Torpedo (comics)

Torpedo, or Torpedo 1936, is a Spanish comics series written by Enrique Sánchez Abulí and drawn by Jordi Bernet, which depicts the adventures of the antagonistic character Luca Torelli, a heartless hit man, and his sidekick Rascal, in context of the violent organized crime culture of New York during the Great Depression era.

Publication history

The series was originally developed by Abulí and veteran artist Alex Toth, who drew the first two stories in 1981. The collaboration ended when Toth decided he did not share Abulí's darkly humorous view of mankind, and withdrew from the project.^[1] He was then replaced by Jordi Bernet, whose artistic style was well suited for the dark and violent subject matter. Torpedo 1936 was first published in issue 32 of the Spanish horror comics magazine Creepy in February, 1982.^[2] The first two issues featured Toth's artwork, and starting issue 34, with the story De perro a perro, Bernet was responsible for the drawings. Torpedo went on to be featured in several Spanish comics magazines, such as Thriller, Comix International, Totem el comix, Co & Co and Viñetas, and albums were published, translated into several languages.^[3] The public response to the series became substantial, and it was awarded with the 1986 Angoulême Best Foreign Album Award.^[4] Eventually, a dedicated magazine named Luca Torelli es Torpedo started publication in May, 1991.^[5]

Character history

Luca Torelli is born in Sicily circa 1903 to Vittorio Torelli and Luciana Petrosino (although there is some doubt about who is his father). Involved in a vendetta, he has to flee for America as a teenager where he soon becomes a hitman ("torpedo" is 1920s slang for a hitman). He gets a sidekick called Rascal. Apart from Rascal and characters in flashback stories, there are few recurring characters and few dates are given for his present day stories. The only significant recurring character is a woman called "Susie" who consistently outwits Torelli. She appears in an early story and in one of the latest. At least thirteen years are said to have passed between her second and third appearance.

Bibliography (Spain)

Luca Torelli es Torpedo Issue No.1 (1991)

All published by Glénat.

• Torpedo T1
• Torpedo T2: Qué tiempos aquellos
• Torpedo T3
• Torpedo T4: El arte de rematar
• Torpedo T5: Sing-Sing Blues
• Torpedo T6
• Torpedo T7
• Torpedo T8: La ley del Talón (1994)
• Torpedo T9: Toccata y fuga
• Torpedo T10: No es oro todo lo que seduce (1993)
• Torpedo T11: El partido
• Torpedo T12
• Torpedo T13: Cuba
• Torpedo T14: ¡Adiós muñeco!
• Torpedo T15: El día de la mala baba

Integral collections

• Torpedo Obra Completa Vol. 1. (2004, ISBN 9788484496458) Containing:
  • Luca Torelli es... Torpedo (Torpedo 1936 Cap.1, Torpedo 1936 Cap.2, De perro a perro, Érase un chivato, Conmigo no se juega)
  • Qué tiempos aquellos (Qué tiempos aquellos, Dumbo, Un solo de trompeta, R.I.P. y amén, El cambiazo)
  • Flash-Back (Flash-Back, El tipo que no se chupaba el dedo, La noche de San Valentón, El negro que puso los ojos en blanco, Año nuevo muerte nueva)
• Torpedo Obra Completa Vol. 2 (2004, ISBN 9788484496465) Containing:
  • El arte de rematar (El arte de rematar, Tócala otra vez, Sam; Tic-Tac, La dama de los camelos, Rascal)
  • Sing-sing Blues (Sing-sing blues, Más ruda será la caída, Miami bitch, West sad story, Dos hombres y un destino)
  • Un salario de miedo
• Torpedo Obra Completa Vol. 3 (2004, ISBN 9788484496472) Containing:
  • Érase una vez en Italia (Érase una vez en Italia, Llamad a cualquier puta, La hiena ríe de 4 a 6, En nombre de la Lou, Ceniciento)
  • La ley del talón
  • Toccata y fuga (Levántate y anda, Toccata y fuga, Un día en las carreras, Tres hombres y un biberón, Tirando hacia atrás con ira)
• Torpedo Obra Completa Vol. 4 (2004, ISBN 9788484496489) Containing:
  • No es oro todo lo que seduce (La otra cara de la monada, Las 7 vidas del gato, La paloma de la paz, No es oro todo lo que seduce, Iré a escupir sobre vuestra timba)
  • El partido (El partido, Sodoma y camorra, Lolita, Más dura será la recaída, Un alto en el camino, Coyote)
  • El sórdido (El sórdido, La madrina, El atracón, Adivina quién palma esta noche, ¿Quién teme al lobo feroz?, Una, dos y tres)
• Torpedo Obra Completa Vol. 5 (2004, ISBN 9788484496496)
  • Adiós muñeco, Bendita vendetta, El año que bebimos peligrosamente, La Tapadera, Pietro
• Los relatos de Torpedo

Bibliography (France)

• 1. Tuer c'est vivre (1983, with Alex Toth, L'Echo des Savanes, ISBN 2226017836)
• 2. Mort au comptant (1984, L'Echo des Savanes, ISBN 2226019510)
• 3. Ni fleurs ni couronnes (1984, Albin Michel, ISBN 2226022139)
• 4. Chaud devant! (1985, Albin Michel, ISBN 222602297X)
• 5. En voiture, Simone (1986, Albin Michel, ISBN 2226027297)
• 6. Sale temps! (1987, Albin Michel, ISBN 2226027432)
• 7. Sing-Sing Blues (1987, Albin Michel, ISBN 2876950340)
• 8. Monnaie de singe (1988, Comics USA, ISBN 287695043X)
• 9. Debout les morts (1988, Comics USA, ISBN 2-876950545)
• 10. Dieu reconnaîtra les tiens! (1990, Comics USA, ISBN 2876951142)
• 11. Rien ne sert de mourir (1994, Comics USA, ISBN 2876952254)
• 12. Devine qui va morfler ce soir... (1995, Comics USA, ISBN 2876952343)
• 13. Cuba (1997, Glénat, ISBN 2723421147)
• 14. Adieu, gueule d'amour (1999, Glénat, ISBN 2723426726)
• 15. Affreux, sales, bêtes, méchants et immondes (2004, Toth, ISBN 2913999107)

Integral collections

• INT. Torpedo L'intégrale (2006, with Alex Toth, Vents d'Ouest, ISBN 2749303397)
• HS 0. Torpedo: 9 nouvelles sanglantes (1988, Vents d'Ouest, ISBN 2876950650)

Sources

Footnotes

External links

• Torpedo article on fandecomix (Spanish)
• Index in English of French series