Nick Carter (comic strip)
Encyclopedia
Nick Carter is an Italian
comic strip
created in 1972 as a semi-animated cartoon
for one of the most popular Italian TV show of the 1970s, Gulp!: authors were Guido De Maria (director and writer) and Franco Bonvicini
(Bonvi) (co-writer and art). The first run comprised 11 stories, later reprinted as normal comic strips for Il Corriere dei Ragazzi and subsequently in numerous other magazines and books.
In 1977 the character was revamped for the follow-on TV series SuperGulp!, with other 17 stories.
Nick Carter adventures amount to a total of some 80, including these created for the TV shows and later adapted for comics magazines. Several stories were drawn by Silver (Guido Silvestri) and Clod
(Claudio Onesti).
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...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
created in 1972 as a semi-animated cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
for one of the most popular Italian TV show of the 1970s, Gulp!: authors were Guido De Maria (director and writer) and Franco Bonvicini
Franco Bonvicini
Franco Bonvicini, also known as Bonvi, was an Italian comic book artist, creator of Sturmtruppen and Nick Carter strips.-Biography:...
(Bonvi) (co-writer and art). The first run comprised 11 stories, later reprinted as normal comic strips for Il Corriere dei Ragazzi and subsequently in numerous other magazines and books.
In 1977 the character was revamped for the follow-on TV series SuperGulp!, with other 17 stories.
Nick Carter adventures amount to a total of some 80, including these created for the TV shows and later adapted for comics magazines. Several stories were drawn by Silver (Guido Silvestri) and Clod
Clod
Clod may refer to:*a lump of dirt*an oaf*Beef clod*The Antonov An-14, NATO reporting name 'Clod'*Frederick Clod, an early chemist...
(Claudio Onesti).
Characters
- Nick Carter, whose name is inspired to that of the homonymous pulp-novel detectiveNick Carter (literary character)Nick Carter is a fictional character who began as a pulp fiction private detective and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century.-Literary history:...
, is a short, old-fashion detective which is usually called by other authorities or by privates to solve intricate cases. These are normally occasions to satirize famous movies, comics characters or existing persons (see later). Humouristic versions of horrorHorror fictionHorror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
and science fictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
themes are sometimes present. The stories are generically set in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
of 1910s-1920s, as Carter and his collaborators take part to several missions in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
's front and in the Russian Revolution as well. - Patsy is Carter's tall, sturdy and clumsy assistant, whose main abilities regards fists and weapons. Each stories usually ends with Patsy maintaining something such: "And the last one repairs damage" or "The last one closes"
- Ten is a JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese detective who expresses himself only in rhyme, citing an ironizing version of Japan's wisdom. - O'Callaghan is a N.Y. police official whose incompetence to solve striking cases usually led to calling Carter.
- Stanislao Moulinsky is the main and unique villain of the series. Moulinsky is an alleged "master criminal" using astute disguises: the most incredible ones include three people a time, a television, an airship and a fog. He is, however, invariably unmasked by Carter in the last panel of each story, with the signature exchange: (Nick Carter:) "No! This is not ___, but Stanislao Moulinsky in one of his best disguises!" (Stanislao Moulinsky, taking off his mask and with a strong Russian accent:) "Well yes, damned Carter, you have won again!"
Parodies
Nick Carter stories features a great number of parodies of famous themes and characters of literature, film, TV and history. An incomplete list includes:- Marlon BrandoMarlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, satirized two times: as the mafiosoMafiosoMafioso may refer to:* Mafioso , a 1962 Italian crime comedy film* Mafioso , a member of an Italian mafia clan* Mafioso rap, a hip hop sub-genre...
Babbino ("Little Daddy"), after the main character of The GodfatherThe GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
(Padrino, "little father", in Italian) film; and as Merlon, a trade union leader in a story inspired to the film On the WaterfrontOn the WaterfrontOn the Waterfront is a 1954 American drama film about union violence and corruption among longshoremen. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden. The soundtrack score was composed by Leonard...
. Note that in ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
"Merlon" is something such as "Big blackbird", where "blackbird" is colloquial for foolish. - Mandrake the MagicianMandrake the MagicianMandrake the Magician is a syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk , which began June 11, 1934. Phil Davis soon took over as the strip's illustrator, while Falk continued to script. The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate.Davis worked on the strip until his death in 1964,...
, featured as the Great Mephisto, a criminal hypnotizerHypnosisHypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
. - The famous adventure comics character Corto MalteseCorto MalteseCorto Maltese is a comics series featuring an eponymous character, a complex sailor-adventurer. It was created by Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt in 1967...
, as himself. He maintains, in pure Hugo PrattHugo PrattHugo Eugenio Pratt was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese...
's style: "I don't live for vile money. I live for adventure." - King KongKing KongKing Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
, as a giant gorilla of the "Barzum Circus", who falls in love with Patsy. - Lenin, as himself, in the prison wagon carrying him back to RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. - Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, whose face is that of an unnamed, fanatic character attempting to bring panic in New YorkNew YorkNew 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...
with a series of terroristic acts. - Jack LondonJack LondonJohn Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
, portrayed with Bonvi's face. - Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, as "Borson Willis", facing a false invasion from MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, of course played by the ubiquitous Moulinsky. - Former Italian premier Giulio AndreottiGiulio AndreottiGiulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
, as the "prime minister", in a late story of 1993. - Nicky Carter king of the drawers