Tex and other stories. In memory of Sergio Bonelli

To describe Rossano Rossi means to portray the character Tex Willer itself. He’s a lonely and introvert ranger, apparently shy. Some significant traits in Tex’s representation – and typical in his cartoonist’s imagination – characterize a strong character with a square physiognomy but gentle in his traits, pschycologically determined but attractive at the same time.

Rossi, certainly influenced by his master Fabio Civitelli and by Giovanni Ticci, in portraying his “implacabile” pards, always looks for the most spontaneous and  expressive interpretation. In so doing he’s able to develop and suggest endless strategic framings.

Light and shade are well represented in the fine and soft traits and they are skilfully used in the exchange of surfaces and depths. Light and shade effects are mostly used in the background, behind the character in order to stress the dramatic quality of the whole scene. There are many silhouette figures, a method used – as the cartoonist says - to turn the scene away, particularly when the scene is set at night or when there are chaotic changes.

This is a technique, which sometimes seems to be slow – as he states – but which is used with great self-sacrifice and professional competence as it requires a continuous stylistic update. Worthy of note in the creation of the characters is the scrupulous study of the details both in the period clothes, in the complementing clothings or in the presentation of the characters. A good example is the modern hairstyle of Rhonda Carpenter in Sangue in Paradiso (Blood in Paradise).

At the end of the exhibition there are some illustrations taken from the stories of Nick Raider, Jonathan Steele and Zona X, series in which Rossi has used much of his imagination and creativity and in which the influence of the fantasy genre has allowed him to create unreal and chimeric worlds, an alternative universe where, within the magic, a mixture of cultures and far–away architectures co-exist. Movies like Mad Max, Blade Runner or Star Wars have certainly influenced him.

Enchanted and mysterious worlds created with ornamental and refined traits, in which Rossano Rossi enhances the beauty and unusual sensuality especially of the female characters, make him a designer appreciated by a varied generation of lovers of the history of cartoon.

Rossano Rossi (1964) is a cartoonist born in Arezzo. After attending some goldsmith’s courses, he understands that his real passion is cartoon. By the middle of the 80s, the twenty-year-old artist starts drawing for some magazines like “L’intrepido”, “Splatter”, “Blitz” and “Ramba”. His career changes radically at the beggining of the 90s, when he’s engaged by the publisher Sergio Bonelli as a pencil drawer in the staff of the drawers of Mister No. In 1994 he’s engaged by the screenwriter Federico Memola for Zona X in the new series “La stirpe di Elan”. Thanks to the imagination of fantastic and surreal sceneries he completes some of his most beautiful illustrations characterized by delicate and refined traits.

Later he works on some stories: Jonathan Steele and Nick Raider. When he ends these series he starts drawing the illustrated books of Tex and the Almanacco del West (2005) in cooperation with the famous master of Arezzo Fabio Civitelli. With the issue 567 his first story appears (2008) with the screenplay of Claudio Nizzi, entitled Dieci anni dopo and Sangue in Paradiso as a brilliant result of his hard work. In 2011his second story appears, Attacco alla diligenza and Alto tradimento.

At the moment he’s working on a new episode in two illustrated books, based on the texts of Tito Faraci entitled Nodo scorsoio.

  ©Barbara Rossi

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