Fumetti Neri is a subgenre of Italian 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...

, born in Italy with the creation of the 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...

character.

The heroes of fumetti neri are more anti-hero

Anti-hero

In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...

 or villain

Villain

A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...

 than traditional heroes. Diabolik itself was very loosely based on the French Fantômas

Fantômas

Fantômas is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre .One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11...

character. The subsequent heroes in these comics were all inspired on Diabolik and often have a K in their names.

A partial list include:

• Kriminal
  Kriminal
  Kriminal is an Italian comics series featuring an eponymous fictional character, created in 1964 by Magnus and Max Bunker, the authors of Alan Ford, Maxmagnus and Satanik.-Characters:...
  
  by Magnus
  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....
  
   and Max Bunker
  Max Bunker
  Max Bunker, pseudonym of Luciano Secchi is an Italian comic book author.Secchi was born in Milan. His career started with a western style comic book Maschera Nera , in 1962, and went on to enjoy success with Kriminal and Satanik in collaboration with Magnus...
  
  ; more violent version of Diabolik.
• Satanik by the same authors, a female version of Diabolik but with supernatural and horrorific elements.
• Génius

In France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, these comics were published in digest size

Digest size

Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...

 editions by the likes of Elvifrance

Elvifrance

Elvifrance was a French comic book publisher, specializing in digest-sized publications, often translations from Italian fumetti.Edited by Georges Bielec , it was founded in 1970 and owned by Giorgio Cavedon and Renzo Barbieri of Erregi. It ceased publication in 1992.-External links:*...

.