IT ALL BEGAN WITH A YELLOW STRIP
The credit for introducing the strip format in Italy goes to Gli Albi di Topolino, published by Arnoldo Mondadori starting on January 11, 1948. In a way, this was a return to the origins, since the comic adventures of the world’s most famous mouse were first published in American newspapers in 1930 in the classic strip format.
At the same time, it was also a format inspired by the Cheerios Premiums and Wheaties Giveaways, recognizable by their distinctive yellow cover and distributed with boxes of cereal. Mondadori did not give them away—although many years later, in 1960, some issues were used to promote Persil detergent—but instead sold them at newsstands, creating a type of publication that quickly became very popular with readers.
After a few months, in June 1948, Il Piccolo Sceriffo, written by Tristano Torelli and illustrated by Camillo Zuffi, was launched, immediately attracting great interest and reaching a circulation of over 200,000 copies.
Later that same year, in September, Tex was created, followed two years later by the Tarzan-inspired character Akim. It is estimated that from 1948 to the mid-1960s more than one hundred series were released, but none matched the extraordinary success of Capitan Miki and Il Grande Blek. Together, they sold over 700,000 copies per week.
These characters are still loved today by readers of different generations, who continue to revisit their adventures with undiminished enthusiasm. This happens in Italy thanks to Edizioni IF and the newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, but also in Serbia and neighboring countries, where in the 1990s many local authors created new adventures of the resilient Blek Macigno—among them, Bane Kerac
01. FROM ITALY WITH FURY… FROM SERBIA WITH LOVE
In October 2024, Il Grande Blek celebrated its 70th anniversary. To mark the occasion, If Edizioni published Trappers alla riscossa, a luxurious full-color volume featuring the first story of the legendary hero created by the EsseGesse trio, along with what can be considered a prequel to the saga, Il Piccolo Trapper.
For this special edition, the episode of Il Grande Blek was remastered, restoring each panel to its original version as published in the Collana Freccia in 1954.
The volume has been translated and published in Serbia by Golconda. A copy is available here for you to browse.
Enjoy your reading!
02.
The Serbian publisher Dnevnik, based in Novi Sad, has been publishing the magazine Lunov Magnus Strip since 1968 and, starting from issue no. 128 in 1978, began printing the stories of Il Grande Blek, here renamed Veliki Blek.
This issue features his first adventure written and drawn by the EsseGesse trio (Giovanni Sinchetto, Dario Guzzon and Pietro Sartoris). The cover used is the one created by Giovanni Sinchetto for the reprint edition published by the Italian publisher Dardo in 1970.
The cover of a second reprint of this episode, in 1992, was created by Dario Guzzon. Once again, Sinchetto’s illustration was chosen for the color edition published by Gazzetta dello Sport in collaboration with Edizioni IF (2017).
The same image appears on issue no. 1049 of the new Lunov Magnus Strip, published by Golconda under the direction of Bojan Riznić, which began publication again from issue no. 999 on June 2, 2022, continuing the numbering from where Dnevnik had left off.
03.
Branislav “Bane” Kerac is not only one of the most talented Serbian authors who contributed to the creation of remarkable episodes of Il Grande Blek. He is also the man who, after nearly thirty years, managed to make Blek Macigno kiss a woman.
A kiss—and an embrace—full of genuine passion. In fact, he even had Blek marry Little Foot. But, as often happens in comics, marriages almost always end in tragedy… or perhaps not this time? We should ask Bane.
The episode titled Cuore spezzato (Slomljeno Srce) was published in 1982 in installments in Strip Zabavnik (issues 78, 81, 83, 86, and 89), and later collected in volume form in 2014.
In Italy, it was translated and published in issue no. 130 of Il Grande Blek (Edizioni IF, December 2013).
04.
In the early months of 1955, Il Grande Blek stories began to be published in France (Blek le Roc, Lug) in pocket format, and in England and Spain in comic book format.
Only in Sweden, in 1956, were the stories published in their original strip format by the Danish publisher Forlaget Presse. Renamed Davy Crockett, Blek appeared in the series Prärie Serier.
In 1957, the character was published in Norway, and in the same year appeared under the name Silni Tom in the Slovenian newspaper Primorski dnevnik, which opened its pages to the original strips produced by the Italian publisher Dardo.
Here is an example of the strips published in the July 7, 1957 edition, translating the beginning of the comic book Il fiume non perdona, no. 8 of Collana Freccia (February 5, 1956).