Bonelli Mini Covers: the books that made history

Bonelli Mini Covers

It's time to relive the adventure with Bonelli Mini Covers. From 25 March to 31 May, enclosed in 28 Sergio Bonelli Editore albums, these 56 collector's cards will be attached, reproducing the most famous and iconic covers of some of the most important albums of the publishing house. From Tex's western to Nathan Never's science fiction, passing through Dylan Dog's horror, Dragonero's mystery, Dragonero's fantasy, thriller and noir, each book involved in the initiative will allow you to choose between two different Bonelli Mini Covers! Here is everything you need to know about the initiative, the list of all the albums in which to find the cards and albums depicted in the Bonelli Mini Covers with a few little curiosities that will convince you to make this whole collection your own!

Bonelli Mini Covers: the books that made history

What are Bonelli Mini Covers How many Bonelli Mini Covers are there Where can I find Bonelli Mini Covers The books of Bonelli Mini Covers

What are the Bonelli Mini Covers

The Bonelli Mini Covers are a series of collector's cards, made of PVC, and in color that reproduce the most famous and iconic covers published from 1958 to today of some of the most important books published by the Sergio Bonelli Publisher. The Bonelli Mini Covers can also be applied on special adhesive magnets which will be attached to 5 "special" albums: Zagor 744 (four adhesive magnets), Dampyr 277 (eight adhesive magnets), Maxi Tex 32 (four adhesive magnets), Dylan Dog OldBoy 18 (four sticky magnets), Dylan Dog 440 (with four sticky magnets).

How many are the Bonelli Mini Covers

The Bonelli Mini Covers are 56 collector's cards, made of PVC, and in color, attached free of charge to 28 Sergio Bonelli Editore albums, out on newsstands from 25 March to 31 May. Each book involved in the initiative offers the possibility of choosing between two Bonelli Mini Covers, i.e. between two different historical covers. To allow everyone to complete the collection, the circulation of the books involved has been increased compared to usual!

Where can I find the Bonelli Mini Covers

Here is the complete list of the 28 books in which you will find attach the Bonelli Mini Covers free of charge with the release date on newsstands, the title of the register and, in brackets, the name of the historical albums depicted in the Bonelli Mini Covers from which you can choose:

25/3 – Avventura Magazine 2023 (“SuperTex”, “Tex 200”)

30/3 – Special Zagor 36 (“Guerra!”, “The avengers”)

1/4 – Zagor 744 (“Zagor” , “Indian Circus”) with four adhesive magnets

1/4 – Julia 295 (“The Eyes of the Abyss”, “The Eye of the Sun”)

4/4 – Dampyr 277 (“The Devil's Son”, “Count Magnus”) with eight adhesive magnets

4/4 – History of the West 49 (“Into the Unknown”, “The Frontiersman”)

5/4 – SuperTex 18 (“Tex 300”, “Tex 400”)

6/4 – Maxi Tex 32 (“Chinatown”, “The Emerald Idol”) with four adhesive magnets

7/4 – Tex 750 (“The red hand”, “A star for Tex”)

8/4 – Dragonero Mondo Oscuro 6 (“The blood of the dragon”, “Death of a Hero”)

11/4 – Martin Mystere 398 (“Men in Black”, “All Colors”)

13/4 – Dylan Dog OldBoy 18 ( “After Midnight”, “The Last Arcanum”) with four adhesive magnets

18/4 – Nathan Never 383 (“Special Agent Alfa”, “Double Future”)

19/4 – Tex Willer 54 (“Alive or dead!”, “Tex's past”)

22/4 – Dragonero The mythical adventures 6 (“Dragonero”, “Three young heroes”)

29/4 – Dylan Dog 440 (“Dawn of the Dead”, “The Story of Dylan Dog”) with four adhesive magnets

2/5 – Zagor 745 (“American Odyssey”, “Goodbye , red brother!”)

2/5 – Julia 296 (“The K manuscript”, “A sweet sad child”)

3/5 – Dampyr 278 (“Three old ladies” , “Lamiah”)

3/5 – History of the West 50 (The little ranger 1, “Mister No”)

4/5 – SuperTex 19 (“Men on the run”, “ The demons of the north”)

6/5 – Tex 751 (“The son of Mephisto”, “The oath”)

9/5 – Dragonero Mondo Oscuro 7 (“Through the Erondár”, “The Sleeper”)

11/5 – Martin Mystere 399 (“The Specter of Light”, “The Seven Lords of the Iris”)

17/5 – Nathan Never 384 (“Three steps into tomorrow”, “The specter of the future”)

18/5 – Tex Willer 55 (“The challenge to Fort Owen”, “Tex 700”) with four magnets

23/5 – Dragonero The mythical adventures 7 (Dragonero Magazine 1, “Yannah's sacrifice”)

31/5 – Dylan Dog 441 (“The vampires”, “The cat's eye”)

The books of the Bonelli Mini Covers

SuperTex (Tex 100) with Avventura Magazine 2023. The 100th book of the regular series (Giant) of Tex represents a very important milestone and the Milanese publishing house, to celebrate it, produces the first full-color issue of the Ranger. Although today color has been cleared of the limelight in the publications of Sergio Bonelli Editore, the tradition inaugurated with this register continues and, every 100 albums, all the titles are celebrated with a color register. In this issue, subtitled Fort Apache, G.L. Bonelli draws inspiration from the classic The Magnificent Seven by bringing together Tex, Kit Willer, Kit Carson, Tiger Jack, Jim Brandon, Gros-Jean and Pat Mac Ryan for a mission on the border between Mexico and Arizona: stop the bloodthirsty Apache cutthroats of Matias and the his network of vile renegades. The pencils are obviously by the great Aurelio Gapellini who for the occasion creates the only tempera cover for the Gigante series. Some curiosities: it is the only book in which Tex calls friends and allies together, the opposite usually happens and it is also the only book in which Gros-Jean and Pat, or the two "strongmen" of the Texian universe, meet.

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Tex 200 with Avventura Magazine 2023. It is the second color album of the regular series (Gigante) of Tex, also produced by G.L. Bonelli and Aurelio Gapellini. It is considered by fans not only the best "classic" color story of Tex but also the best choral story ever thanks to the spectacular final action sequence. The issue, subtitled The crystal idol, sees Tex and the three pards throw themselves in pursuit of a mysterious idol stolen by a group of hualpai marauders from the wise Navajo sorcerer Hatuan. The theft was commissioned by the evil Thulsar who would like to make the power of the idol his own by sacrificing a young Indian girl.

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Zagor 31 – Guerra by Guido Nolitta and Gallieno Ferri is perhaps one of Zagor's most appreciated stories. Taking up the tone of an adventure novel, Nolitta engages with a theme very dear to the "competitor" Tex or that of the revisionism of the relationship between white and Indian men. Specifically, the author concocts a tense and dramatic story in which a well-conceived plan, which includes the kidnapping of Colonel Howard's son, risks triggering a war between the army and the tribes of Darkwood. The confrontation is then exacerbated by the presence of Otto Kraus' mercenary and bloodthirsty Dire Wolves militia. Some curiosities about this story: there is the first appearance of the nice shaman Many Eyes while the Black Wolves will return in Zagor 607 – The Return of the Black Wolves or the last story scripted for the Spirit with the Hatchet by Ade Capone. Nolitta refers to the massacres perpetrated by the Dire Wolves including the one on the Sandy River, probably inspired by the Sand Creek massacre. Finally, to prepare for the battle, Zagor goes to the Fort Holborn emporium where he buys a pistol. Not only is it the only specific mention made of the weapon in the Zagorian epic but it is also a Colt Revolver Dragoon which will only be put on the market in 1848, theoretically a decade after the events described in the register.

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Zagor 44 – The Avengers by Guido Nolitta and Donatelli Franco is the central chapter of a long saga entitled Seminoles (An adventure in Florida) whose cover has gone down in history for its plasticity and its dynamism thanks to the unmistakable style of Gallieno Ferri. The saga in question is a long tail of the so-called First American Odyssey of Zagor and Chico, the Spirit with the Hatchet in fact before returning to Darkwood he stops in Florida where he is involved in the fight between the army led by General Wilcox and the Seminoles Indians of proud Chief Manetola. The drama and sense of melancholy that pervade the story is truly unique and equally famous is its closure with Zagor in tears who shows all his humanity, an absolutely distinctive trait compared to the other Bonelli and non-Bonelli heroes.

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Zagor 1 – La Foresta degli Agguati by Guido Nolitta and Gallieno Ferri hits Italian newsstands in July 1965 and marks an important watershed in the panorama of Italian serial comics because it presents the character of Zagor which represents a different conception of "adventure" compared to the more canonical and serious one of Tex by G.L. Bonelli instead embracing the more syncretic and fantastic one which Guido Nolitta alias under which Sergio Bonelli will hide for many years will be the spokesperson. Nolitta's Zagor is an adventurous character who ranges from the classic frontier narrative to horror passing through science fiction and the fantastic, quickly becoming a recognizable and highly appreciated character especially by the young readers of the time. Even today, the Spirit with the Hatchet sails in the Darkwood forest and is very popular, but millions of enthusiasts are not in Italy but also in countries such as the Turks and the Balkans.

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Zagor 84 – Indian Circus by Guido Nolitta and Gallieno Ferri is the first color book of the Spirit with the Hatchet and was originally released in June 1972. Legend has it that it was made to celebrate Zagor's incredible success in sales and popularity. The plot is simple but the narration is punctual and full of tension. The shady Rod Mac Carthy arrives in Darkwood, a retired colonel who wants to set up an Indian Circus or a traveling show in which to "exhibit" the bravest Indian warriors in gladiatorial games. Mac Carthy in fact defines himself as a Collector and in fact aims to make him the valiant Tonka but he will have to deal with the Spirit with the Hatchet. The story is partly inspired by the human zoos very popular at the end of the 19th century especially in Europe and partly by the itinerant shows that travel incessantly in the United States of the time such as Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show whose features also seem to have inspired those of Mac Carthy. The parallelism between the main antagonist of the story and the first color album, which later became a highly sought-after piece by collectors, cannot escape.

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