Martin Mystère
Encyclopedia
Martin Mystère is an Italian comic book
. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli
and drawn by Giancarlo Alessandrini
, it was first published in Italy
by Sergio Bonelli Editore
in 1982.
It is still published in Italy and has been translated in many other languages, sometimes with the name changed (e.g., in Germany
, the series is named Alan Dark; in the United States
, Martin Mystery; and in Turkey
, Atlantis).
historian
, archaeologist, anthropologist, adventurer, writer, television producer, and collector
of unusual objects. Based in New York
, where he was born "Martin Jacques Mystère", he spent much of his early life studying in Italy
, where many of his adventures take place. After the unexplained deaths of his parents in a plane crash (1965), he started to devote his studies to the most enigmatic events and places of human history. He also helps the New York police
and a US secret government agency
in their investigations, as well as anyone who comes to him for help and gets him curious. He is assisted in his adventures all around the world by Java
, a mute and very strong Neanderthal
man he discovered in the hidden City of Lucid Shadows in Mongolia
.
man found in a lost city of Neanderthals. He adapted to modern life. In the early series, he mostly followed or found people or things with his instinct or animallike sense of smell; later, he became more normal but lost effect on the stories. Now he mostly follows Martin everywhere, protects and helps him.
Martin Mystère's main opponents include the Men in Black
, the controversial art patron Sergej Orloff, and the devilish Mr. Jinx.
His companion is the beautiful Diana Lombard, who is also his long-time fiancée, later his wife. Mystère is not a womanizer, but he has not always been faithful to Diana either. Diana is a social worker, angry with Martin because he often travels, without noticing earlier and surrounded by beautiful women.
Together with Sergej Orloff, he was educated by the guru
Kut-Humi. Sergej and Martin were friends and after their education they received the weapons called Murchadna (ancient ray-guns from the lost Mu
). However, their friendship ended after Sergej chose the evil path; his weapon can kill whereas Martin's Murchadna can only make the target faint when blasted. Murchadna lost its power later, but showed up a few times more.
The Men in Black are a secret group spreading over the whole world and their aim is to prevent people from learning the true history of the world. The group was founded by Adam, after the great war between Atlantis and Mu. The main aim of the group was to protect mankind from such disasters. After centuries, the organization was corrupted and that aim evolved into keeping history as known. The group destroyed all traces of Atlantis and Mu to keep "world order" in line.
Kut-Humi is a wise man who has a relationship to Agarthi, which is "a city both in this world and not" (this can be explained as being a utopic city). He has taught Martin and Sergej on spiritual issues. He shows up when needed and guides Martin.
(a pseudo-Asiatic realm ruled by an authoritarian, collectivistic philosophy) and Atlantis
(a proto-Aryan regime devoted to individualism and capitalism); despite their ideological differences, both had developed advanced civilizations, comparable to the ’Eighties’ ideas of an early 21st century. As a result of their rivalry, a great war flared up after several proxy
conflicts fought over Gondwana
, which ultimately saw the employment of nuclear warheads and other final weapons; in the end the losing side, triggered a doomsday machine
, which plunged the world in a veritable cataclysm, destroying nearly every sign of the antedeluvian civilization.
The Atlantis-Mu overarching storyline was very poignant in the early 1980s, when the comic was born, as the antedeluvian holocaust represented a warning to mankind (then enveloped in the last throes of the USA-USSR arms race); it gradually lost importance during the ’Nineties.
Martin Mystère exists in the same fictional universe with other Sergio Bonelli comics characters, including Zagor
, Mister No
, and Dylan Dog
, a universe which would eventually evolve into the science-fiction milieu of Nathan Never
.
The animated television series Martin Mystery
(2003) is very loosely based on Martin Mystère.
A video game, also, was patterned on the comic series, Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray
, and a role-playing game was published (an offshoot of Dylan Dog as an RPG).
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...
. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli
Alfredo Castelli
Alfredo Castelli is an Italian comic book author and writer.-Biography:Born in Milan, Castelli began his comic book career at an early age, creating the strip Scheletrino, a humor series for Italian comic book Diabolik, when he was only 16 years old.In 1966, with Paolo Sala, he created Comics Club...
and drawn by Giancarlo Alessandrini
Giancarlo Alessandrini
-Biography:Born in Iesi, Alessandrini graduated from Ancona's Art Institute and begins drawing comics professionally in 1972 for Il Corriere dei Ragazzi with the story Il Cifrario del Maggiore Martin written by Mino Milani...
, it was first published in Italy
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...
by Sergio Bonelli Editore
Sergio Bonelli Editore
Sergio Bonelli Editore is a publishing house of Italian comics. It takes its name from its president and comic book author, Sergio Bonelli....
in 1982.
It is still published in Italy and has been translated in many other languages, sometimes with the name changed (e.g., in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the series is named Alan Dark; in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Martin Mystery; and in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Atlantis).
Overview
Martin Mystère is an artArt
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, archaeologist, anthropologist, adventurer, writer, television producer, and collector
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
of unusual objects. Based in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where he was born "Martin Jacques Mystère", he spent much of his early life studying in Italy
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...
, where many of his adventures take place. After the unexplained deaths of his parents in a plane crash (1965), he started to devote his studies to the most enigmatic events and places of human history. He also helps the New York police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and a US secret government agency
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
in their investigations, as well as anyone who comes to him for help and gets him curious. He is assisted in his adventures all around the world by Java
Java (Martin Mystère)
Java is a fictional character featured in the Martin Mystère comics.-Fictional character biography:Java is a Neanderthal Man discovered by Martin Mystère in the hidden "City of Lucid Shadows" while on an expedition to Mongolia....
, a mute and very strong Neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
man he discovered in the hidden City of Lucid Shadows in Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
.
Characters
Java is Martin's closest friend and helper. He is a NeanderthalNeanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
man found in a lost city of Neanderthals. He adapted to modern life. In the early series, he mostly followed or found people or things with his instinct or animallike sense of smell; later, he became more normal but lost effect on the stories. Now he mostly follows Martin everywhere, protects and helps him.
Martin Mystère's main opponents include the Men in Black
Men in Black
Men in Black , in American popular culture and in UFO conspiracy theories, are men dressed in black suits who claim to be government agents who harass or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have seen. It is sometimes implied that they may be aliens themselves...
, the controversial art patron Sergej Orloff, and the devilish Mr. Jinx.
His companion is the beautiful Diana Lombard, who is also his long-time fiancée, later his wife. Mystère is not a womanizer, but he has not always been faithful to Diana either. Diana is a social worker, angry with Martin because he often travels, without noticing earlier and surrounded by beautiful women.
Together with Sergej Orloff, he was educated by the guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
Kut-Humi. Sergej and Martin were friends and after their education they received the weapons called Murchadna (ancient ray-guns from the lost Mu
Mu (lost continent)
Mu is the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history.The concept and the name were proposed by 19th century traveler and writer Augustus Le Plongeon, who claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those of...
). However, their friendship ended after Sergej chose the evil path; his weapon can kill whereas Martin's Murchadna can only make the target faint when blasted. Murchadna lost its power later, but showed up a few times more.
The Men in Black are a secret group spreading over the whole world and their aim is to prevent people from learning the true history of the world. The group was founded by Adam, after the great war between Atlantis and Mu. The main aim of the group was to protect mankind from such disasters. After centuries, the organization was corrupted and that aim evolved into keeping history as known. The group destroyed all traces of Atlantis and Mu to keep "world order" in line.
Kut-Humi is a wise man who has a relationship to Agarthi, which is "a city both in this world and not" (this can be explained as being a utopic city). He has taught Martin and Sergej on spiritual issues. He shows up when needed and guides Martin.
Universe
In the true history of the world (according to the comic Before The Great Flood), two major civilizations emerged on two different continents, named MuMu (lost continent)
Mu is the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history.The concept and the name were proposed by 19th century traveler and writer Augustus Le Plongeon, who claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those of...
(a pseudo-Asiatic realm ruled by an authoritarian, collectivistic philosophy) and Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
(a proto-Aryan regime devoted to individualism and capitalism); despite their ideological differences, both had developed advanced civilizations, comparable to the ’Eighties’ ideas of an early 21st century. As a result of their rivalry, a great war flared up after several proxy
Proxy
Proxy may refer to:* Proxy abuse , abuse committed on behalf of somebody else* Proxy bullying , bullying committed on behalf of somebody else...
conflicts fought over Gondwana
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
, which ultimately saw the employment of nuclear warheads and other final weapons; in the end the losing side, triggered a doomsday machine
Doomsday Machine
Doomsday Machine may refer to:* Doomsday device, a hypothetical weapon which could destroy all life on the Earth* The Doomsday Machine, a 1972 science-fiction film* "The Doomsday Machine" , an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series...
, which plunged the world in a veritable cataclysm, destroying nearly every sign of the antedeluvian civilization.
The Atlantis-Mu overarching storyline was very poignant in the early 1980s, when the comic was born, as the antedeluvian holocaust represented a warning to mankind (then enveloped in the last throes of the USA-USSR arms race); it gradually lost importance during the ’Nineties.
Martin Mystère exists in the same fictional universe with other Sergio Bonelli comics characters, including Zagor
Zagor
Zagor is an Italian comic book created by editor and writer Sergio Bonelli and artist Gallieno Ferri. Zagor was first published In Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1961.-Character:...
, Mister No
Mister No
Mister No is an Italian comic book, first published in Italy in 1975 by Sergio Bonelli Editore.Mister No was created by writer Sergio Bonelli under the pseudonym Guido Nolitta, and by artist Gallieno Ferri, in Spring 1975. The regular monthly series endured for 379 publications, and the last issue...
, and Dylan Dog
Dylan Dog
Dylan Dog is an Italian horror comics series featuring an eponymous character created by Tiziano Sclavi for the publishing house Sergio Bonelli Editore...
, a universe which would eventually evolve into the science-fiction milieu of Nathan Never
Nathan Never
thumb|200px|right|Cover for Nathan Never #1.Nathan Never is a black-and-white, science fiction Italian comic book, published monthly in Italy since 1991 by Sergio Bonelli Editore. It is written by Michele Medda, Antonio Serra and Bepi Vigna...
.
The animated television series Martin Mystery
Martin Mystery
Martin Mystery may refer to:*Martin Mystère, an Italian comic book published in the U.S. as Martin Mystery*Martin Mystery, a television animation series inspired by the comic character...
(2003) is very loosely based on Martin Mystère.
A video game, also, was patterned on the comic series, Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray
Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray
Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray, known as Crime Stories in North America, is the only video game adaptation of the highly popular Italian sci-fi detective comic-book franchise called Martin Mystère, starring a detective and his assistant, Java. It is a point-and-click adventure game,...
, and a role-playing game was published (an offshoot of Dylan Dog as an RPG).
External links
- Official site of Sergio Bonelli Editore (English)
- BVZM (site of the author)
- Website Martin Mystère on TexBR
- Martin Mystère at internationalhero.uk