Tex Willer is the main fictional character of the Italian comics series ''Tex'', created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on 30 September 1948. It is among the most popular characters of Italian comics, with translations to numerous languages all around the world. The author took inspiration from Sardinia, where he grew up as a kid. The fan base in Brazil is especially large, but it is very popular also in Finland, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, France, India, Serbia, Bosnia, Israel and Spain. The ''Tex Willer'' series is an Italian-made interpretation of the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, inspired by the classical characters and stories of old American Western movies. Tex is depicted as a tough guy with a strong personal sense of justice, who becomes a ranger (even if living in Arizona) and defends Native Americans and any other honest character from exaction and greed of bandits, unscrupulous merchants and corrupt politicians and tycoons. Native Americans are portrayed in a complex way, emphasizing positive and negative aspects of their culture. The same can be said of the American authorities, like the U.S. Army, the politicians, the business-men, the

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

s or the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

. Tex had a son, named ''Kit'' (who became a ranger too), with a Native American woman, named ''Lilyth'', the daughter of a

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

(she later died of smallpox). Later, Tex himself went on to become the Chief of the Navajo tribe. Tex is not only featured in a monthly comic book series, but also in a special series called Tex Albo Speciale (sometimes called ''Texone'', meaning big Tex, because of their bigger size). The Texone have around 240 pages and some artists known outside the Tex universe have been involved, like Jordi Bernet, Joe Kubert and

Ivo Milazzo Ivo Milazzo (born 20 June 1947) is an Italian comic book artist. Born in Tortona, Milazzo worked mainly for Sergio Bonelli Editore. He debuted in 1971, drawing some ''Tarzan'' stories for the French market. Together with his friend, writer Gianc ...

Fictional character background

Tex Willer's first adventure appeared on 30 September 1948, as a comic strip. The "first" Tex is an unwillingly outlawed man with a strong code of honour: to kill only for self-defence. Almost immediately, however, Tex becomes a ranger. Thanks to the marriage with the beautiful Navajo girl Lilyth, he becomes Chief of the Navajos, known as ''Eagle of the Night'', and a defender of Native American rights. Tough, loyal, infallible with guns, enemy of prejudice and discrimination, Tex is very quick and smart, and has a marked disregard for strict rules; on the other side, he has no pity for criminals, of every race and census, nor regard for their rights, if they do not immediately cooperate with the law. Tex's closest friend in almost every adventure, since he became a ranger, is Kit Carson, loosely inspired by the historic figure of the same name. A main role has been held by Tex Willer's son, Kit Willer, and by the Navajo warrior Tiger Jack; though importance of last two has been diminishing in recent stories. Other recurring characters include El Morisco (a kind of warlock-scientist of Egyptian origin, living in the north-east of Mexico), the Mexican Montales (originally a bandido that fought against a corrupted government, and after a successful politician), the Canadian trapper Gros-Jean, the Irish boxer Pat Mac Ryan, the

Mounties The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...

Colonel Jim Brandon, San Francisco Police Department Captain Tom Devlin, the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

chief Cochise, and the Navajo wizard Red Cloud. Tex Willer's nemesis is Mefisto, an evil magician and illusionist. Other enemies include Yama (Mefisto's son), The Black Tiger (a Malay prince who hates the white race and wants its annihilation in the United States), and Proteus (able to shapeshift his own face, and impersonate other people). During the American Civil War Tex fought for the Union, although his home state, Texas, sided with the

Confederacy Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

. He participated in the battle of Glorieta Pass and briefly served in the 7th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry.

Characters

Main characters

*Tex Willer, the protagonist, Texas ranger, chief of the

tribe and also the Bureau of Indian Affairs agent of the Navajo Reservation (Tex Willer is modeled after actor Gary Cooper) *Kit Carson, Tex's best friend and pard ranger (he is not the same historical Kit Carson) *Kit Willer, Tex's son *Tiger Jack, Navajo warrior

Recurring friends and allies

*Montales, former Mexican bandido and current governor of the state of

Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places *Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mun ...

and vice-president of Mexico *El Morisco (Ahmed Jamal), a warlock, scientist, naturalist and doctor from Memphis, Egypt, who lives in Pilares, Mexico *Gros-Jean, Canadian metis, former outlaw and current trapper working in Canada *Jim Brandon, Colonel of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada * Cochise, chief of the

Chiricahua Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans. Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende ) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehende ...

tribe *Tom Devlin, Police captain in San Francisco, California *Pat MacRyan, an Irish boxer *Lefty Potrero, owner of a gym and health club in San Francisco *Nat MacKennet,

in New Orleans * Ely Parker, head of the Federal Commission on Indian Affairs from 1869 to 1871 * Ulysses S. Grant, General of the US Army and President of the United States from 1869 to 1877 *Red Cloud, Navajo shaman

Recurring enemies

*Mefisto (Steve Dickart), a powerful and evil warlock and illusionist, Tex's nemesis *Yama (Blacky Dickart), a powerful warlock, son of Mefisto. Seen four times so far *Proteus (Perry Drayton), a man who can camouflage himself and change appearance with ease *El Muerto (Paco Ordoñez), a Mexican pistolero, one of three brothers, who were killed by Tex *The Black Tiger (Prince Sumankan), a Malay prince from Borneo. Killed by Tom Devlin *The Master (Andrew Liddell), a mad scientist

Authors

* Giancarlo Berardi * Gian Luigi Bonelli * Sergio Bonelli *Mauro Boselli *Decio Canzio *Tito Faraci *Gianfranco Manfredi *

Michele Medda Michele Medda (born 7 December 1962) is an Italian comics writer. Medda was born in Cagliari, Sardinia. In 1991, together with Antonio Serra (comics), Antonio Serra and Bepi Vigna, he created the science fiction series ''Nathan Never'' for Sergio ...

* Claudio Nizzi *Pasquale Ruju * Antonio Segura

Illustrators

* Jordi Bernet * Jesús Blasco *

Guido Buzzelli Guido Buzzelli (27 July 1927 – 25 January 1992) was an Italian comic book artist, writer, illustrator and painter. Biography Buzzelli was born in Rome into a family in which his grandfather had been a decorator, his father a painter, and his ...

Renzo Calegari Renzo Calegari (5 September 1933 – 5 November 2017) was an Italian comics artist. Life and career Born in Genoa, Calegari left his studies in accountancy to enter the art studios of Roy d'Ami. He made his professional debut one year later, co ...

* Aldo Capitanio *Raul and Gianluca Cestaro *

Fabio Civitelli Fabio Civitelli (born 9 April 1955, Lucignano) is an Italian comic artist best known for illustrating stories for Tex Willer, a popular comic in Italy. Civitelli is often remarked as being highly skilled with ink drawings, which allows him to dra ...

*Franco Crivelli *

Víctor de la Fuente Víctor is a Spanish masculine given name, equivalent to Victor in English and Vítor in Portuguese. Notable people with the given name include: *Víctor Cabrera (Argentine footballer) *Víctor Cabrera (Chilean footballer) * Víctor Hugo Cabrera, ...

*Pasquale Del Vecchio *Raffaele Della Monica *Roberto Diso *Lucio Filuppucci * Alfonso Font *Fernando Fusco * Aurelio Galleppini *Francesco Gamba * Ernesto García Seijas *

Alarico Gattia Alarico Gattia (9 December 1927 – 3 September 2022) was an Italian comic artist and illustrator. Life and career Born in Genoa, Gattia started his career in Milan as an illustrator for advertising and for several Mondadori publications, not ...

* Alberto Giolitti * Joe Kubert *

Guglielmo Letteri Guglielmo Letteri (11 January 1926 in Rome – 2 February 2006 in Rome) was an Italian comic book artist, best known for his work on the ''Tex Willer Tex Willer is the main fictional character of the Italian comics series ''Tex'', created by ...

*Carlo Raffaele Marcello *

* Vincenzo Monti *Virgilio Muzzi *Erio Nicolò * José Ortiz *

Goran Parlov Goran Parlov (born March 14, 1967) is a Croatian comic book artist. Early life Goran Parlov graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1991 and soon moved to Italy. Career Parlov began drawing comics professionally in the early 90s, ...

* Roberto Raviola *Miguel Angel Repetto *Rossano Rossi * Massimo Rotundo * Manfred Sommer *Erasmo Dante Spada *Giovanni Ticci * Mario Uggeri *

Claudio Villa Claudio Villa (born Claudio Pica; 1 January 1926 – 7 February 1987) was an Italian singer and actor. Biography Tenor Claudio Villa was born Claudio Pica in the Trastevere quarter of Rome in 1926. He recorded over 3000 songs, sold 45 millio ...

* Colin Wilson * Sergio Zaniboni

Foreign versions

In Argentina, Tex was published in the 1950s by ''Editorial Abril'' in his weekly magazine ''Rayo Rojo'', with the name of ''Colt Miller''. In Brazil, Tex has been published uninterruptedly since 1971. Currently, it is being published by Mythos Editora. In Finland, Tex Willer was published in 1953–1965. After a break of five years, Tex Willer has been published continuously since 1971. The series is still popular and 16 numbers are published a year. In Greece, Tex was published in the 1970s, 1980s and 2010s under three different titles. In India, Tex was published in the 1980s by the South Indian Tamil Comics publisher, Lion comics. The series is regularly being published in Lion Comics, due to its wide popularity among the generations. In Israel, Tex was published in the 1970s, reprinted several times since in limited editions, the latest one in 2007. In Norway, Tex Willer has also run continuously since 1971, with from 11 to 17 numbers (each on 114 pages) issued a year. In former Yugoslavia, Tex was published in the late 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, and was very popular among other Bonelli characters such as Zagor. In the 1990s after the break-up of Yugoslavia Tex Willer starts publishing in Croatia Serbia and Slovenia. In Turkey, Tex was published by a large number of publishers and it is still being published in irregular hardcover book formats. Ceylan Yayınları (1961 - 1969) (1978 - 1986), Zuhal Yayınları (1970 - 1978), Inter, Alfa Yayıncılık (1991), Galaksi Yayıncılık, Doğan/Egmont (AD, DE - 1996), Aksoy Yayınları (2000), Maceraperest (200? - ), Oğlak Yayınları are the numerous publishers who made Tex hundreds of thousands of fans in Turkish languag

In the United Kingdom, fourteen Tex Willer albums were published since 1971.[] In the United States, Tex Willer appeared in two original books called ''The Four Killers'' and ''Tex: The Lonesome Rider'', written by Claudio Nizzi and illustrated by American comic artist Joe Kubert; they were published by Dark Horse Comics. In 2017, Epicenter Comics also released in the USA the story ''Tex: Patagonia''.

Other media

Attempts had been made to adapt ''Tex'' into a film in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Italy. The film was eventually made in 1985 by director Duccio Tessari as '' Tex and the Lord of the Deep''. The film was adapted from three ''Tex'' comics: ''El Morisco'', ''Sierra Encantada'' and ''Il signore dell'abisso''. The film was intended as a pilot for a television series, but poor critical and box office reception of the film led to no television series being produced. In 1993 several Tex computer games (thirteen known ones) were released for the Commodore Amiga and PC by Italian published Simulmondo. These games were only officially released in Italy and only had Italian text, which has made them quite rare and collectable by today.

References

Sources

External links

SERGIO BONELLI EDITORE official pageUnofficial info site on Tex Willer comics

Unofficial site for Tex Willer videos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willer, Tex 1948 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1948 Fictional American Civil War veterans Fictional United States Army personnel Fictional characters from Texas Fictional gunfighters Italian comics adapted into films Italian comics characters

Tex Willer Tex Willer is the main fictional character of the Italian comics series ''Tex'', created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on 30 September 1948. It is among the most popular character ...

Western (genre) comics Western (genre) comics characters