Lo Sconosciuto
Encyclopedia
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...
series created in 1975 by 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....
, better known his pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Magnus. It has been translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as The Specialist.
The series and its eponymous character was created by Magnus after a series of trips abroad and was defined together with his friend, the singer and writer 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...
. It was the first great creation by Magnus after he had left Editoriale Corno and his partnership with writer 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...
, with whom he had created famous series such as 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:...
and Alan Ford. Published in July 1975 by Edizioni Del Vascello (Renzo Barbieri
Renzo Barbieri
Renzo Barbieri was an author and editor of Italian comics and the founder of the publishing house Edifumetto. He was born in Milan, Italy. He wrote "Manual for Playboys" in 1967, a manual that describes where European playboys live, where they have vacancies, the car they use, and other such...
's publisher), it is considered his finest achievement. The last Sconosciuto story was released in 1984, though a short prologue for another, never published story appeared in 1996 as a dedication to his friend, the cartoonist Franco Bonvicini
Franco Bonvicini
Franco Bonvicini, also known as Bonvi, was an Italian comic book artist, creator of Sturmtruppen and Nick Carter strips.-Biography:...
, who had recently died.
Synopsis
Lo Sconosciuto owes this nickname to his second name, "Unknow" (without the final "n", misspelling intentional). He is a disillusioned, former mercenaryMercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
who tries to forget the wounds of his past, usually without success. This past is only partially shown: as a former member of the Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, he learnt combat techniques and the use of weapons. After a conscience crisis, he tries to escape the horrors he had experimented searching for jobs all around the world. However, the fate seems to compel him to take part to new kills and obscure international plots.
Psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
s, corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
, terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
(included the Italian one in the 1970s), hidden wars, espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
. Magnus' panels add deepness to the crude realism of the stories, through a perfectionist rendering of the landscapes and the events themselves. Violence apart, the uncensored representation of a sex scene gave Sconosciuto's stories the mark of pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
for several years in the 1970s. This, together with other problems and the slowness of the meticulous Magnus in finishing the panels, forced the monthly series to end with N°6. As an end, Magnus showed Unknow being shot twice in the belly while trying to prevent a slaughter in a hotel.
In 1981, Lo Sconosciuto was back in the comics pages of the newspapers La Nazione
La Nazione
La Nazione is one of the oldest regional newspapers in Italy. It merged with Cavour's famous political newspaper, Il Risorgimento, in 1849. Based in Florence, Italy, it is published in numerous local editions for the regions of Tuscany, Umbria and for the Province of La Spezia in Liguria.-...
and Il Resto del Carlino
Il Resto del Carlino
il Resto del Carlino is an Italian local newspaper based in Bologna, and is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy.Its rather evocative name means "the change you get from a Carlino," the smallest part of the Papal bajocco, which was legal tender at the time, when a sheet of local news was given out...
. He does not take part in the events related (about drug trade and the seizing of a plane), however, appearing only as a storyteller in some panels. One year later, Magnus finished a new full story for the magazine Orient Express. In a second story, he showed Unknow being operated in Jerusalem and his rehabilitation.
The masterpiece of the series is L'uomo che uccise "Che" Guevara (The Man Who Killed "Che" Guevara), an exceptionally dramatic story appeared in 1984-1985. As in all his last stories, Unknow plays only a marginal role. The true protagonist is Alejandro Mosquera, a former medical officer of the Bolivian Army
Bolivian Army
The Bolivian Army or Ejército Boliviano is the land forces component of the Military of Bolivia, the Bolivian Army has around 31,500 men.- Combat units directly under the Army general command :...
, now drug-addicted: he had taken part in the Guevara's execution and now is tormented by the ghosts coming from his past. His deeds intermingle with those of Unknow and the international secret organisation for which he works, and with excerpts from Guevara's Bolivian Diary about his last days as guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
leader.
Regular series
- Poche ore all'alba - July 1975
- Largo alle tre api - August 1975
- Morte a Roma - September 1975
- I cinque gioiellieri - October 1975
- Il sequestrato della Sierra - November 1975
- Vacanze a Zahlè - January 1976
Other stories
- Una partita impegnativa - July 1981, Il Resto del Carlino and La Nazione
- Il Volo del "Lac Leman" - December 1981, Il Resto del Carlino and La Nazione
- Full Moon in Dendera - June 1982, Orient Express N°1-4
- La fata dell'improvviso risveglio - May 1983, Orient Express N°10
- L'uomo che uccise Ernesto "Che" Guevara - July 1983, Orient Express N°12-18 and 20-21
- Nel frattempo - March 1996, Comix vol.5 N°3