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Following my sweet plan of revenge of recovery of the comics i got my hands on this must-have volume that came out on 24 February.
This gem, 5th edition published by Panini, collects in 720 pages all the stories of the mythical gangster and hitman Luca Torelli and his bumbling assistant and bodyguard Rascal.
The fortieth anniversary of the birth of Torpedo 1936 could be the perfect excuse to get hold of this beautifully edited book, but you could add four hundred more plots.
It is not a book recommended for reading lying on your back because its thickness and weight (3.2 kg) can pose a serious risk of death by crushing.
The Torpedo 1936 series, created in the mid-1980s and first published in February 1982, launched its creator and scriptwriter to fame, Enrique Sánchez Abulí and his cartoonist, Jordi Bernet, who formed one of the most powerful alliances in Spanish comics.
What was originally planned for 24 episodes became a series that grew to 47 instalments and 7 albums. In the end, 19 albums were published.
Torpedo 1936 would end up being one of the greatest successes of Spanish comics for adults. The series was sold in more than twelve countries, including France, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Italy, Greece, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Holland and the United States.
The first two stories in this compilation are drawn by another great artist, Alex Toth (1928 - 2006).
A couple of the first pages drawn by Alex Toth.
Abulí would soon break off his artistic relationship with Toth because he was not happy with the approach the American intended to give to the character.
Toth, who was not comfortable with the violent personality of a remorseless killer with which Abulí had created Luca Torelli, insisted on softening the character.
Certainly, if he had understood Abulí, Toth would have drawn great pages as well
Source of the vignette of Luca crying. Book "Torpedo 1936. The story of a gangster without a soul" by Javier Mesónby Drakul Publishers.
This book, which I have also bought, is a perfect complement to the integral volume of Torpedo
An entertaining and well-documented work of 160 pages that reviews the history of Torpedo from its birth, the cases of censorship, the moves with different publishers through which it passed, the curious and convulsive passage of Torpedo through colour and a lot of data and anecdotes as well as historical photographs and even a copy of an original script.
But let's get back to the pages of the this great book. After the break with Toth, Jordi Bernet arrived and the rest you already know, if you don't, buy the book by Javier Mesón, Abulí and Bernet gave birth to glorious pages in the history of comics.
This fruitful relationship was broken eighteen years later. 1999 would mark the beginning of the end of the union between Abulí and Bernet.
The move was because Loquillo's album, "Nueve Tragos" paid tribute to Torpedo with a song a song composed by Óscar Aibar and Gabriel Sopeña.
Inside the album, Jordi Bernet was mentioned as the sole creator of Torpedo and Enrique S. Abulí, annoyed by the disrespect (which the record company claimed was an innocent oversight) took legal action against Óscar Aibar, Loquillo and the record company Zanfonía and also against Jordi Bernet, in a legal process that lasted until 2007.
Almost a decade later, Torpedo would return with the new adventures of an already septuagenarian Luca Torelli with parkinson's in Torpedo 1972this time in colour (something that never pleased most of his fans). Abulí's script is now accompanied by the work of Argentinean artist Eduardo Risso. This is probably the next one I'll pick up to complete the collection.
Beginning of"Lolita" published in the integral volume, a story censored in its day by El País. You can imagine why. Although it was by no means an X story. This act of censorship would put an end to the publication of Torpedo in the PRISA newspaper.
If I had to summarise much or describe in depth the content of this nice book I would certainly not do it justice. Still, here goes: action, humour of various colours - black, white and even silly - mobsters, cars, pasmas, hot chicks and shootings.
And of course, lots of dead people. Although I've counted just 25 in the first hundred-odd pages, believe me, there are many more as Torelli wanders through the various settings of Great Depression New York.
Whether or not you're old enough to have read it back in the day, you should bear in mind that at the time it was an unprecedented work because it was presented in a style and form not seen here to date in an adult comic of this genre.
Dynamic, cinematic, ironic, satirical, funny and raw. Set with detail and taste, it is a work resolved to perfection both graphically and narratively
It immediately hooked thousands of readers who became loyal to the universe of Luca Torelli, an unscrupulous murderer, a cynic presented with humorous intent as an ignorant, sexist and even misogynistic villain at times. From its settings to its marvellous secondary characters, the vast majority of whom are short-lived, Torpedo managed to recruit an important army of readers.
I'll leave you now and run along, there's a lot to read.
