Gianluigi Bonelli

Gianluigi Bonelli (Milan, December 22, 1908 - Alessandria, January 12, 2001) was a prolific story creator, regarded as the Patriarch of Italian comics. He tied his name to Tex Willer, the character he created in 1948 for the publisher L'Audace, the ancestor of the present-day Sergio Bonelli Editore. He wrote the plots of all the Tex adventures published up until past the mid-1980s, and continued thereafter to supervise the character's production.

He began his professional path contributing a series of poems to Corriere dei Piccoli, followed by works appearing in Sonzogno's Giornale illustrato dei viaggi. In the same period he wrote three adventure novels: Le Tigri dell'Atlantico, Il Crociato Nero, and I Fratelli del Silenzio. He then entered the world of comics, directing for Lotario Vecchi an entire series of titles published by Saev of Milan; his name appeared on Primarosa, L'Audace, Rintintin, and Jumbo, and between 1937 and 1939 he became the most important story creator for the weekly Il Vittorioso. When L'Audace (which had meanwhile dropped its article to become simply Audace) was taken over by Mondadori, Bonelli continued working for that group until 1939, and the following year became its publisher himself.

After the wartime pause he resumed his activity working for small publishers until, in 1947, he partnered with Giovanni Di Leo to launch a number of ventures, including the expansion of the weekly Cow Boy and the translation of the French titles Robin Hood and Fantax, produced by the studio of Pierre Mouchot. In 1946 he had also written La Perla Nera, a short tale illustrated by Franco Caprioli, and the following year Ipnos, drawn by Gino Cossio, Paolo Piffarerio, Guido Da Passano, and Mario Uggeri.

In 1948 came Occhio Cupo and Tex, both illustrated by Aurelio Galleppini, as well as Pattuglia dei Senza Paura, drawn by Zamperoni and Donatelli; from the same year is Il Giustiziere del West, rendered into images by Giorgio Scudellari. In 1949 he wrote the short series Plutos for Leone Cimpellin. In 1954 he scripted Il Cavaliere Nero, drawn by EsseGesse, and Yuma Kid, produced by Mario Uggeri. The following year saw the birth of I Tre Bill, whose artwork was alternately handled by Giovanni Benvenuti, Gino D'Antonio, Roy D'Ami, and Renzo Calegari, and El Kid, illustrated by Dino Battaglia, Gino D'Antonio, and Renzo Calegari. From 1956 is Davy Crockett, drawn by Renzo Calegari and Carlo Porciani, while 1957 brought Hondo, drawn by Franco Bignotti, and Kociss, drawn by Emilio Uberti. In 1962 he took up Un ragazzo nel Far West, conceived by Guido Nolitta, bringing its long saga to completion, and during the 1960s he also signed some of the first stories of Zagor, another Nolitta creation.