Bonvi

Bonvi, pen name of Franco Bonvicini (31 March 1941 – 10 December 1995), was an Italian comic book artist, creator of the comic strips Sturmtruppen and Nick Carter.

==Biography== Bonvicini was born either in Parma or in Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. The correct site is unknown, as his mother registered him in both places to obtain twice the amount of war-rationing food stamps. The author hinted at this fact in one of his Sturmtruppen comic books, where he usually hid autobiographical notes inside the dark humour of the books. thumb|left|upright|Sturmtruppen is the most popular among Bonvi's many creations. After a brief experience in advertising work, he made his debut in the comics world in 1968 for the newspaper Paese Sera with his most famous strip Sturmtruppen. Sturmtruppen was later translated in numerous countries outside Italy. While politically left-aligned and a pacifist, Bonvi was fascinated by war, and had served in the tank corps in postwar Italy. He also had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Wehrmacht's uniforms, weapons and equipment, which he faithfully recreated in his cartoonish universe. Each weapon and vehicle appearing in the strip is real; uniforms are also faithfully depicted apart from some simplifications. Sturmtruppen, however, was not only a satire of military life and Nazism, but also a true, endless wellspring of comical and surreal situations.