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. The series is among the most popular Italian comics, with translations into numerous languages around the world. The fan base in Brazil is especially large, but it is also very popular in Finland, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, France, India, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Israel and Spain. Issues have also been published in the United Kingdom and the United States.
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. The series is among the most popular Italian comics, with translations into numerous languages around the world. The fan base in Brazil is especially large, but it is also very popular in Finland, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, France, India, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Israel and Spain. Issues have also been published in the United Kingdom and the United States.
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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. The series is among the most popular Italian comics, with translations into numerous languages around the world. The fan base in Brazil is especially large, but it is also very popular in Finland, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, France, India, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Israel and Spain. Issues have also been published in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Tex series is an Italian-made interpretation of the American Old West, inspired by the classical characters and stories of old American Western movies, and occasionally by American history. Galleppini also took inspiration from Sardinia, where he grew up.
Tex is depicted as a tough man with a strong personal sense of justice, who becomes a Texas ranger (even if living in Arizona) and defends Native Americans and any other honest character from the 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, such as the U.S. Army, politicians, businessmen, sheriffs or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Tex had a son, Kit (who also became a ranger), with a Native American woman, Lilyth, the daughter of a Navajo chief; Lilyth died of smallpox early in the series, but remains a recurring character in flashbacks. 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 comic books have around 240 pages and some artists known outside the Tex universe have been involved, like Jordi Bernet, Joe Kubert and Ivo Milazzo.
Fictional character background
Tex Willer's first adventure appeared on 30 September 1948, as a comic strip. The "first" Tex is an unwilling outlaw with a strong code of honour: he kills only for self-defence. Almost immediately, however, Tex becomes a ranger. Because of his marriage with the beautiful Navajo woman Lilyth, he becomes Chief of the Navajos, known as Aquila della Notte (Eagle of the Night), and a defender of Native American rights. He also becomes the respected Indian agent of the Navajo tribe. Tough, loyal, a skilled shot, and an enemy of prejudice and discrimination, Tex is very quick and smart and has a marked disregard for strict rules; however, he has no pity for criminals of any stripe, nor regard for their rights if they do not immediately cooperate with the law.
Characters
The following are the characters of the series:
Main characters
Tex Willer, the protagonist, a Texas ranger, chief of the Navajo tribe and also the Bureau of Indian Affairs agent of the Navajo Reservation. Born in the Nueces Valley in Texas, Tex grew up in a ranching family with his father Ken and younger brother Sam. His mother Mae died when Tex and Sam were children. Tex lost his father Ken to a gang of cattle thieves, and becomes an outlaw when he follows the thieves to Mexico and kills them. He later sells his part of the ranch to his brother and leaves. Sam later sells the ranch and moves to Culver City, planning to buy a bigger ranch; he is then killed by the town's lordling, Tom Rebo. Before becoming a Texas ranger, Tex officially lives as an outlaw but avoids committing any crime if not for self-defense, trying to clean up his name. Tex Willer is physically modeled after actor Gary Cooper.
Tex's closest friend in almost every adventure since becoming 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 the importance of the last two has diminished. Other recurring characters include El Morisco (a kind of warlock-scientist of Egyptian origin, living in north-eastern Mexico), the Mexican Montales (originally a bandido who fought against a corrupt government, and afterwards a successful politician), the Canadian trapper Gros-Jean, the Irish boxer Pat Mac Ryan, the Mountie Colonel Jim Brandon, San Francisco Police Department Captain Tom Devlin, the Apache chief Cochise, and the Navajo wizard Nuvola Rossa (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. He participated in the Battle of Glorieta Pass and briefly served in the 7th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry.
Kit Carson, Tex's best friend and mentor as a ranger, loosely based on the historical Kit Carson. He is older than Tex (his real age is never revealed, but he is described and depicted as being around 55 years old) and a famous frontiersman, respected both by Americans and Native Americans – the latter know him by the name Capelli d'Argento (Silver Hair) because of his grey hair. He has lifelong experience as an explorer and pioneer of the Western frontier, but he has travelled nearly the entire U.S. territory and has a deep knowledge of its Native people and geography, which makes him a sort of living legend. As a former military man, he is also the tactically most skilled among the main characters.
Kit Willer, Tex's son, named after his godfather Kit Carson. He is around 25 years old. He was born in the Navajo village where Tex resides and his father sent him to a Christian mission near the Navajo reserve. Initially, Tex wants him to attend a military academy, but as Kit wants to live freely among the Natives, Tex and Tiger Jack teach him frontier life a
