Il Grande Blek is an Italian Western comic book, first published in Italy on October 3, 1954, by Editoriale Dardo. Blek was written and illustrated by Giovanni Sinchetto, Dario Guzzon and Pietro Sartoris, a trio also known as EsseGesse.
Blek is the leader of a group of trappers during the American Revolutionary War, who fight against the cruel Redcoats, the symbol of British colonialist oppression. Blek's best friends and allies are his stepson Roddy Lassiter and Professor Cornelius Occultis. Although not present in every episode, lawyer Connoly, the leader of American revolutionaries in Boston, is another prominent character. Benjamin Franklin also made occasional appearances.
The prototype of the character was published in another comic called Il Piccolo Trapper in 1953, inspired by the works of Fenimore Cooper and Zane Grey. The blonde giant appeared a year later. From 1954 to 1967, 654 strips were published in the Collana Araldo series. In its heyday, the strip boasted a weekly circulation of 400,000. However, the authors moved on to create Comandante Mark after a financial disagreement with the original publisher in 1965.
In addition to Italy, Blek was reprinted in other countries such as Greece (as ÃÂÃÂûõú), Turkey (as Teksas, ÃÂelik Blek), France (as Blek le Roc), and former Yugoslavia (as Veliki Blek). The Slovenian national minority in Italy was introduced to Blek in Slovene in 1959 (as Silni Tom, meaning Tough Tom); the Slovenian translation was changed to Veliki Blek in the 1990s. In Scandinavia, he was called Davy Crockett, although he has nothing to do with the historical figure.
Carlo Cedroni, Nicola Del Principe and many others continued the production for ÃÂditions Lug, while the list of French authors included Jean-Yves Mitton and André Amouriq. The title peaked at 300,000 copies. Blek also received a revamped origin; writer Marcel Navarro revealed "Blek" means "Golden Hair" in the language of Native Americans, but that he was born Yannick Leroc in Saint-Malo, France on November 27, 1749.
In former Yugoslavia, Blek was published in the Lunov magnus strip and Strip zabavnik series. The character reached the print run of 100,000, so in 1978 the local publisher (Dnevnik from Novi Sad) decided to produce its own licensed material, colloquially known as YU Blek. The writers were Petar Aladà ¾iÃÂ, Predrag IvanoviÃÂ, Miodrag MilanoviÃÂ, Ivica Mitroviàand Svetozar ObradoviÃÂ. The list of artists included Stevan BrajdiÃÂ, Milorad à ½ariÃÂ, Miodrag IvanoviÃÂ, Predrag IvanoviÃÂ, D. IvkoviÃÂ, Branislav Kerac, Bojan Kerzan, Pavel Koza, Vladimir KrstiÃÂ, Spasoje Kulauzov, Marinko LeboviÃÂ, B. LjubiÃÂiÃÂ, Stevo Maslek, Nikola Maslovara, RadiàMijatoviÃÂ, à ½eljko MitroviÃÂ, Ahmet MuminoviÃÂ, Slavko Pejak, Duà ¡an Pivac, Branko Plavà ¡iÃÂ, Zdravko PopoviÃÂ, Sibin Slavkovià(pen name "S. à ½unjeviÃÂ"), Ljubomir Filipov and Adam ÃÂurdinjakoviÃÂ. More than 70 episodes were produced, including a sticker album.
In Greece, it was journalist and comic writer Stelios Anemodouras (1917 - 2000) who first published Il Grande Blek stories on a weekly basis for almost 25 years (1969 - 1994). He, then continued the Blek edition on a monthly basis, until 2011 when his publishing house titled "Periodikos Typos" (by his son, Giorgos Anemodouras) ended its operating. From 2014 Stelios Anemodouras' grandson, Leokratis Anemodouras has been publishing the new Blek magazine ("ÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂ, ÃÂñ ÃÂñûÃÂÃÂõÃÂñ ÃÂÃÂüùúÃÂ" by "Mikros Iros" Co), today on a 2montly basis. During the 70s, Stelios Anemodouras along with illustrator Byron Aptosoglou (1923 - 1990) created 8 new Il Grande Blek stories, which were published, mainly in the ÃÂõóìûÿàÃÂàÃÂÃÂàmag. New Greek stories by writers Nikos D. Nikolaidis and Giorgos Pol. Papadakis, illustrated by comic artist Kostas Fragiadakis, were published both in Greek and Italian editions, a few years ago.
The strip inspired Il Grande Blek, a 1987 film directed by Giuseppe Piccioni about a boy who loves comics.