4 ms·

It intrigues me that an Italian writer would choose to make his main character American. Particularly given that a Belgian writer, Edgar Jacobs, chose to make h

by twic 6y ago

It intrigues me that an Italian writer would choose to make his main character American. Particularly given that a Belgian writer, Edgar Jacobs, chose to make his at least equally famous characters Blake and Mortimer British. Is there a pattern of continental writers creating Anglophone characters for adventure stories? Or is it just these two cases?

Mediterraneo10 6y ago
The German author Karl May wrote Westerns – which ended up being among the world’s most bestselling – without ever having visited the West. Also, while the Lemmy Caution character was created by an actual Anglophone, he is far more better known from the films that the French made about him.
zhrvoj 6y ago
Other Italian comics from 70' were also all american characters. Comandante Mark, Zagor, Blek... Americans and Brits are interesting characters for comics :) And what about legendary spaghetti western movies?
- foobarian 6y ago
  Martin Misterija, Blek Stena, heh legends. "Sto mu gromova!" Edit: also Dylan Dog.
  - toyg 6y ago
    Where does "sto mu gromova!" come from? Google Translate is not helping me, is it something like "thousand devils!" ( per mille diavoli! ), which I think was a typical Zagor or Tex exclamation?
    - foobarian 6y ago
      I think it's a Serbian exclamation, possibly archaic, literally it's "hundred thunderbolts!" but in American slang I think "You don't say!" or "What the heck!" are the closest in meaning for me. The Serbian translation of Marty Mystere used it liberally to the point that if you used it in speech people would get you were making a comicbook reference.
      - toyg 6y ago
        Ah, for Martin Mystère it would have likely been his trademark Diavoli dell'inferno! in Italian ("hell's devils!"). Most characters created in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore (Mystère, Dylan Dog, Tex, etc) have a typical exclamation like that. I'm gonna start using that serbian version for fun with Italian friends =D
toyg 6y ago
In Italy it's basically expected to use foreign heroes in pop culture, ever since fascism (and its farcical fall) effectively corrupted any sense of national pride. We went from a situation where "Superman" was considered too anglo-sounding under Mussolini (so he was renamed "Nembo Kid") to a postwar expectation that Italian-sounding heroes are just not credible. This was compounded by the Hollywood influence, which in Italy was stronger than average (Cinecittà studios in Rome produced quite a bit of US movies in the '50s/'60s, think "Roman Holiday" etc). All the most popular comic book characters written and designed by Italians are not Italian: Tex Willer (US), Zagor (US), Dylan Dog (UK), Martin Mystère (US), Nathan Never (US), Diabolik (acting largely in UK)... Italian characters are typically relegated to parody strips, or stories strictly linked to local issues. Occasionally you have stuff like Ranxerox, which takes place in Italy but with people carrying anglo names. One of the most Italian characters in comicdom, Dago (a Renaissance renegade adventurer, banished from its native Venice), was actually created by Argentinian authors Robin Wood and Alberto Salinas. The Argentinian school really knew no thematic boundaries whatsoever, and produced a number of great series in the '70s/'80s. Somewhat ironically, the comic-books of the most traditionally-American characters ever, Disney's Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, have been largely created in Italy in modern times. Local demand for "Topolino" and "Paperino" (their Italian names) grew so large over the '70s, that the company started training their own authors in Italy. In the late '80s Disney even set up an academy in Milan to mass-produce artists and stories; it lasted 25 years, creating stories that were then published all over the world, including the US. This also means that the Disney character roster is significantly larger in Italy than pretty much anywhere else - only some of the new characters have been introduced into US canon.

by twic 6y ago

Mediterraneo10 6y ago

The German author Karl May wrote Westerns – which ended up being among the world’s most bestselling – without ever having visited the West. Also, while the Lemmy Caution character was created by an actual Anglophone, he is far more better known from the films that the French made about him.

zhrvoj 6y ago

Other Italian comics from 70' were also all american characters. Comandante Mark, Zagor, Blek... Americans and Brits are interesting characters for comics :) And what about legendary spaghetti western movies?

foobarian 6y ago
Martin Misterija, Blek Stena, heh legends. "Sto mu gromova!" Edit: also Dylan Dog.
- toyg 6y ago
  Where does "sto mu gromova!" come from? Google Translate is not helping me, is it something like "thousand devils!" ( per mille diavoli! ), which I think was a typical Zagor or Tex exclamation?
  - foobarian 6y ago
    I think it's a Serbian exclamation, possibly archaic, literally it's "hundred thunderbolts!" but in American slang I think "You don't say!" or "What the heck!" are the closest in meaning for me. The Serbian translation of Marty Mystere used it liberally to the point that if you used it in speech people would get you were making a comicbook reference.
    - toyg 6y ago
      Ah, for Martin Mystère it would have likely been his trademark Diavoli dell'inferno! in Italian ("hell's devils!"). Most characters created in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore (Mystère, Dylan Dog, Tex, etc) have a typical exclamation like that. I'm gonna start using that serbian version for fun with Italian friends =D

toyg 6y ago

In Italy it's basically expected to use foreign heroes in pop culture, ever since fascism (and its farcical fall) effectively corrupted any sense of national pride. We went from a situation where "Superman" was considered too anglo-sounding under Mussolini (so he was renamed "Nembo Kid") to a postwar expectation that Italian-sounding heroes are just not credible. This was compounded by the Hollywood influence, which in Italy was stronger than average (Cinecittà studios in Rome produced quite a bit of US movies in the '50s/'60s, think "Roman Holiday" etc). All the most popular comic book characters written and designed by Italians are not Italian: Tex Willer (US), Zagor (US), Dylan Dog (UK), Martin Mystère (US), Nathan Never (US), Diabolik (acting largely in UK)... Italian characters are typically relegated to parody strips, or stories strictly linked to local issues. Occasionally you have stuff like Ranxerox, which takes place in Italy but with people carrying anglo names. One of the most Italian characters in comicdom, Dago (a Renaissance renegade adventurer, banished from its native Venice), was actually created by Argentinian authors Robin Wood and Alberto Salinas. The Argentinian school really knew no thematic boundaries whatsoever, and produced a number of great series in the '70s/'80s. Somewhat ironically, the comic-books of the most traditionally-American characters ever, Disney's Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, have been largely created in Italy in modern times. Local demand for "Topolino" and "Paperino" (their Italian names) grew so large over the '70s, that the company started training their own authors in Italy. In the late '80s Disney even set up an academy in Milan to mass-produce artists and stories; it lasted 25 years, creating stories that were then published all over the world, including the US. This also means that the Disney character roster is significantly larger in Italy than pretty much anywhere else - only some of the new characters have been introduced into US canon.