Cattivik is an Italian humoristic

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

character created by Bonvi (Franco Bonvicini). "Cattivo" in Italian means evil, nasty, but more on the mean, petty side. The character first appeared in 1965. He later appeared in the

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

'' Tiramolla'' on 19 July 1970. Later, the development of the character was given to one of his assistants,

Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

(creator of Lupo Alberto, another successful comic strip 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 ...

), because Bonvi was too busy with his other works (among them, the famous Sturmtruppen). The character is a more or less declared parody of another successful series in

, ''

Diabolik ''Diabolik'' () is an Italian comic series created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani. One of the most popular series in the history of Italian comics, ''Diabolik'' was created in 1962 and consists of more than 900 volumes, and has led to ...

'', created by the Giussani Sisters. The character quickly became popular in

, his anti-heroic nature is overblown to grotesque proportions (he is a burglar and general

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

, lives in sewers, takes showers with toxic waste and hates everything "good natured") and politically incorrect

humour Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

( fart and

burp Burping (also called belching and eructation) is the release of gas from the upper digestive tract (esophagus and stomach) of animals through the mouth. It is usually audible. In humans, burping can be caused by normal eating processes, or ...

jokes, italian politicians caricatures and social commentary). The two main characteristics of Cattivik are the pear-shaped form (which is an evolution of the original form designed by Bonvi, which was shaped more like a giant pepperoni) and an accent (he omits the final vowels of most words) that could be both Northern-Italian or Apulian. A

called ''Cattivik'' was published in

from 1989. It ceased to be published in December 2005.

In other media

* ''Cattivik'' a video game based on the character was released by Idea Software in 1992. * The character has also been adapted in a CGI animated TV series in 2008. * The character has also a collectible figure. * "Cattivik" is also a video game for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

By Gabriele Amore and Alessandro Grussu.

References

External links

Cattivik
at ComicVine.com Italian comic strips Italian comics titles 1965 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1965 2005 comics endings Italian comics characters Parody comics Satirical comics Fictional criminals in comics Fictional Italian people {{Italy-comics-stub