Franco Bonvicini
Encyclopedia
Franco Bonvicini, also known as Bonvi, (March 31, 1941 - December 10, 1995) was an Italian
comic book artist, creator of Sturmtruppen
and Nick Carter strips.
or Modena
, in the Emilia Romagna region of Northern Italy. The correct site is unknown, as his mother registered him in both places to obtain twice the amount of war-rationing food stamps. The author hinted at this fact in one of his Sturmtruppen comic books, where he usually hid autobiographical notes inside the dark humour of the books.
After a brief experience in advertising work, he made his debut in the comics
world in 1968 for the newspaper Paese Sera with his most famous strip Sturmtruppen
. Sturmtruppen was later translated in numerous countries outside Italy. While politically left-aligned
and a pacifist, Bonvi was fascinated by war, and had served in the tank corps in postwar Italy. He also had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Wehrmacht
's uniforms, weapons and equipment, which he faithfully recreated in his cartoonish universe. Each weapon and vehicle appearing in the strip is real; uniforms are also faithfully depicted apart from some simplifications. Sturtruppen, however, was not only a satire of military life and Nazism
, but also a true, endless wellspring of comical and surreal situations.
Bonvicini was one of the first Italian cartoonists to use the horizontal format typical of United States' strips.
Sturmtruppen strips were published periodically until Bonvi's death, with the exception of a pause in the 1970s, in which he left Italy for a long trip to Africa
.
Bonvicini was a friend of another famous Bolognese
citizen, the writer and singer Francesco Guccini
. As a duo, they produced a science fiction
series called Storie dello spazio profondo (Stories from Deep Space) (1972), whose main protagonist has Bonvi's features.
In 1969 he also created Cattivik
, another surreal strip parodying the anti-hero Diabolik
. The series was to be continued with success by his pupil Guido Silvestri, better known as Silver. Bonvi's second-best known character was created in 1971, in collaboration with writer Guido De Maria: Nick Carter, a refreshing humour series featuring a trio of detectives (series' namesake Nick Carter aided by massive and naive Patsy and proverb-quoting chinaman Ten) working in the New York of 1910s. Nick Carter appeared also in TV in the 1970s.
In this decade Bonvi created an adult science fiction series, Cronache del dopobomba ("After the Bomb Chronicles"), featuring a grotesque post-apocalyptic world, as well as the fictional detective Milo Marat (for the French market, with Mario Gomboli), and his most serious comic book, L'uomo di Tsushima ("The Man of Tsushima
"). For the latter's protagonist Bonvi used again his face as that of the US author Jack London
, one of his favourite writers. In 1973 Bonvicini was named Best European Cartoonist.
Another famous work were the adventures of Marzolino Tarantola, an eccentric millionaire engaged along with his butler and the hulking speech-impaired strongman "Henry the crew" in a car race across the world, from San Francisco to Paris; the threesome must constantly fend off the dastarldy tricks of their nemesis, "Professor Moriarty" and his diminutive lackey, Perfidio. The story is loosely based on the Wacky Races cartoon and the movie The Great Race
with Tony Curtis
and Jack Lemmon
but both inspirations merely served Bonvi as a pretext to let him draw wild capers across the globe in the early-1900s which were his preferred time period.
In the 1980s Bonvi became a member of Bologna
town hall council and founded a publishing
house with the famous Italian deejay and music 'guru' Red Ronnie. They published a monthly magazine featuring new Sturmtruppen strips and reprints of old Bonvi stories, as well as articles about music, teen culture and comics in general.
Bonvi's last work was Zona X, in collaboration with Giorgio Cavazzano
. It was published posthumously as he died in December 1995, in Bologna, hit by a car while he was going to Red Ronnie's TV show, intending to request financial assistance for the famous cartoonist Magnus, Roberto Raviola
who was ill and in dire straits.
Sturmtruppen movie adaptation of Sturmtruppen, directed by Salvatore Samperi
. He also appeared briefly in the second film of the series, Sturmtruppen II (1983
), playing a German officer. He also starred in the 1967
Come rubammo la bomba atomica, directed by Lucio Fulci
, and in the movie Cavalli si nasce (1988
), directed by the comic strip author Sergio Staino.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
comic book artist, creator of Sturmtruppen
Sturmtruppen
Sturmtruppen was a successful Italian series of anti-war comic books, written and drawn by Bonvi, the artistic pseudonym of Franco Bonvicini starting as four-frame comic strips back in 1968 and evolving into fully sized collector books up to the 1990s and first decade of the third millennium.The...
and Nick Carter strips.
Biography
Bonvicini was born either in ParmaParma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
or Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
, in the Emilia Romagna region of Northern Italy. The correct site is unknown, as his mother registered him in both places to obtain twice the amount of war-rationing food stamps. The author hinted at this fact in one of his Sturmtruppen comic books, where he usually hid autobiographical notes inside the dark humour of the books.
After a brief experience in advertising work, he made his debut in the comics
Italian comics
Italian comics are comics made in Italy. They are locally known as fumetto – plural form fumetti – although this latter term is often used in English to describe a specific comic genre . The most popular Italian comics have been translated into many languages...
world in 1968 for the newspaper Paese Sera with his most famous strip Sturmtruppen
Sturmtruppen
Sturmtruppen was a successful Italian series of anti-war comic books, written and drawn by Bonvi, the artistic pseudonym of Franco Bonvicini starting as four-frame comic strips back in 1968 and evolving into fully sized collector books up to the 1990s and first decade of the third millennium.The...
. Sturmtruppen was later translated in numerous countries outside Italy. While politically left-aligned
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
and a pacifist, Bonvi was fascinated by war, and had served in the tank corps in postwar Italy. He also had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
's uniforms, weapons and equipment, which he faithfully recreated in his cartoonish universe. Each weapon and vehicle appearing in the strip is real; uniforms are also faithfully depicted apart from some simplifications. Sturtruppen, however, was not only a satire of military life and Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, but also a true, endless wellspring of comical and surreal situations.
Bonvicini was one of the first Italian cartoonists to use the horizontal format typical of United States' strips.
Sturmtruppen strips were published periodically until Bonvi's death, with the exception of a pause in the 1970s, in which he left Italy for a long trip to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Bonvicini was a friend of another famous Bolognese
Bolognese
Bolognese is someone or something from the city of Bologna. It can refer to:*Bolognese sauce*Bolognese *Bolognese dialect, a language that is often considered a dialect of Italian for political reasons but is historically quite different from standard Italian.*Bolognese School *Bolognese...
citizen, the writer and singer Francesco Guccini
Francesco Guccini
Francesco Guccini is an Italian singer-songwriter, considered one of the most important Cantautori. During the five decades of his music career he has recorded 16 studio albums and collections, and 6 live albums. He is also a writer, having published autobiographic and noir novels, and a comics...
. As a duo, they produced a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series called Storie dello spazio profondo (Stories from Deep Space) (1972), whose main protagonist has Bonvi's features.
In 1969 he also created Cattivik
Cattivik
Cattivik was an Italian humoristic comic book character created by Bonvi .The character first appeared in the magazine Tiramolla on 19 July 1970...
, another surreal strip parodying the anti-hero Diabolik
Diabolik
Diabolik is a fictional character, an anti-hero featured in Italian comics. He was created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani in 1962. His stories appear in monthly black and white digest-sized booklets. The character was inspired by several previous characters from Italian and French pulp...
. The series was to be continued with success by his pupil Guido Silvestri, better known as Silver. Bonvi's second-best known character was created in 1971, in collaboration with writer Guido De Maria: Nick Carter, a refreshing humour series featuring a trio of detectives (series' namesake Nick Carter aided by massive and naive Patsy and proverb-quoting chinaman Ten) working in the New York of 1910s. Nick Carter appeared also in TV in the 1970s.
In this decade Bonvi created an adult science fiction series, Cronache del dopobomba ("After the Bomb Chronicles"), featuring a grotesque post-apocalyptic world, as well as the fictional detective Milo Marat (for the French market, with Mario Gomboli), and his most serious comic book, L'uomo di Tsushima ("The Man of Tsushima
Battle of Tsushima
The Battle of Tsushima , commonly known as the “Sea of Japan Naval Battle” in Japan and the “Battle of Tsushima Strait”, was the major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War...
"). For the latter's protagonist Bonvi used again his face as that of the US author Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
, one of his favourite writers. In 1973 Bonvicini was named Best European Cartoonist.
Another famous work were the adventures of Marzolino Tarantola, an eccentric millionaire engaged along with his butler and the hulking speech-impaired strongman "Henry the crew" in a car race across the world, from San Francisco to Paris; the threesome must constantly fend off the dastarldy tricks of their nemesis, "Professor Moriarty" and his diminutive lackey, Perfidio. The story is loosely based on the Wacky Races cartoon and the movie The Great Race
The Great Race
The Great Race is a 1965 slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, and with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. The supporting cast includes Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn,...
with Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
and Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
but both inspirations merely served Bonvi as a pretext to let him draw wild capers across the globe in the early-1900s which were his preferred time period.
In the 1980s Bonvi became a member of Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
town hall council and founded a publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
house with the famous Italian deejay and music 'guru' Red Ronnie. They published a monthly magazine featuring new Sturmtruppen strips and reprints of old Bonvi stories, as well as articles about music, teen culture and comics in general.
Bonvi's last work was Zona X, in collaboration with Giorgio Cavazzano
Giorgio Cavazzano
Giorgio Cavazzano is an Italian comic strip artist. He started his career at age 14, as an inker for Romano Scarpa...
. It was published posthumously as he died in December 1995, in Bologna, hit by a car while he was going to Red Ronnie's TV show, intending to request financial assistance for the famous cartoonist Magnus, Roberto Raviola
Roberto Raviola
Magnus, pseudonym of Roberto Raviola, was an Italian comic book artist, regarded as one of the foremost cartoonists of all time in his country.-Biography:Born in Bologna in 1939, Raviola lived there for his whole life....
who was ill and in dire straits.
Works
- Sturmtruppen (1968)
- Cattivik (1968)
- Capitan Posapiano (1969)
- Nick Carter (1970), with Guido De Maria, Silver and Claudio Onesti
- Storie dello spazio profondo (1972), with Francesco Guccini
- Cronache del dopobomba (1974)
- L'Uomo di Tsushima (1978)
- Marzolino Tarantola (1979)
- Truppen Italien (1995), a Sturmtruppen version in collaboration with the Italian Army
- Blob (1995, unpublished)
Cinema
Bonvi co-wrote the screenplay for the 19771977 in film
The year 1977 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network....
Sturmtruppen movie adaptation of Sturmtruppen, directed by Salvatore Samperi
Salvatore Samperi
Salvatore Samperi was an Italian film director. His 1973 film Malicious was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival and his 1979 film Ernesto was entered into the 29th Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:* Come Play with Me * Malicious * Ernesto...
. He also appeared briefly in the second film of the series, Sturmtruppen II (1983
1983 in film
-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
), playing a German officer. He also starred in the 1967
1967 in film
The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....
Come rubammo la bomba atomica, directed by Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci
Lucio Fulci was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his directorial work on gore films, including Zombie and The Beyond , although he made films in genres as diverse as giallo, western, and comedy...
, and in the movie Cavalli si nasce (1988
1988 in film
-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...
), directed by the comic strip author Sergio Staino.