli Editore. He debuted in 1971, drawing some ''Tarzan'' stories for the French market. Together with his friend, writer Gianc ...

Giancarlo Berardi Giancarlo Berardi (born 15 November 1949) is an Italian comic book writer. Born in Genoa, he is most famous as creator of comics '' Ken Parker'' (1977) and ''Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of th ...

. They worked on several characters, including

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in Du ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

characters. They also produced the comics version of ''Carosello'', an Italian

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

program that, during the 1950s and 1960s, played the first Italian

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

Reprints

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

has since 2018 reprinted some of Bottaro's Disney comics in volumes of the ''

Disney Masters ''Disney Masters'' is a series of books collecting anthologies of critically acclaimed Walt Disney Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse international comic artists. Italian artist Romano Scarpa was the first featured creator in the series, in the volume ...

'' hardcover series. * ''Donald Duck: Uncle Scrooge's Money Rocket'' (2018)

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and ...

* ''Donald Duck: Jumpin' Jupiter!'' (2021)

External links

*
Luciano Bottaro
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Luciano Bottaro: Biography on the official website
in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bottaro, Luciano Italian comics artists Italian comics writers 1931 births 2006 deaths Disney comics writers Disney comics artists