We return to Prewar Italy (With the USA) Part Two, and, with a follow up with Post War Italy, as an intro to what will come with the Post War Characters that I will start to post soon. The link provided below is the whole article in several parts that will take you to DC's dark italian past to the present and as that didn't really fit with what I am doing here I did not include that here. I hope you enjoy this with very light edits from me.
http://www.mangaforever.net/62978/dc-comics-in-italia-una-sfortunata-vita-editoriale-lunga-70-anni-specialeChapter 1 (part 1)
The Prewar with the arrival of Cyclone!
The recent editorial succession beginning of the year between Planeta and RW Lion as publishers of DC Comics in Italy, immediately started with discrete controversy among fans, due to an initial management characterized by (a few) and lights (many) shadows, but above all is emblematic of the historical misfortune that the North American publisher has always enjoyed here with us, then it is worth, on the occasion of the relaunch of its outstanding bonds in DC this month (son of the U.S. for nearly a year Cashing occupying the first places the sales charts), retrace over seventy years of horrific editorial choices which they saw as its protagonists the DC heroes, which sull'italico soil have always been struck by adversity of all kinds, even (and especially) when they had all the cards in order to break through and retain potentially thousands of readers.
With invaluable historical reconstruction of the passionate Marcello Vaccari and his comprehensive articles available online for some years now on the fanzine telematics Glamazonia (get busy with the search engines and you will find some good!), Incorporated and sometimes even extended to other sites, we can now go back with absolute certainty to Italic beginning, in the middle was a fascist (!), the characters DC Comics (then National Periodical Pubblication).
The first sightings occur in fact, already back in 1939, thanks to the forefather of all the heroes in tights or Superman , although not with stories taken from books (started in June of 1938 in America with Action Comics ), but with the daily strips games instead in 1939, and then arrived in Italy almost close to the original edition.
Absolutely the first issue to accommodate super-heroes of the DC should be 19 Albi audacity of 2 July 1939 (!), published at the time by Editions Juventus , with a history of just Superman renamed Cyclone (!) then ( until 1940), appears on three other Albi audacity two of ' Audace ( publisher SAEV-Old ) on a dell ' Albogiornale (the Publishing House Victoria ) and on Juventus Albi (the publishing company New Cremona and Publishing House Vittoria ).
Indeed, given the scarcity of material available on the character were almost immediately commissioned some stories of Italian authors (and will not be the only ones, over the years), or the brothers Vincenzo (lyrics) and Zenobius Baggioli (drawings), is among those who also witnessing significant distortions with respect to the psychology of the character, for example on an adventure Cyclone destroys a house in which he had fled a bandit, saying he was satisfied that he had done justice, however, after having tried to kill him before unceremoniously.
It should be noted then the slew of negative records already in his first appearance, and the name changed, the colorful costume completely red (and yellow pants, when you could tell what color they did), his classic "S" quickly disappeared, translations improbable and alterations / adjustments of the designs until the distortion of the character (with rewrites from scratch stories), we also have a slew of different publishers, almost equal to the number of books published, after starting so searing, a handful of stories random, taken from necklaces also do not original but strips syndicated, published left and right in magazines and various supplements (with different formats and pumping of the cartoons), comes none other than the Second World War to stop immediately any further publication.
And this is just the beginning!
Chapter 1
The Second World War with Wing of Steel, The Ghost and the Eaglet!
A resume Publications DC heroes after the Second World War we think the publishing house Milan (later World Editions ), which reproduce the characters in National on that indicate that many like necklace anthology Masked Man Collection (The series), title, however, never appeared Featured on books that often indeed began with the first table of the story directly as the cover (nice layout publishing decades later will be taken up, through carelessness and
sloppiness, no less than by Rizzoli for his inserts Corto Maltese! ); sometimes could also be used a cover original, often there appeared the main character maybe not even his own name but directly with the title of the story (sigh).
The anonymous necklace weekly from 1945 to 1946 reached the 31 outputs, a dozen of which are dedicated to the DC characters, chief among them Batman (published here for the first time in Italy the number 19), renamed Wing of Steel , perhaps The outlines of her first costume, more squared, sometimes resembling an armature (the one to speak to Detective Comics 27/34), the size was reduced, type booklet, the pages eight (8 diconsi, including the cover!) , and the other DC heroes were presented in turn Green Lantern (obviously the first, Alan Scott!), Crimson Avenger , the Spectre , Hourman and Sandman (renamed before Lightning and then incredibly the Man of the Sand , or in a more adherent to 'original).
The only positive note, so to speak, the use of the stories of the original comic-book and not just those of the daily strips, used primarily on the series. II Collection Masked Man and another series called Hurrah! , by contrast, in addition to the reduced size, the translations uncertain, drawings reworked many stories were directly "modeled" in full by the original transparencies or tracopiate with books by Americans come from us but with the additional passage through the French editions of these books which were the true Italian version (argh!).
Even Superman (renamed a bit 'more appropriately The Man of Steel ), reappears after the War on independent strip of true Collection Masked Man , starting with the number 8 (commonly referred to as II series, actually as I said do not reported no indication on the cover), the head was so named according to the character of the tip which was initially Blue Beetle (Fox then and not yet of DC Comics), also nominated, to simplify things, Phantom of Steel to his first appearance and only after Masked Man (the name by which we will be remembered by the character of Phantom by Lee Falk and Ray Moore).
From number 67 the series changed its name to Collection Man of Steel , just to adapt to the massive presence of the most recurring character, that in the latter period there appear virtually every issue, always on these pages reappear Batman & Robin (the number 58) , but renamed The Phantom & the Eaglet , which continue to be published both here (until 1948) and on a new title called Hurrah! (output throughout 1947, and where he began Robin ), who will share necklace as well as with Superman also with Tarzan . (!)
Regarding sizes (differing from the original), translations (so-so), tracopiature, additions and remodeling of the drawings, nothing will change, however, certainly there were other times, much pioneering, with more objective difficulties in obtaining the original materials, but especially in an era where the sensitivity and care towards the material to be published was the complete opposite of what, after decades of horror editorials, we worked so hard to achieve today, where a logic of respect for the work and the original authors are, fortunately for us, the most universally accepted and especially culturally acquired, both by those who read it to the publisher (though not always, with some exceptions).
In short, they were also real "crimes" (punishable by life to the death penalty:-p), now would be time-barred, certainly, was not very comforting as a beginning, and if you see a good in the morning ...
Chapter 2 - The Mondadori & Nimbus Kid!(Part 1)
Albi The Hawk and the Superalbo Nimbus-Kid!
After a debut that define atrocious, editorially speaking, for the heroes of DC, is an understatement, published at random and pure evil, without the correct format, the credits, the original covers, and often also the stories (because modeled on the transparencies from the pages already printed editions of the American or French), not to mention the free translations and misleading, sometimes even completely adverse to the psychology of the characters, the ball goes to the publishing giant Mondadori few years after the end of World War II.
In May of 1954 in fact part of the series so far the longest running (and probably more successful), dedicated to the heroes of DC in Italy, or those of Albi Falco - Nimbus Kid for sixteen years (until March 1970, through three decades and a few changes of title and sizes!) held on newsstands bench and bring the characters of the Universe Batman & Superman to become popular here too, as you can guess from the title, the name of Superman is changed once again in Nimbus Kid ( The Boy Cloud ... sigh), it is said to avoid having to pay for the rights to her original name, which at the time forced the publisher to change the costume (and mantle) of the character cancellandogli once again the classic "S" and leaving him with a triangolone first red, then yellow (meaningless) on the chest (argghh).
The format was again the booklet, the Mickey Mouse so to speak, because that newspaper publishing already in that format was pretty much a must use it for other characters, more or less aimed at the same target in the same period also, again in May 1954, the Mondadori Varava also the head sister, or the boards of the Rose , another albetto tapped a few pages that had Disney characters (later became the Albi Mickey ), which is also of great success, which allowed given the same format (32 pages a) a reduction of costs typography.
Initially proposals are systematically stories from the major newspapers of the only Man of Steel or Action Comics and Superman , that unfortunately does not change, the old and "rustic" first editions, are the alterations of the drawings (starting precisely from the costume Superman / Nimbus Kid ) and the translations more or less "free" than the original, on which there is little to put my finger on it, if Superman is in fact named once again changed and lifestyle changes, not much better in Batman who suffers the same fate, with the only difference that the costume change him twice.
The first appearance of the Dark Knight is the number 33, after over a year of publications (initially fortnightly), with the first story proposal from the series World's Finest (the one that had the team-up of Superman and Batman ), the costume was stained entirely of red, because of alleged similarities with the Phantom at that time was very popular here as well, however the name was changed to Bat , maybe closer to the original meaning, but which led to aberrations such as the bat-mobile or the bat-plano called Pipistrel-mobile or pipis-mobile and pipis-plano (argh!) or, at best, auton and aeron (sigh and sob!).
Worse goes to Robin , initially held equal to or just do not appointed (or so were avoided imaginative reworking of his original name!), and with the colorful costume before red, like Batman , then sometimes even pink (if nothing else, the Mondadori publish all his books with colorful pages that will alternate with those in b / w two and two are not, in part by limiting the damage) with the number 103 Albi Hawk arrive at weekly intervals, and 105 begin to be finally published stories of the ' Bat Man taken from his main necklaces (ie Detective Comics and Batman ) and especially at least the name is changed to the original one (with all the logical consequences on its connected equipment), the costume is colored instead once again in a busted with the colors red and blue in the opposite way to those of Superman almost to act as his counterpart (type boots and gloves blue, red suit, as opposed to those of the ' Man of Steel ). As they say, really good as "new" beginning!
Chapter 2 - The Mondadori & Nimbus Kid! (Part 2)
From the Comics Code Moral Warranty!With the re-start right in the middle of the 50s in America a lot of magazines dedicated to new DC heroes (and not just the famous Silver Age ), Mondadori finally has something to fill his albetto without resorting to in-house production of his stories, which, however, will continue to do more or less convincingly almost until the end of his publications (if you will still be on, for example necklaces end of Superman and Batman ), then arrive in random order and in dribs and drabs, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern , the Justice League / Friends of the Law, the Teen Titans, Martian Manhunter / the Hound Martian, Hawkman & Hawkgirl / Falco & Alata, Atom (thankfully not all mangled or renamed so absurd as Supergirl / Nimbus Star, Wonder Girl / Light or Bizarre / Duplex ).
In June of 1960 comes out then a kind of almanac monthly (along the lines of that of Mickey Mouse , as well as size), called Nimbus Superalbo Kid , who after sixty numbers became Batman - Nimbus Kid switching to quindicinalit
