''Eureka'' was a monthly comic magazine published in Italy 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 brothe ...

, 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 (wi ...

'' (who also served as mascotte of the magazine), '' Bringing Up Father'', '' Alley Oop'', '' Tumbleweeds'', '' Miss Peach'', '' 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 syndica ...

'', ''

Joe Palooka ''Joe Palooka'' was 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'', '' Modesty Blaise'', '' Spirit'', ''

Red Barry Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'',

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'' newspaper comic strip and his series of anatomy books for artists. Early life ...

's ''Drago''. In the first years Italian production was only represented by ''

Maxmagnus ''Maxmagnus'' is an Italian comics series featuring an eponymous character, created in 1968 by Italian comic book creator Max Bunker and comics artist Magnus, for the magazine ''Eureka''. Publication history Maxmagnus was published in 1968–1970 ...

'' 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'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 t ...

'' and ''Cronache del Dopobomba'', Silver's '' Lupo Alberto'', Pino Zac's ''Kirie e Leison'' and ''L'Orlando Furioso'', Secchi's and

Paolo Piffarerio Paolo Piffarerio (August 27, 1924 – June 30, 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 Ga ...

's ''Fouche'',

Sergio Barletta Sergio Barletta (born 20 November 1934) is an Italian cartoonist and illustrator. Life and career Born in Bologna, Barletta made his debut at very young age for the Saturday insert of the newspaper ''Gazzetta del Popolo'' ''Fuorisacco'', Franco Fo ...

's ''Mr. Manager'',

Luca Novelli Luca Novelli (born 7 October 1947) is an Italian cartoonist and writer. Born in Milan, Novelli graduated in agronomy and started drawing his first strips in 1967 for some university publications. He made his professional debut in 1971 with the com ...

'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 Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) 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 prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

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