''Eureka'' was a monthly comic magazine 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 ...

from 1967 to 1989.

History and profile

''Eureka'' was founded in 1967 by

Luciano Secchi Max Bunker, pen name of Luciano Massimiliano Secchi (born 24 August 1939), is an Italian comic book writer, and publisher, best known as the co-author of '' Alan Ford''. Bunker's career started in 1960 when he co-founded, together with his broth ...

, who also served as editorial director for 222 of the first 240 issues. It was the second Italian magazine following '' linus'' entirely devoted to comics, but differently from ''linus'' it avoided any intellectualism and any political stance. The magazine initially focused on English and British productions. The contents included humorous comic strips such as ''

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (w ...

'' (who also served as mascotte of the magazine), ''

Bringing Up Father ''Bringing Up Father'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George McManus. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it ran for 87 years, from January 2, 1913, to May 28, 2000. The strip was later titled ''Jiggs and Maggie'' (or '' ...

'', ''

Alley Oop ''Alley Oop'' is a syndicated comic strip created December 5, 1932, by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced a cast of colorful characters and ...

'', ''

Tumbleweeds A tumbleweed is a kind of plant habit or structure. Tumbleweed, tumble-weed or tumble weed may also refer to: Films * Tumbleweeds (1925 film), ''Tumbleweeds'' (1925 film), William S. Hart film * Tumbling Tumbleweeds (1935 film), ''Tumbling Tumble ...

'', ''

Miss Peach ''Miss Peach'' was a syndicated comic strip created by American cartoonist Mell Lazarus. It ran for 45 years, from February 4, 1957, to September 8, 2002. Format and style The daily strips often contained only a single panel. The format was ...

'', '' The Perishers'', Hugh Morren's ''Tommy Wack'', and he comic strips of Don Martin; crime and adventure series published by the magazine included ''

Kerry Drake ''Kerry Drake'' is the title of a comic strip created for Publishers Syndicate by Alfred Andriola as artist and Allen Saunders as uncredited writer. It debuted on Monday, October 4, 1943, replacing Norman Marsh's '' Dan Dunn'', and was syndicat ...

'', ''

Joe Palooka ''Joe Palooka'' is an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher. The strip debuted on April 19, 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers. It was cancelled in 1984. The strip was adapt ...

'', ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

'', ''

Modesty Blaise ''Modesty Blaise'' is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author Peter O'Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talen ...

'', '' Spirit'', '' Red Barry'',

Burne Hogarth Burne Hogarth (born Spinoza Bernard Ginsburg, December 25, 1911 – January 28, 1996) was an American artist and educator, best known for his work on the ''Tarzan (comics), Tarzan'' newspaper comic strip and his series of anatomy books for artis ...

's ''Drago''. In the first years Italian production was only represented by '' Maxmagnus'' and by occasional short stories. There was also a significant room devoted to articles of comics criticism. Starting from the 1970s the Italian contents gradually grew, and included

Bonvi Bonvi, pen name of Franco Bonvicini (31 March 1941 – 10 December 1995) was an Italian comic book artist, creator of the comic strips ''Sturmtruppen'' and ''Nick Carter (comics), Nick Carter''. Biography Bonvicini was born either in Parma or in ...

's ''

Sturmtruppen ''Sturmtruppen'' is a successful Italian series of anti-war comic books written and drawn by Bonvi, the artistic pseudonym of Franco Bonvicini. It started as four-frame comic strips back in 1968 and evolved into fully sized collector books by th ...

'' and ''Cronache del Dopobomba'',

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. ...

's ''

Lupo Alberto Lupo Alberto ("Alberto the Wolf") is an Italian comic book series created by Guido Silvestri (Silver) in 1974. It details the adventures of Lupo Alberto, a blue wolf. Lupo Alberto takes the shape of the common man who has a goal in life and a ce ...

'', Pino Zac's ''Kirie e Leison'' and ''L'Orlando Furioso'', Secchi's and

Paolo Piffarerio Paolo Piffarerio (27 August 1924 – 30 June 2015) was an Italian comics artist and animator. Biography Born in Recanati, the son of a silversmith and a seamstress, Piffarerio studied at the Brera Academy, where he met Gino Gavioli. In 1953 Gav ...

's ''Fouche'', Sergio Barletta's ''Mr. Manager'', Luca Novelli's ''Historiettes''. Between 1977 and 1978, the brief direction of Maria Grazia Perini tried to expand the political and social commitments of the magazine, but the lack of response in terms of sales led to Secchi returning as a director and to the magazine returning to focus almost entirely on comics. In the 1980s sales started to decline, and in an attempt to appeal new readers the magazine introduced several

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series and the supplement ''Urka'', a separate magazine fully in color. In July 1983, direction passed to

Alfredo Castelli Alfredo Castelli (26 June 1947 – 7 February 2024) was an Italian comic book artist and writer. Biography Born in Milan, Castelli began his comic book career at an early age, creating the strip '' Scheletrino'', a humor series for Italian comic ...

and

, who tried to innovate the magazine introducing new columns and new series. The magazine eventually closed in August 1984. In October 1988, after over four years of hiatus, Secchi tried to relaunch the magazine. The magazine mainly republished old material and closed after only 8 issues. Between 1990 and 1992 four special volumes of the magazine, variously titled ''Eureka Sole'' and ''Eureka Avventura Classic'', were released. The ''Eureka'' brand was later used by Secchi for three "Eureka Graphic Novel" anthology volumes, destined for libraries and printed in limited edition, published between 1992 and 1994.

Notes

{{Reflist 1967 establishments in Italy 1989 disestablishments in Italy Defunct magazines published in Italy Comics magazines published in Italy Italian-language magazines Monthly magazines published in Italy Magazines established in 1967 Magazines disestablished in 1989

History and profile

See also

Notes