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{{Infobox comics creator
| name =Bonvi  
| image = 
| imagesize =
| caption = 
| birth_name =Franco Bonvicini
| birth_date = {{birth date|1941|3|31|mf=y}}
| birth_place = 
| death_date = {{death date and age|1995|12|10|1941|3|31|mf=y}}
| death_place =
| nationality = {{flagcountry|ITA}}
| area = [[Cartoonist]]
| write = 
| pencil = 
| ink = 
| alias = Bonvi
| signature =
| notable works = [[Sturmtruppen]], [[Nick Carter (comics)|Nick Carter]]
| awards = 
| website       = http://www.bonvi.it/
| nonUS         = yes
}}'''Bonvi''', pen name of '''Franco Bonvicini''' (March 31, 1941 - December 10, 1995), was an [[Italy|Italian]] comic book artist, creator of ''[[Sturmtruppen]]'' and ''[[Nick Carter (comics)|Nick Carter]]'' strips.

==Biography==
Bonvicini was born either in [[Parma]] or [[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 [[Ration stamp|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.
[[Image:Sturmtruppen book.jpg|thumb|left|''Sturmtruppen'' is the most popular among Bonvi's many creations.]]
After a brief experience in advertising work, he made his debut in the [[Italian comics|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-wing politics|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.  ''Sturtruppen'', however, was not only a satire of military life and [[Nazism]], but also a true, endless wellspring of comical and surreal situations.
Bonvicini was one of the first Italian cartoonists to use the horizontal format typical of United States' strips.
''Sturmtruppen'' strips were published periodically until Bonvi's death, with the exception of a pause in the 1970s, in which he left Italy for a long trip to [[Africa]]. In 1967 he played Derek Flit, a parody of ''[[Our Man Flint]]'' in ''[[Come rubammo la bomba atomica]]'' Italian spy commedy movie shot in Egypt.

Bonvicini was a friend of another famous [[Bologna|Bolognese]] citizen, the writer and singer [[Francesco Guccini]].  As a duo, they produced a [[science fiction]] series called ''Storie dello spazio profondo'' (Stories from Deep Space) (1972), whose main protagonist has Bonvi's features.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Nick Carter trio.jpg|thumb|260px|Nick Carter and his assistants, the brawny Patsy and the Japanese Ten.]] -->
In 1969 he also created [[Cattivik]], another surreal strip parodying the anti-hero [[Diabolik]].  The series was to be continued with success by his pupil Guido Silvestri, better known as Silver and, later, by other cartoonists.  Bonvi's second-best known character was created in 1971, in collaboration with writer and TV director Guido De Maria: [[Nick Carter (comics)|Nick Carter]], a refreshing humour series featuring a trio of detectives (series' namesake Nick Carter aided by massive and naive Patsy and proverb-quoting chinaman Ten) working in the New York of 1910s.  Nick Carter appeared also in TV in the 1970s.

In this decade Bonvi created an adult science fiction series, ''Cronache del dopobomba'' ("After the Bomb Chronicles"), featuring a grotesque post-apocalyptic world, as well as the fictional detective ''Milo Marat'' (for the French market, with Mario Gomboli), and his most serious comic book, ''L'uomo di Tsushima'' ("The Man of [[Battle of Tsushima|Tsushima]]").  For the latter's protagonist Bonvi used again his face as that of the US author [[Jack London]], one of his favourite writers.  In 1973 Bonvicini was named Best European Cartoonist receiving the [[Prix Saint-Michel]].

Another famous work were the adventures of [[Marzolino Tarantola]], an eccentric millionaire engaged along with his butler and the hulking speech-impaired strongman "Henry the crew" in a car race across the world, from San Francisco to Paris; the threesome must constantly fend off the dastarldy tricks of their nemesis, "Professor Moriarty" and his diminutive lackey, Perfidio. The story is loosely based on the Wacky Races cartoon and the movie [[The Great Race]] with [[Tony Curtis]] and [[Jack Lemmon]] but  both inspirations merely served Bonvi as a pretext to let him draw wild capers across the globe in the early-1900s which were his preferred time period.

In the 1980s Bonvi became a member of [[Bologna]] town hall council and founded a [[publishing]] house with Italian deejay and TV personality Red Ronnie. They published a monthly magazine featuring new ''Sturmtruppen'' strips and reprints of old Bonvi stories, as well as articles about music, teen culture and comics in general.

Bonvi's last work was ''Zona X'', in collaboration with [[Giorgio Cavazzano]]. It was published posthumously in 1996. 

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Cattivik Bonvi.gif|thumb|300px|Cattivik is another humorous-grotesque series created by Bonvi]] -->

==Death==
Bonvi was killed by a car [[Citroen Pallas]] in 1995 in Bologna while crossing a road right after having entered a bar asking for directions to reach a TV studio he had been invited to. He was going to Ronnie's TV show, intending to request financial assistance for cartoonist [[Magnus (cartoonist)|Magnus]] ([[Roberto Raviola]]) who was ill and in dire straits.

==Works==
*''Sturmtruppen'' (1968)
*''Cattivik'' (1968)
*''Capitan Posapiano'' (1969)
*''Storie dello spazio profondo'' (1969), with Francesco Guccini
*''Nick Carter'' (1972), with Guido De Maria
*''Cronache del dopobomba'' (1974)
*''L'Uomo di Tsushima'' (1978)
*''Marzolino Tarantola'' (1979)
*''Truppen Italien'' (1995), a Sturmtruppen version in collaboration with the Italian Army
*''Blob'' (1995, unpublished)

==Cinema==
Bonvi co-wrote the screenplay for the [[1977 in film|1977]] ''Sturmtruppen'' movie adaptation of Sturmtruppen, directed by [[Salvatore Samperi]].  He also appeared briefly in the second film of the series, ''Sturmtruppen II'' ([[1983 in film|1983]]), playing a German officer.  He also starred in the [[1967 in film|1967]] ''Come rubammo la bomba atomica'', directed by [[Lucio Fulci]], and in the movie ''Cavalli si nasce'' ([[1988 in film|1988]]), directed by the comic strip author Sergio Staino.

==External links==
*[http://www.bonvi.it/home/default.asp Official site]
*[http://www.nickcarter.it Official site devoted to Nick Carter]
*{{imdb name|id=0095271}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME              = Bonvicini, Franco
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =Artist
| DATE OF BIRTH     = March 31, 1941
| PLACE OF BIRTH    =
| DATE OF DEATH     = December 10, 1995
| PLACE OF DEATH    =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonvicini, Franco}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Modena]]
[[Category:People from Parma]]
[[Category:Italian comics artists]]
[[Category:Italian cartoonists]]
[[Category:Italian comics writers]]