Created by: Marcel Navarro (1919- ) The Story Zembla is a Tarzan-like hero created in 1963 by Marcel Navarro, publisher & editor-in-chief of Editions Lug, to compete with the highly successful Akim, published by his competitor, Editions Aventures &
Voyages. Akim was created in 1950 in Italy by Robert
Renzi (story) and Augusto Pedrazza (art) for the magazine "Albo Gioiello" and was published in France in an
eponymous small format title starting in 1958. Akim
(real name: Jim Rank) is the son of a
British consul and his wife, shipwrecked in Africa. After his parents are killed by wild beasts, young Jim
is raised by a gorilla and eventually become Akim,
Son of the Jungle. Akim later marries
Rita, and has a son, also named Jim. His companions are Kar the gorilla, Zig
a female monkey, Baroi the elephant and
Rag the lion. His adventures pit
him not only against ordinary villains but also a host of mad scientists, would-be world conquerors, super-powered
adversaries, lost races, etc.
Scripts: Cesare Solini, Attilio Mazzanti,
Maurizio Torelli, Veronese, Mario Gomboli, Agostini.
Art: Augusto Pedrazza ("Special-Kiwi"
15, "Zembla" eps. 1,
2, 4, 6; "Special-Zembla"
eps. 2-5); Pietro Gamba ("Zembla" eps. 3, 5, 17, 24); Biffignandi ("Special-Zembla"
ep. 8); Pietro Gamba ("Special-Zembla" eps. 7, 9, 10B, 11, 13); Bertrand
Charlas ("Special-Zembla"eps. 16-18, 20-25, 27, 28, 30-33B, 35-37, 39, 41, 42, 44-46); Franco & Fausto Oneta (all others).
Zembla is virtually identical to Akim, except for his long hair. (They were visually
created by the same artist, Augusto Pedrazza.)
His companions are a young, somewhat reckless African teenager wearing a MP helmet and an alarm clock nicknamed
"Yeye", and a grouchy Mandrake-like
circus magician named Rasmus. His
animal sidekicks are Bwana the lion, Petoulet the kangaroo (!) and Satanas, a grouchy but loyal wild cat-like beast.
Publishing History The Authors
Zembla's adventures began in "Special-Kiwi" No. 15, before moving into its own
monthly title the following month, in July, 1963. A year later, a companion title, "Special-Zembla" was launched. Until No. 199
(1973), "Zembla" published only
new stories. From No. 200 to No. 295 (1979), it alternated new stories and reprints. The last new story
appeared in No. 297 (1979). "Special-Zembla" is still continuing today, but only published original stories in Nos. 1-68. It
is worth noting that "Zembla"
featured a large number of back-up features, often created by Marcel Navarro and scripted and drawn by Italian writers and artists, including Rakar, Gun
Gallon and Dick
Demon.
FOR MORE ON MARCEL NAVARRO, 
.
Augusto Pedrazza (1923- ) is an Italian
artist who began his career in comics in 1943. Among his early creations are Jean
Bolide and La Dama di Picche. In 1948, he began working for publisher Marino
Tomasina, for whom he co-created numerous series including: Pierino (1948), Kid
Meteora (1949), Scugnizzo (1949), Piccolo Corsaro
(1950), Akim (1950), Birba (1950), Il Principe Nero
(1950), Lazo Jim (1951), Fulgor (1952), Virgola (1953), Tabor (1954),
Tony Comet (1954), Dinamite
Kid (1957), Guingla Bill (1958), etc.
Franco Oneta (1933- ) is an Italian artist
who began his comics career in 1949 at Giurleo
with Trottolino. He then worked
for Messagero dei Ragazzi for which he
co-created Anacleto, Spiritello, Robin Poot, Pallino, etc. before working for Lug on Zembla and a number
of other series, including Ozark and Motoman.
For writers Maurizio Torelli and Veronese, see .
ZEMBLA IN TURKEY!
| Special-Zembla began publishing all new
adventures of Zembla since No. 152 (January
2000), including a team-up with Ozark in Nos. 154 and 155. A crossover with Kabur appeared in Nos. 164 and 165 in Early 2002.  |
|
