American Bonelli:
the presentation by Castelli
by Alfredo Castelli, the creator of Martin Mystery

Hi everybody. My name is Alfredo Castelli, and I am the faithful biographer of Martin Mystery, or - if you prefer - of "Good Ol’ Uncle Marty", as his many fans in Italy do affectionately call him.

I know Martin from 1978, and, since then, I unceasingly related his extraordinary adventures (adding - as he says - "Molta farina del mio sacco", "Much of my own"). Well, surely some detail of his exploits has been enriched with a little bit of fantasy, but I can guarantee that their substance doesn’t change. There’s no need to introduce my friend Martin, as he will introduce himself with his own actions; you’ll discover that he’s a detective in a very unusual sense of the word, as he doesn’t investigate police cases, but deals with the great enigmas which have never been solved, ranging from archeological ones (Who built Stonehenge?) to historical ones (Who was the Man in the Iron Mask?),to esoteric ones (What is the secret of Graal?), to the field of UFOs, ESP, magic.
Let me just add one thing: what I most appreciate in Martin is his ability to discover a "mystery" side in everything, not only in an Egyptian Pyramid or in a Mayan Temple (that’s easy!), but in an alley just around the corner, in a stranger he met on the subway, or in an old object he bought in a garage sale. My friend Martin is endowed with that rare gift that is the "sense of wonder"; his weltanschauung may be resumed in just five words: "Nothing is what it seems".

I wonder how Martin’s adventures will be received in the U.S.: I do perfectly realize that his stories are very different from the ones American readers are used to. My friend Martin’s tales are in fact novels in comic form, with lots of words to read, following a tradition inaugurated by American characters in the thirties (some "Brick Bradford" or "Phantom" episodes lasted for a year or so) and, oddly enough, forgotten in the U.S. and carried on in Italy.
More: apart the book you’re now reading (and that, hopefully, you’ve bought), which features a complete story, from the next issue on you’ll have to undergo the shock of "to be continued" stories (some are over 200 pages long!): so a story may begin in a issue, follow in a second issue, finish in the first pages of a third issue, with a new story beginning in the same issue’s following pages.

Castelli and Martin, by Alessandrini "Do it again, better! It's the only drawing made by Alessandrini that I disapprove"

A third shock: artists will change from story to story, beginning with Giancarlo Alessandrini, who drew the episode in this issue - the story which introduced the character back in 1982. Martin Mystery is in fact published in Italy in monthly 94 page books, without counting a Special Summer Issue, a Fall "Giant" Issue, a Winter "Almanac" and countless short stories produced for different magazines, for a minimum of 1,600 new pages every year. Not even Superman could draw so fast to maintain this pace.
Will you get used to all this? Well, surely I hope so: because, following Martin Mystery, you’ll have the possibility to discover a whole world of mysteries: just to arouse your curiosity, I compiled a list of facts and characters with whom Good Ol’ Uncle Martin has already dealt in his long Italian career (about 23,000 pages produced by now). I’m sure that you too, will be able to make their acquaintance if you have the goodness to continue and reading this series. I look forward to it, and, in the name of my royalties I thank you all.

Please, if you have suggestions, critics and question, feel free to write c/o this magazine: a "Mysterious Mail" column will begin next issue in these pages. Take care.