Guido Martina (9 February 1906 – 6 May 1991) was an Italian comic writer, documentarist and author. Martina is well known for his

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 th ...

stories, including the first of the "" story "L'inferno di Topolino", and the creation of

Paperinik Donald Duck, a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company, is today the star of dozens of comic-book and comic-strip stories published each month (in certain parts of the world, each week) around the world. In many European countries, Don ...

, Donald Duck's superhero alter ego.

Life and career

Born in Carmagnola, at 16 years old Martina moved with his family to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, where he graduated in literature and philosophy because of the insistence of his father, while he would have preferred to study engineering.Alberto Gedda (11 May 1991). "Guido Martina, Quel Disney Made in Italy". ''

La Stampa ''La Stampa'' (meaning ''The Press'' in English) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin, Italy. It is distributed in Italy and other European nations. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. History and profile The paper was fou ...

''. After brief experiences as teacher and journalist for '' Il Popolo d'Italia'', he realized several documentaries as director and screenwriter, moving to live and work in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

for five years.Alberto Gedda (5 December 1987). "Così inventai Paperinik". ''La Stampa''.Gianni Brunoro. "Martina, Guido". ''Enciclopedia Mondiale del Fumetto''. Editoriale Corno, 1978. p.534. Returned to Italy in 1938, Martina started collaborating with ''

Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. It is currently published by Pani ...

'' as translator of American stories. During this time he also wrote a radio variety show and directed a short-lived satirical magazine, ''Fra' Diavolo''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he served as

cavalry officer Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry i ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

, where he was taken prisoner by the British army. Following the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Bri ...

he was moved in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, from where he was deported to a Nazi concentration camp in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. In 1945, Martina reprised his collaboration with ''Topolino'', also creating his first original

stories. In 1949 he started the "" (i.e. "Disney Parodies") saga with the celebrated story "L'inferno di Topolino", a parody of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

's '' Inferno''. During his career he wrote hundreds of stories, creating dozens of characters, including

. In 1949, he created with Raffaele Paparella the popular western series ''

Pecos Bill Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book by Tex O'Reill ...

'', and in 1952 the adventure series ''Oklahoma''. He also collaborated with the comic magazines ''

Cucciolo Cucciolo is the title character of an Italian long-lasting comic book series. Background Cucciolo, together with the inseparable friend Beppe, are a couple of comic characters created in 1940 by Giuseppe Caregaro as writer and Rino Anzi as art ...

'' and ''

Tiramolla Tiramolla is an Italian comic book character created in 1952 by Roberto Renzi and Giorgio Rebuffi. Tiramolla ( English: Stretch-Spring) is a bizarre Superhero that resembles a stick figure with extensible slender body, oval face, long legs, a ...

'', and wrote several

photonovel Photo comics are a form of sequential storytelling that uses photographs rather than illustrations for the images, along with the usual comics conventions of narrative text and word balloons containing dialogue. They are sometimes referred to ...

s for ''

Il Vittorioso ''Il Vittorioso'' (Italian for "The Victorious") was a weekly comic magazine published in Italy from 1937 to 1966. History and profile The magazine was born on the initiative of the Azione Cattolica association as a catholic response to the sec ...

''. Outside comics, Martina also collaborated with Disney as author of 11 volumes of the 24 volumes-long ''Enciclopedia Disney'', and as author of the book series in 21 volumes ''In giro per il mondo con Disney''.

References

External links

Guido Martina
at '' INDUCKS'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Martina, Guido 1906 births 1991 deaths People from the Province of Turin Italian comics writers Disney comics writers University of Turin alumni Italian documentary filmmakers Italian male writers Italian military personnel of World War II Pecos Bill