''Nick Carter'' 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 ...

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

created in 1972 as a semi-animated

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

, for '' Gulp!'', one of the most popular Italian TV shows of that decade. The creators were Guido De Maria, as director and writer, and

Franco Bonvicini Bonvi, pen name of Franco Bonvicini (31 March 1941 – 10 December 1995) was an Italian comic book artist, creator of the comic strips ''Sturmtruppen'' and ''Nick Carter (comics), Nick Carter''. Biography Bonvicini was born either in Parma or Mode ...

("Bonvi"), as co-writer and artist. The first run comprised 11 stories, later reissued, as print comic strips for ''

Il Corriere dei Ragazzi The ''Corriere dei Piccoli'' (Italian for "Courier of the Little Ones"), later nicknamed ''Corrierino'' ("Little Courier"), was a weekly magazine for children published in Italy from 1908 to 1995. It was the first Italian periodical to make a r ...

'', and then in numerous other magazines and books. In 1977 the character was revamped for the follow-on TV series '' SuperGulp!'', with 17 further episodes. The ''Nick Carter'' episodes number some 80, including those created for TV and later adapted for comic-strip magazines. Several stories were drawn by

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

(Guido Silvestri) and Clod ( Claudio Onesti).

Characters

* Nick Carter, whose name is inspired to that of the homonymous pulp-novel detective, is a short, old-fashioned detective, usually called by other authorities or by private parties, to solve intricate cases. These are normally occasions to satirize famous movies, comics characters or real-world celebrities. Parodies of horror and

science fiction theme The following is a list of articles about recurring theme (narrative), themes in science fiction. Overarching themes *First contact (science fiction), First contact with aliens *Artificial intelligence in fiction, Artificial intelligence **Mac ...

s sometimes appear. The stories are generally set in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

of the 1910s and '20s, but Carter and his colleagues take part in several missions in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

's front lines or in the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, as well. * Patsy is Carter's tall, sturdy and clumsy assistant, whose main abilities involve fists and weapons. Each stories usually ends with Patsy commenting: "And the last one repairs the damage" or "The last one closes." * Ten is a Japanese detective who expresses himself only in rhyme, citing ironic versions of Japanese philosophy. * O'Callaghan is a N.Y. City police official whose inability to solve a challenging case usually requires consulting Carter. * Stanislao Moulinsky is a recurring villain Moulinsky is an alleged "master criminal" using astute disguises: the most incredible ones includes impersonating three people at once, a television, an airship and a fog. He is, however, invariably unmasked by Carter in the last panel of each story, with the signature exchange: (Nick Carter:) "No! This is not ___, but Stanislao Moulinsky in one of his best disguises!" (Stanislao Moulinsky, taking off his mask and with a strong Russian accent:) "Well yes, damned Carter, you have won again!"

Parodies

Nick Carter stories feature a great number of parodies of famous themes and characters of literature, film, TV and history. An incomplete list includes: *

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

, satirized two times: as the mafioso ''Babbino'' ("Little Daddy"), after the main character of ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

'' film; and as Merlon, a trade union leader in a story inspired to the film ''

On the Waterfront ''On the Waterfront'' is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, and Eva Marie Saint in her film debut. ...

''. Note that in

"Merlone" is the

augmentative An augmentative (abbreviated ) is a morphological form of a word which expresses greater intensity, often in size but also in other attributes. It is the opposite of a diminutive. Overaugmenting something often makes it grotesque and so in so ...

form of "merlo" ("blackbird"), which also is a colloquial term for a fool. *

Mandrake the Magician ''Mandrake the Magician'' is a syndicated newspaper comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloon ...

, featured as the Great Mephisto, a criminal hypnotizer. *

Corto Maltese ''Corto Maltese'' is a series of adventure and fantasy comics named after the character Corto Maltese, an adventurous sailor. It was created by the Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt in 1967. The comics are highly praised as some of the most ...

, as himself. He maintains, in pure

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 indu ...

's style: "I don't live for vile money. I live for adventure." *

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

, as crime boss "Al Testone", whom Carter has similarly charged with a lesser offence (in this case a traffic violation). *

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

, as a giant gorilla of the "Barzum Circus", who falls in love with Patsy. *

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

, as himself, in the prison wagon carrying him back to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. *

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, whose face is that of an unnamed, fanatic character attempting to bring panic in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with a series of terroristic acts. *

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

, portrayed with Bonvi's likeness. *

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

, as "Borson Willis", facing a false invasion from

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. * Italian politician

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( , ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992) and leader of the Christian Democra ...

, as the "prime minister", in a late story of 1993.

References

External links

www.nickcarter.it
(In Italian) {{Nick Carter (character) 1972 comics debuts Carter, Nick Italian comic strips Italian comics titles Carter, Nick Carter, Nick Detective comics Italian children's animated television series Male characters in animation Animated human characters Crime comics Humor comics Comics based on television series Comics based on fiction Comics based on novels Nick Carter (literary character)