Tex Willer #2/1972
Tex Willer #2/1972 is one of the earliest issues in the long-running Norwegian edition of one of Italy's most enduring and internationally distributed western comics. The Norwegian run, launched by Illustrerte Klassikere / Williams Forlag in 1971, brought Gian Luigi Bonelli and Aurelio Galleppini's frontier hero to Scandinavian readers in a format that proved durable enough to continue without interruption from 1971 onward — a testament to how thoroughly Tex Willer's brand of Old West storytelling resonated beyond its Italian origins. As part of the second year of that unbroken Norwegian run, this issue represents the series establishing its foothold in Norwegian popular culture. The title's longevity in Norway — producing between 11 and 17 issues per year — stands as one of the more remarkable examples of a foreign-language reprint series sustaining genuine grassroots readership for decades.
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The underlying material in all 1971-series Norwegian issues consists of Norwegian-translated reprints of stories originally published by Sergio Bonelli Editore in Italy, scripted by Gian Luigi Bonelli and drawn principally by Aurelio Galleppini (Galep), the character's co-creator. Neighboring issues in the same series are documented as reprinting stories from the Italian 'Tex Gigante – II Serie' run of the late 1960s and early 1970s, printed in Finland and published under the editorial oversight of John Vister (ansvarlig utgiver) for Williams Forlag A/S. The #2/1972 issue would follow the same production template, but the specific Italian source issues it reprinted could not be confirmed from available online records.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by Illustrerte Klassikere / Williams Forlag (Norway) as part of the 1971 series, which ran continuously and without interruption from its launch through at least 1976, when numbering passed to Williams Forlag A.S. (SEMIC).
- The Norwegian Tex Willer series debuted in 1971 and has published between 11 and 17 issues per year, making it one of the longest-running licensed western comics in Scandinavia.
- Tex Willer — the sole indexed character — is an Italian comics creation of writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, first published in Italy on 30 September 1948.
- All issues in the 1971 Norwegian series are Norwegian-language reprints of stories originally produced by Sergio Bonelli Editore; neighboring issues reprint stories from the Italian 'Tex Gigante – II Serie' (1958 series), typically from issues published in Italy a few years prior.
- The indicia publisher for the series is Williams Forlag A/S; issues were physically printed in Finland ('Trykkes i Finland'), a common production arrangement for Scandinavian periodical comics of the era.
- Editorial oversight across the 1971 series is credited to John Vister as ansvarlig utgiver (responsible publisher), as documented in adjacent issues.
- The character Tex Willer is depicted as a Texas Ranger and chief of the Navajo tribe (under the name Aquila della Notte / Eagle of the Night), whose adventures blend classic frontier western storytelling with advocacy for Native American rights — themes that translated readily to international readerships.
- Later Norwegian reprints of stories from this era of the Williams Forlag run were collected in the Maxi Tex series published by Hjemmet / Egmont beginning in 2008, demonstrating the continued cultural relevance of these early Norwegian Tex issues.