Questa parte non ha contenuti extra, scorri in basso per la traduzione in inglese
COMICS YOU COULD CARRY IN YOUR POCKET
For many years, comics were considered by teachers to be an improper form of reading. As a result, they were often read in secret—perhaps hidden in one’s pocket. From this may have emerged the distinctly Italian idea of transforming large-format publications into pocket-sized comic books that could actually be concealed in a jacket or trouser pocket, or inside a school notebook.
Moreover, the smaller format allowed for more pages at a lower price. The first pocket-sized comic in Italy was Topolino, in 1949. The traditional newspaper-format weekly was on the verge of closure due to low sales—only around 20,000 copies. Publisher Mondadori transformed it into a pocket format to print it on the same rotary press used for the Italian edition of Reader’s Digest, aiming to reduce production costs.
The result was a success: Topolino quickly surpassed 100,000 copies sold. From then on, the stories of many characters reached newsstands in this format: from Cucciolo to Tiramolla, from Nembo Kid to Pecos Bill. Even Capitan Miki and Il Grande Blek were published in chronological pocket editions.
The booklet evolved into the “pocket” format in the 1960s with Diabolik and its many imitators, often featuring the letter “k” in their titles. Alan Ford was also published—and is still published today—in this format.
The character created by Magnus and Bunker had numerous international editions, but none achieved as much popularity as in Yugoslavia, largely thanks to the outstanding translator Nenad Brixy.
01. SUPER STRIP, THE POWER OF TITLES… BUNKER & BRIXY, THE MAGIC OF WORDS
From December 2, 2020 to February 28, 2021, the Museum of Yugoslavia hosted the exhibition Alan Ford compie il giro d’onore, organized in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Belgrade, the Yugoslav Film Archive, the Institute of Culture and Education of Ljubljana, and the National Gallery of Slovenia.
On that occasion, original artworks by Magnus and covers by Paolo Piffarerio were exhibited, along with various editions of the series from the collections of Marijan Matić and Mario Reljanović.
A copy of the catalogue is available here for consultation.
Enjoy your reading!
02.
In the mid-1960s, an Italian publisher, Renato Bianconi, partnered with a French publisher, Jean Chapelle, to distribute a selection of emerging Italian comic series on the French market.
Through Éditions de l’Occident, Bianconi introduced not only his own titles (Artiglio d’Acciaio, Uranella, El Desperado), but also those of competitors (Diabolik, Gli Invincibili, Barracuda, Billy Bis).
From France, the project expanded into Northern Europe and eventually reached the Balkans, where the Zagreb-based publisher Vjesnik used this material to launch, in 1967, the series Plavi Vjesnik – Super Strip Biblioteka.
The debut title was L’Artiglio d’Acciaio, followed by Gli Invincibili, Barracuda, Diabolik, Uranella, and El Desperado.
Starting with issue no. 89 in 1970, Alan Ford made its debut—a series destined to leave a lasting mark on generations of readers.
For a time, Alan Ford alternated with other titles such as Raf, Billy Bis, and Jonny Logan, but it soon came to dominate the entire series.
03.
The inclusion of Jonny Logan in the series is quite unusual. In Italy, the two characters belong to different publishers—one might even say competitors. Alan Ford is published by Editoriale Corno, which certainly did not look favorably upon the imitation produced by the publisher Dardo (the same behind Il Grande Blek), which introduced Jonny Logan, written by Romano Garofalo and illustrated by Leone Cimpellin.
In Super Strip Biblioteka, however, the two characters seem almost like “brothers”: in fact, at first Jonny Logan was published under the Alan Ford title, and in some cases even mutual endorsements appeared. These were certainly situations that did not please Max Bunker!
04.
Super Strip Biblioteka ceased publication with issue no. 448 in 1992, leaving readers without the continuation of Alan Ford’s adventures, which had been interrupted at issue no. 277 of the Italian edition.
Publication of the character created by Max Bunker, with artwork by Magnus, later resumed in Serbia with the Mini and Regular series by Maverick, as well as with eight appearances in the Cao Almanac series by Nip in Belgrade.
The longest-running series, however, is that of Color Media Service, which, by adopting the Super Strip Bibliotekaformat, continues to publish Alan Ford to this day.
05.
Nenad Brixy was a highly regarded journalist, writer, and satirical author. More than for his own works, he is primarily known in his country for his translation and adaptation of Alan Ford.
It was his sharp and biting humor that contributed to the immense popularity of the character created by Max Bunker across the Balkans. The creator of Alan Ford himself repeatedly expressed regret at never having had the opportunity to meet Brixy, in order to thank him for being able to translate not only his dialogues, but also the spirit of his stories.
Under the pseudonym Timothy Thatcher, Brixy (pictured here during a stay in Italy) wrote numerous parodies of detective novels. This nom de plume is also the name of his character, published in comic form in 1984 in two issues of Super Strip Biblioteka, with artwork by Vjeco Ivezic.
On the translations of Alan Ford in Yugoslavia—thanks to the mediation of Eurostudio by Piero Dami—Luciano Secchi (alias Max Bunker) wrote at the time in the Italian edition, drawing on an interview conducted by Ervin Rustemagić (Alan Ford, no. 57, March 1974).
In the color photograph: Andrea Corno, publisher and owner of Editoriale Corno, Roberto Raviola (Magnus), and Luciano Secchi (Max Bunker) in the 1960s.