Tex Willer is a Italian comics series featuring the character of the same name, created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on September 30, 1948.

Fictional character background

The first Tex Willer's adventure appears on September 30 1948, as a "strip". The "first" Tex is an unwillingly outlaw man with a code of honour: to kill only for self-defence. Almost immediately, however, Tex becomes a ranger. Thanks to the marriage with the beautiful Indian Lilyth, he becomes head of the Navajos, known as "Eagle of the Night", and a defender of Indian laws. Tough, loyal, infallible with guns, enemy of prejudice and discrimination, Tex is very quick, and has a quite high disregard for rules.

Tex's closest friend in almost every adventure, since his enlistment as a ranger, is Kit Carson. A fundamental role has been held by Tex Willer's son, Kit Willer, and by the Navajo warrior Tiger Jack. Other recurring characters include El Morisco (a kind of warlock-scientist of Arabian origin), the Mexican Montales (originally an outlaw that fought against a corrupted government, after he became a politician), the Canadian trapper Gros-Jean, the Irish boxer Pat Mac Ryan, the red coat Jim Brandon, police officer Tom Devlin, the Apache chief Cochise, and the wizard Navajo Red Cloud.

Tex Willer's nemesis is Mefisto, a wizard who practices dark magic. Other enemies met along the way are Yama (Mefisto's son), The Black Tiger (a Malaysian prince who hates the white race and wants its annihilation in the USA), and Proteus (able to shapeshift his own face, and impersonate other people).

Characters

Main characters

• Tex Willer, the protagonist
• Kit Carson, Tex's best friend and pard ranger
• Kit Willer, Tex's son and pard ranger
• Tiger Jack, Navajo and pard ranger

Friends

• Montales, former mexican outlaw and current governor of the state of Chihuahua and vice-president of Mexico
• El Morisco, a warlock/scientist/medic from Memphis, Egypt who resides in Pilares, Mexico
• Gros-Jean, canadian metis, former outlaw and current trapper working in Canada
• Jim Brandon, Colonel of the Mounted Police in Canada
• Cochise, chief of the Apache Chiricahua tribe
• Tom Devlin, police officer in San Francisco, California
• Pat MacRyan, an irish boxer
• Lefty Potrero, owner of a gym in San Francisco

Enemies

• Mefisto (Steve Dickart), a powerful and evil warlock, Tex's arch nemesis
• Yama (Blacky Dickart), a powerful warlock, son of Mefisto
• 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 (Sumankan), a malay prince from Borneo
• The Maestro (Andrew Liddell), a mad scientist

Authors

• Gian Luigi Bonelli
• Sergio Bonelli
• Mauro Boselli
• Claudio Nizzi

Illustrators

• Jesús Blasco
• Fabio Civitelli
• Fernando Fusco
• Aurelio Galleppini
• Francesco Gamba
• Guglielmo Letteri
• Carlo Raffaele Marcello
• Vincenzo Monti
• Virgilio Muzzi
• Erio Nicolò
• José Ortiz
• Miguel Angel Repetto
• Giovanni Ticci
• Claudio Villa

Foreign versions

Tex Willer character started coming in South India through Lion comics in Tamil language and it is still a very popular character.

In Argentina, Tex was published in the 50s 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 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 Norway Tex Willer has also run continuously since 1971, with from 11 to 17 numbers (on average 120 pages) issued a year.

In the 70s a Tex series was published in Israel, reprinted several times since in limited editions, latest one in 2007.

In the late 60s, 70s, and 80s was published in former Yugoslavia, and was very popular among other Bonelli characters such as Zagor.

In 90s after the break-up of Yugoslavia Tex Willer starts publishing in Croatia with various publishers in different forms.

References

External links

• SERGIO BONELLI EDITORE official page
• Tex Willer FAQ's,
• site unofficial of Tex Willer