''Mister No'' is an Italian comic book, first published in Italy in 1975 by

Sergio Bonelli Editore Sergio Bonelli Editore (formerly CEPIM and other names) is a publishing house of Italian comics founded in 1940 by Gian Luigi Bonelli (1908–2001). It takes its name from its former president, comic book writer Sergio Bonelli (1932–2011), son of ...

. Mister No was created by writer

Sergio Bonelli Sergio Bonelli (2 December 1932 – 26 September 2011) was an Italian comic book writer and publisher. He is best known as creator of '' Zagor'' (1961) and ''Mister No'' (1975), as well as a comics publisher through the publishing house Sergio ...

artist

Gallieno Ferri Gallieno Ferri (21 March 1929 – 2 April 2016) was an Italian comic book artist and illustrator. He was born in Genoa. In 1960 Ferri met writer Sergio Bonelli Sergio Bonelli (2 December 1932 – 26 September 2011) was an Italian comic book ...

in Spring 1975. Bonelli published under the pseudonym Guido Nolitta. The regular monthly series endured for 379 publications, and the last issue was published in December 2006. Three special issues were made from 2006 to 2009.

General description

The first story is set in 1952, a few years after the end of the

Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and the last was set in 1969. Issue 295 featured a story set in Manaus during year 2000. The special issue number 8 featured a story with

Martin Mystère ''Martin Mystère'' is both the title and protagonist of an Italian comic book. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli and artist Giancarlo Alessandrini, it was first published in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1982. Dark Horse Comics has publi ...

. Mister No's real name is Jerome Drake Junior, his father being Jerome Senior, and he was born c. 1922. He is a former soldier who served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. After the Second World War he moved to Manaus, in the middle of the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian

Amazon Forest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

to escape from the horrors of the war. Half

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

, half

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform action ...

, he fights for his own peace and tranquility which he hopes to gain in those wild territories. He works as an aeroplane pilot and tour guide, flying his

Piper Piper may refer to: People * Piper (given name) * Piper (surname) Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Comics * Piper (Morlock), in the Marvel Universe * Piper (Mutate), in the Marvel Universe Television * Piper Chapman, lea ...

. His best friend is the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Otto Kruger, whom he first met in São Luís. Otto was nicknamed ''Esse-Esse'' (S-S) by Brazilians because of his past as an officer in the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

German Army. Mister No, like Esse-Esse, is a lazy man who likes hanging around in Paulo Adolfo's cantina, drinking

cachaça ''Cachaça'' () is a distilled spirit made from fermented sugarcane juice. Also known as ''pinga'', ''caninha'', and other names, it is the most popular spirit among distilled alcoholic beverages in Brazil.Cavalcante, Messias Soares. Todos os n ...

and flirting with girls, and he often gets involved in dangerous activities and trouble against his will. Although many of Mister No's adventures take place in Brazil, some are set in other

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

n countries, North America,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Mister No is very popular 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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and the countries of the former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

(especially

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

) where the comic book is currently being published and distributed by Serbian edition Veseli Četvrtak, Croatian Strip-Agent and Libellus.

Authors

Other than Bonelli and Ferri, many other artists and authors have contributed to the series. These include the writers

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' ...

, Tiziano Sclavi, and Claudio Nizzi; and the artists

Franco Bignotti Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ...

, Roberto Diso, Marco Bianchini,

Fabio Civitelli Fabio Civitelli (born 9 April 1955, Lucignano) is an italian people, Italian comic artist best known for illustrating stories for Tex Willer, a popular comic in Italy. Civitelli is often remarked as being highly skilled with ink drawings, which al ...

, Ferdinando Tacconi and Alessandro Bignamini. In the last issue it was announced that the series will continue in the annual specials. But these have also been suspended after the issue of Spring 2009.

References

External links

Sergio Bonelli Editore official page about Mister No

Website Mister No
on TexBR Italian comics titles Italian comics characters 1975 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1975 Adventure comics War comics Fictional soldiers Fictional aviators Fictional American people Fictional World War II veterans {{Italy-comics-stub