For at least a year on the mailing list " Ayaaak ", which I follow regularly is discussed (several times) for a possible reprint of Zagor at of the fiftieth anniversary. This past February I even spoke with a couple of messages. Even today, the site of reference of the group can read the results of a survey that asks, "what you'd like to reprint Bonelli on sale?". At the head of responses with 76% of the votes (1147 to be exact) is precisely the set of the Spirit with the Hatchet. In second place, just to understand the gap, with 8% (120 preferences), the Little Ranger . Third, Martin Mystere (5% of the vote). A few hours ago, I found other comments on the topic: "Why not a Zagor Book Collection for her 50 anni?", chiede Stefano. Anche in alcuni commenti su questo blog la questione è stata più volte sollevata, e addirittura è stato fatto cenno a una petizione che sta girando in tutta Italia e anche all'estero, con centinaia di firme che già sarebbero state raccolte (se l'iniziativa verrà confermata e giungerà qualcosa in redazione non mancherò di dare notizie più precise). Per finire, una delle domande più frequenti che vengono fatte nelle lettere che arrivano in Bonelli, nelle mail che mi giungono sul computer, nelle telefonate che ricevo dai lettori, e più in generale in tutti gli incontri con gli zagoriani è sempre la stessa: a quando la ristampa? Oppure: dopo il Tex Republic, there will be a historical collection also Zagor?
That there is some interest, it seems undeniable. Furthermore, it is the interest in the fifty in general is quite palpable continue to arrive in drafting requests for events and celebrations from all over Italy and abroad, to the point that if all the initiatives will succeed I would have some difficulty to be present everywhere (I'll try to do miracles). A testimony of this climate of expectation is also a recent article in the good Cristian Di Clemente on uBC that even fantasizes about what might be the possible development of a journey in South America, we have designed just to show how, despite the fifty springs, Zagor has more enthusiasm and ideas to sell.
Thus, the reissue of fifty years ago or are not you? You will find, if not a precise answer, a few certainties at the bottom of this piece. First, let me make a few comments and proposals. First, beyond the celebration of five decades, we should ask: why you feel the need to reprint this? In my opinion, a reprint is needed as well as a duty. It 's easy finds, simply visiting the site of Sergio Bonelli Editore or scrolling published in the series back Zenith, as most of the titles of Zagor is no longer available for some time.
The collection of reprints " TuttoZagor " (which has republished the books from No. 1 to No. 235 and was discontinued in 1998) is no longer available. The originals are all sold out up to No. 318 (1992) but also in the dozens and dozens spent the numbers that you may require. For example: There is no longer even take the first irons designed by my stories ("Mortal Danger," "The Mystery of the Abbey," "The blood of the Cheyenne," "The white Indian" and even "The Demon Mortimer" and "Revenge of Mortimer). But even the classics boselliani with Hellingen, the kraken, Captain Midnight, the return of the vampire, to name just a few episodes are now out of print, though not older than fifteen years. In short, all the most important stories of Zagor, who have created the legend, those Nolitta, and the principal of the "Renaissance Zagoria " (to use a term coined by c ritico Daniele Bevilacqua ) are unreachable. Now, Zagor is not any character, but a hero who is about to celebrate (happen nel giugno 2011) i cinquanta anni di ininterrotta permanenza in edicola, ancora estremamente popolare nell'immaginario collettivo (tutti sanno chi è, anche coloro che di solito non lo leggono) e che gode di un invidiabile successo, in Italia e in vari Paesi del mondo. Non solo: è anche stato creato, nel 1961, dallo stesso editore Sergio Bonelli (con lo pseudonimo di Guido Nolitta ): dunque è il portabandiera della bonellianità. Gallieno Ferri , che è ininterrottamente da cinquanta anni il copertinista ufficiale e il principale illustratore della testata, è anche il disegnatore con più tavole all'attivo in assoluto nella storia della Casa editrice bonelliana. Sembra strano, perciò che i classici di Nolitta & Ferri si possano in pratica cercare solo sulle bancarelle o nei polverosi negozi di fumetti usati. E' quasi uno scandalo che dei loro capolavori non esista una edizione "definitiva" che resti a futura memoria come patrimonio della storia del fumetto.
Esiste anche il problema del deterioramento delle fonti di riproduzione. Le tavole originali non esistono più: sono state restituite agli autori e molte si sono disperse sul mercato del collezionismo. Da dove attingere, dunque, per recuperare le pagine di cinquant'anni fa? Non esistono copie digitali dei primi albi. Molte delle pellicole delle collana Zenith sono, mi si dice, ormai pericolosamente spoiled (acetates were glued together and are yellowed). In any case, there are almost no facilities to print from film. Probably the only surviving copies on paper, the so-called "glossy", held by some cranny: they would all be scanned again. Prepare a reprint allow the restoration (cleanup) of the drawings and to secure the stories digitizer for eternity. If you do not, all that is entrusted to only one card flake: it is only a matter of time. Recently, under the eyes of all the success of the "historic collection" Tex made weekly by Republic and L'Espresso. This is a chronological and paperback reprint of the adventures of Tex, colorful, large-format, a fixed number of pages. Sure, it might be a good model for Zagor to achieve something similar. But no: there are at least a dozen good ideas and alternatives, in the debates on the Internet, there has been satisfied to propose sorts of things. There are those who would like a reprint in black and white (as the drawings of irons in the first period, very dense black, are not suitable for polychrome), who calls the cartoons, those who expect the Anastatic, who dreams of color, who Gazes self-contained volume, who calls for a selection of only the best stories. Since each has its say, too I will tell my (a purely personal capacity).
What I think is really important that the reissue has a critical apparatus. In addition to republish the stories (but restored) should react with the support of an iconographic for example that highlights the sources of inspiration and the technical work of the authors. Zagor is to be written up as long as you want, and show the full-bodied "Zagor Index " publisher Paul Ferriani (where each story is commented out, point by point), as evidenced by the many wise men came out on the character ( at least ten), as demonstrated by the discussions on the forum. But in addition to commenting on the volume of stories you can submit cover strips, covers of books giant, rejected covers, illustrations created for various categories of Tutto Zagor for signatures or at shows.
does not seem appropriate to make Anastatic editions: already there, and involving only a few purists. It seems to me preferable, then, a larger format than the traditional books Bonelli, that enhances the beauty of the designs. Colour or color? In my opinion, yes, if it worked for Tex, Zagor work for. It could also open the doors to new markets, both among younger readers, both editions in foreign countries where the black and white has not happened. I'd like to cover books, like those of Dylan Dog Book , però anche qualcosa del tipo "cartonatura flessibile" come certi volumi Mondadori (vedi per esempio la recente riedizione di Kriminal ) potrebbe andare più che bene. 
Poi, la serie non dovrebbe avere "ristampa" scritto in copertina (secondo me, questa è una parola da evitare), ma, senza che la definizione sia meno onesta, "edizione definitiva", o "collezione storica". Non dovrebbe essere mensile, ma settimanale, se no per arrivare al numero cento ci metteremmo otto anni.Inoltre i volumi di una ristampa di Zagor dovrebbero raccogliere storie complete e soddisfare così anche i lettori occasionali: ogni volume si potrebbe read separately from the others. 
How to achieve this result if it is true, how true, that the stories of the Spirit with the Hatchet do not have a fixed length but variable length? It establishes a standard foliation, which may be 250 or 300 or 350 pages or whatever you want (even 400: Oscar Mondadori a dedicated to Zagora exceeded 500 pages). Then, each volume is filled with the stories in chronological order. Top stories Zagor are all fairly short, between 50 and 150 tables (there are twenty, thirty, seventy, eighty, etc.). With three or four stories, let's say, filling the first volume (the first story "The forest of the traps", has 152 tables, the following are much shorter). We say that we have reached page 320 of the first volume: thirty pages of editorial to fill the expected length of 350 (if 350 is the expected length). In short: it takes a long, you put the stories we are and then gets up with the wording. Or do you volumes of different lengths. If we want to do a remake with the stories in installments as the Republic of Tex, of course, that's okay. 
There is an idea to diversify portfolios and attract new readers with no repeat those classic, and is the brainchild of Graziano Romani . It must be said that readers of Zagor are very traditional and very attached to their cover of Ferri Gallienus. Ferri is the designer's favorite, almost revered, and if the covers were made from scratch with the designs of others what could be seen as a "betrayal." Moreover, the classic covers of magazines are seen and Zagor. What's the answer? Zagor originally came out in the format "strip" is typical of publications in the fifties and early sixties. Ferri has 239 well-designed covers "strip" before moving on to the nearly six hundred of the regular series currently on newsstands. The strip covers are very beautiful but very little has been seen and are known only to collectors fierce. It would be very simple "vertical system" covers some of the "horizontal" and get in the classic style of the novel covers the period Ferri (Ferri the best). See an example of the craftsmanship can result, with a fitting home made for fun, by myself and Graziano Romani (Zagor whose passion is boundless and it would be perfect for any editor reprint). 
This is just a dream? I do not understand why. We saw reissues of all types, from Mister No to Commander Mark from Alan Ford to Necklace Heroic because non potrebbe essercene una di Zagor? Uno dei motivi addotti per raffreddare gli entusiasmi è quello delle vendite. Ricordo di aver letto su Internet questa obiezione: "Non credo che sarà possibile una ristampa a colori di Zagor. Il motivo è semplice, Zagor non ha i numeri di Tex. Il Tex di Repubblica vende sulle centomila copie. Ho paura che Zagor non arriverebbe a tanto, non per la qualità ovvio, ma per mancanza di acquirenti". Rispondo così: non ho la sfera di cristallo e non ho la minima idea di quanto potrebbe vendere una ristampa a colori di Zagor, tuttavia, non seguo il ragionamento. Perché mai dovrebbe essere considerato il venduto del Tex di Repubblica il break even per un'altra ristampa? Ciò che serve per do a reprint is not a sales forecast of a hundred thousand copies, but a sales forecast of how many copies are enough to even the score. No one should think to get Tex, but to reach the breakeven point. Maybe not enough to lose ten thousand. In reality one can hope that a "definitive edition" of a very popular character and as an icon in the collective mind, what is Zagor, someone else might be curious as well as forty thousand customers in the monthly series. In particular, it could affect any of the two hundred and twenty thousand times Nolitta , found repeat the mythical stories of their youth. If then, I only per dire, Zagor "collezione storica" si collegasse direttamente alla riedizione di Tex fatta da Repubblica, potrebbe esserci un effetto traino, per cui qualcuno degli acquirenti texiani potrebbe proseguire senza soluzione di continuità, trasformandosi anche in acquirente zagoriano. Non basta: se ci fosse un minimo battage pubblicitario che promuovesse l'operazione come il ritorno delle storie più importanti di Sergio Bonelli in persona, e di caposaldi della storia del fumetto italiano, ecco che anche gente che non legge né Zagor né Tex ma anche i vecchi lettori di Mister No o chi è interessato al fumetto bonelliano o agli eroi di carta in generale o ai fenomeni di costume o alla fiction in senso lato potrebbe essere coinvolto.
In any case, those that have gone by are just free-wheeling discussions, written by one who works is not (thankfully) neither the publisher nor a marketing expert. I simply put in the shoes of a simple reader and I did the accounts of the servant. Above all, there is no reprint of Zagor on site, as far as I know, the current state of things. I can only say that, until now, those of the Republic have not yet made specific requests about any "historical collection" of the Spirit with the Hatchet, as Tex for a few months the color will continue its triumphal march. It 'obvious that no efforts will be made on site competitors (and Zagor is a reprint of it) will continue as long as the Necklace Night Eagle . However, it is possible that your hero Darkwood is taken into account in order to continue the collaboration with the Bonelli. Therefore, it is to listen events. But it seems there are other offers and in any case, it may be the same Bonelli, ultimately, to achieve a reprint. In short, the games are open. If any consolation, though, there are chances that something will be done. Cross your fingers and hope.
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