Italy has long been one of the world’s great comic producing countries and that’s still the case today – and if you need proof, look no further than this stunning work by Massimo Carnevale from the recently-published Tex Albo Speciale #36, a story titled “Revenge of the Shadows”.

Bonelli’s Tex Albo Speciale series is a title that has previously featured comic legends such as Joe Kubert, Jose Ortiz, Magnus, Colin Wilson and Victor De La Fuente.

In this new 250-page Tex Albo Speciale, written by Mauro Boselli, Tex and his partners come across a message left to a dead man by a missing fortune teller, and begin to follow, across the Oklahoma and Kansas prairies, the track of the mysterious “Indian Carnival”, a traveling fair of bizarre artists – Shado, Coyote, Skeleton, the Spider Witch, Storm the knife thrower, the beautiful Tesan-Win and others. But are they really harmless circus performers? What are they actually hiding?

“For me, the three most exciting artists working in Italy today are Gigi Cavenago, Corrado Mastantuono and Massimo Carnevale,” notes artist and author David Roach.

Carnevale’s career as comic artist and illustrator began in the late 1980s and early 90s with work for Skorpio and Lanciostory, continuing with covers for both Italian and American publishers such as Eura Editoriale, Sergio Bonelli Editore, DC Comics, Vertigo and Dark Horse. He was also the official cover artist of Eura Editoriale’s John Doe until the title’s third season, passing the role to Davide De Cubellis. In the past he’s also created many alternative posters for hit movies, including Aliens, Kick Ass, Leon, Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, Terminator and many more, now scattered across the web, some catalogued here on Repostered.

Bonelli’s Tex Albo Speciale series offers new stories of Tex Willer, the main fictional character of the Italian comics series Tex, created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy in 1948. It’s among the most popular characters of Italian comics, with translations into numerous languages all around the world. The fan base in Brazil is especially large, but it is very popular also in Finland, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, France, Tamil Nadu, Serbia, Israel and Spain.

Published in Italian, Tex Albo Speciale #36 is, in normal times you could order it direct from the publisher – but unfortunately they aren’t currently shipping outside Italy due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, a problem impacting many Italian comic retailers. However, you can find copies on eBay by searching for “la vendetta delle ombre”. It should cost around £17 plus international shipping of about £14

• Massimo Carnevale is online on ArtStation | Facebook | Twitter | Vimeo

With thanks to David Roach for highlighting this book and Massimo’s work and Patrick Goddard for the eBay tip!

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

Categories: Comic Creator Spotlight, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features

Tags: Adventure Comics, downthetubes News, Massimo Carnevale, Mauro Boselli, Sergio Bonelli, Tex Albo Speciale, Tex Willer