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''Martin Mystère'' is an Italian comic book whose protagonist is Martin Mystère. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli and artist Giancarlo Alessandrini, it was first published in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1982.
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
has published the English version of the series in the United States. It is still published in Italy and has been translated in many other languages, sometimes with the name changed (''e.g.'', in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, the series is named ''Alan Dark''; in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, '' Martin Mystery''; in
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
, ''Martin Mystery''/''Martin Mystère''; in
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, ''Marti Misterija''; in
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, ''Atlantis''; and in
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
, ''Marma Manithan Martin''). The series is one of Bonelli's most popular comic books in Italy, selling over 20,000 copies each month. It has been adapted to various other media, such as an
animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
, video games, and books.


Overview

Martin Mystère is an art historian,
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
,
anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...
, adventurer, writer, television producer and collector of unusual objects. Based in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where he was born Martin Jacques Mystère, he spent much of his early life studying in Italy, where many of his adventures take place. After the unexplained deaths of his parents in a plane crash (1965), he started to devote his studies to the most enigmatic events and places of human history. He also helps the New York
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
and a United States secret
government agency A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, s ...
in their investigations, as well as anyone who comes to him for help and gets him curious. He is assisted in his adventures all around the world by
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
, a mute and very strong
Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
man he discovered in the hidden City of Lucid Shadows in
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
.


Characters

Java is Martin's closest friend and helper. He is a Neanderthal man found in a lost city of Neanderthals. He adapted to modern life. In the early series, he mostly followed or found people or things with his instinct or animallike sense of smell; later, he became more normal but lost effect on the stories. Now he mostly follows Martin everywhere, protects and helps him. Martin Mystère's main opponents include the
Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are government agents dressed in dark suits, who question, interrogate, harass, and threaten unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses to keep them silent about what they have ...
, the controversial art patron Sergej Orloff and Mr. Jinx. Two other antagonists of the series are
Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...
and
Morgan Le Fay Morgan le Fay (; Welsh language, Welsh and Cornish language, Cornish: Morgen; with ''le Fay'' being garbled French language, French ''la Fée'', thus meaning 'Morgan the Fairy'), alternatively known as Morgan , Morgain /e Morgant Mor ...
. His companion is Diana Lombard, who is also his long-time fiancée, later his wife. Mystère is not a womanizer, but he has not always been faithful to Diana either. Diana is a social worker, angry with Martin because he often travels without letting her know in advance and he is surrounded by beautiful women. Together with Sergej Orloff, he was educated by the
guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...
Kut-Humi. Sergej and Martin were friends and after their education they received the weapons called ''Murchadna'' (ancient ray-guns from the lost Mu). However, their friendship ended after Sergej chose the evil path; his weapon can kill whereas Martin's Murchadna can only make the target faint when blasted. Murchadna lost its power later, but showed up a few times more. The Men in Black are a secret group spreading over the whole world and their aim is to prevent people from learning the true history of the world. The group was founded by Adam--an Atlantean agent--after the great war between Atlantis and Mu. The main aim of the group was to protect mankind from such disasters. After centuries, the organization became corrupt and endeavored to keep the true history of man unknown. The group destroyed all traces of Atlantis and Mu to maintain "world order" (in line with schoolbook history). Another secret group called "Elsewhere" is a United States secret government agency. This group was founded by
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
. Their aim is to save mankind and collect and hide secret and marvellous things. Sometimes they fight The Men in Black, but sometimes they work together. The main contrast between them and The Men in Black is, they don't destroy fantastic objects and beings. They protect and hide them, until mankind is ready to learn. Kut-Humi is a wise man who has a relationship to Agarthi, which is "a city both in this world and not" (this can be explained as being a utopic city). He has taught Martin and Sergej on spiritual issues. He shows up when needed and guides Martin.


Universe

In the true history of the world (according to the comic ''Before The
Great Flood A flood myth or a deluge myth is a myth in which a great flood, usually sent by a deity or deities, destroys civilization, often in an act of divine retribution. Parallels are often drawn between the flood waters of these myths and the primeva ...
''), two major civilizations emerged on two different continents, named Mu (a pseudo-Asiatic realm ruled by an authoritarian, collectivistic philosophy) and
Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...
(a proto-Aryan regime devoted to individualism and capitalism); despite their ideological differences, both had developed advanced civilizations, comparable to the 'Eighties' ideas of an early 21st century. As a result of their rivalry, a great war flared up after several proxy conflicts fought over
Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...
, which ultimately saw the employment of nuclear warheads and other final weapons; in the end the losing side triggered a doomsday machine, which plunged the world in a veritable cataclysm, destroying nearly every sign of the antediluvian civilization. The Atlantis-Mu overarching storyline was very poignant in the early 1980s, when the comic was born, as the
antediluvian The antediluvian (alternatively pre-diluvian or pre-flood) period is the time period chronicled in the Bible between the fall of man and the Genesis flood narrative in biblical cosmology. The term was coined by Thomas Browne (1605–1682). The n ...
holocaust represented a warning to mankind (then enveloped in the last throes of the USA-USSR arms race); it gradually lost importance during the nineties. Martin Mystère exists in the same fictional universe with other Sergio Bonelli comics characters, including Zagor (which, in recent years, has continued, in its stories, the plot relating to the clash between the two ancient civilisations), Mister No and Dylan Dog, a universe which would eventually evolve into the science-fiction milieu of
Nathan Never ''Nathan Never'' is a black-and-white, science fiction Italian comics, Italian comic book, published monthly in Italy since 1991 by Sergio Bonelli Editore. It is written by Michele Medda, Antonio Serra (comics), Antonio Serra and Bepi Vigna. Art ...
. Also Martin meets
Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...
in London. Peter explains the truth about
Neverland Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live. ...
. Neverland is located in the heart of London, the Lost Boys are late 18th-century British students influenced by the French Revolution and
Captain Hook Captain James Hook is the main antagonist of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play ''Peter and Wendy, Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' and its various adaptations, in which he is Peter Pan's archenemy. The character is a pirate captain of the br ...
is an 18th-century pirate who rules Neverland with an iron fist. He and his crew came to Neverland during the late 1790s. Peter Pan is a student who was turned into a flying boy, after he discovered an ancient temple of Green Man which remained from ancient Celts. Also
Tinker Bell Tinker Bell is a fictional character from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play '' Peter Pan'' and its 1911 novelisation '' Peter and Wendy''. She has appeared in a variety of film and television adaptations of the Peter Pan stories, in particular the 1953 ...
is the fairy guardian of the temple. Martin meets
Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...
in Stonehenge and also visits Avalon and Tír na nÓg.


Adaptations


TV series

The
animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
'' Martin Mystery'' (2003–2006) is very loosely based on Martin Mystère. It re-imagines the comic books' main characters Martin and Diana as 16-year-old step-siblings attending Torrington Academy, a high school in Sherbrooke, Quebec. They work for a covert organization known as "The Center", which covertly protects the people of Earth from supernatural threats. On October 10, 2023, it was announced a new animated series is currently in the works.


Video games

A
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
, also, was patterned on the comic series, '' Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray'', and a role-playing game was published (an offshoot of Dylan Dog as an RPG). A video game based on the animated series, titled ''Martin Mystery: Monster Invasion'', was produced by Ubisoft and released for
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
in 2008.


References


External links


Official site of Sergio Bonelli Editore

BVZM (site of the author)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin Mystere 1982 comics debuts Action-adventure comics Fiction about ancient astronauts Atlantis in fiction Celtic mythology in popular culture Comics adapted into animated series Comics adapted into television series Comics adapted into video games Mystere Crime comics Egyptian mythology in popular culture Fantasy comics Fictional American spies Mystere Fictional characters from New York City Mystere Subterranean fiction Classical mythology in comics Mystere Italian comics titles Japanese mythology in popular culture Fiction about Neanderthals Norse mythology in comics Science fiction comics Comics by Alfredo Castelli