Sturmtruppen
Sturmtruppen is a successful Italian series of anti-war comic books, written and drawn by Bonvi, the artistic pseudonym of Franco Bonvicini starting as four-frame comic strips back in 1968 and evolving into fully sized collector books up to the 1990s and first decade of the third millennium.
The German word Sturmtruppen is usually translated into English as Stormtroopers.
Subject
These comic books were about the misadventures of an anonymous German army corps in various war theatres of World War 2, by portraying the daily life, sufferances, problems and joys of the average, anonymous soldier. The Sturmtruppen never see a single enemy soldier in the course of decades of strips, though they enemy tanks and artillery fire are frequent.
Language
A trademark of the comic is the use of an improper, German-mocking Italian, usually achieved by adding a final "-en" to most Italian words, or by exchanging "b"s with "p"s, and "v"s with "f"s to achieve a "German-sounding" Italian.
According to some people, this is yet another expedient of the author aimed at emphasizing the servilism and the authority imposed on the poor soldiers, down to the point of denying them the right of using a "normal" language.
Themes
The stories and characters themselves are based partly on the military experience of the author himself, and partly on military literature ('All Quiet on the Western Front', Sven Hassel books, etc...), folklore and of course stereotypes. Bonvi was also en expert in World War II German uniforms.
The subject of the stories themselves carry a lot of criticism against war and the absurdity of military bureaucracy and mentality and (also by references to the famous Catch 22) also the message that "civilian" life isn't much different from military life, disguised. But criticism can subtly extend to today life's aspects, including TV predominance, class divisions and Roman Church's hypocrisy. Some authorities have underlined how several Sturmtruppen episodes, behind Bonvi's striking black humour, hide an ideological and philosophical background which can result unexpected for what should seem a simple series of comics strips.
The monologue of an anonymous soldier muttering to himself:
- "Kuesta maledetta najen dovra pur finiren. Ne ho piene le tasken di dofer dire Signorsi'a un kualsiasi graduaten. Non fedo l'oren di ridifentaren un cifilen kualsiasi e poter diren 'Signorsi' a un kualsiasi superioren",
which can be translated (preserving the Pseudo-Germanisms)more or less as:
- "This damned military service vill hafe to end sometime. I've grown tired of hafing to say 'Yes, sir' to anyone with a higher ranken. I kan barely vait to return to being an anonymous civilian and being able to zay 'Yes, sir' to any of my superiors..."
gives a clear idea of the black humour and Kafkaesque atmosphere of this comic book.
Characters
Most characters don't have proper names but are rather called by their military rank or position. Most simple soldiers are given generic "German" names such as Otto, Franz, Fritz, etc. Recurring characters include:
- The "Sergenten" (Sergeant), a sadistic, brutal and cruel veteran completely absorbed into the system and obsessed with "duty" and "discipline". He frequently abuses his position by beating up soldiers for no reason and using them as living barbed wire poles and barricades, ordering them to run into a minefield or to remove their gas masks in the middle of a gas attack to "check out if it's safe", etc.
- The "Mediken Militaren" (Military Medic), a high-ranking career officer of the medical corps who had actually studied as a veterinarian, but because "...animals refused to be treated by him, he was assigned to the closest human category: the soldiers." From time to time the doctor becomes obsessed with things such as vampires, researching the elixir of invisibility or some "revolutionary" field medicine procedure, usually at the expense of the poor soldiers and his fellow officers.
- The hilarious "Sottotenenten di Komplementen" (Complement Second Lieutenant), an incompetent young officer who has obtained his rank through nepotism and bureaucracy inside the army itself. While he willingly offers to carry out the most dangerous and responsible tasks to prove himself, he usually ends up failing miserably.
- The so-called Italian ally, "Il Fiero Alleaten Galeazzo Musolesi" (The Proud Ally Galeazzo Musolesi), with a name clearly mocking both Benito Mussolini and Galeazzo Ciano. The character is a dishonest and cowardly man always trying to steal from and take advantage of his "allies", willing to perform any task as long as it's not too hard and he can somehow cheat on it. Musolesi is clearly a parody of the incompetence showed by the Italian Army during World War II.
- The "Kapitanen" (Captain) is sometimes one of the few characters representing sanity in an otherwise completely insane environment. He usually stays calm and rational even when dealing with the most bizzarre and peculiar (or hilarious) situations. However, he is also hopelessly tied to the system and unable to think outside it. He is also easily drawn to dangerous tasks in order to advance his rank (the dangers are of course for the soldiers only).
- The "Kuoken Militaren" (Military Cook) is the company's cook, always being criticized for the quality of his food and usually having to deal with an eternal lack of food and supplies or administration problems. These problems usually result in him serving horrible food such as dried peas instead of pea soup "because there's no water", frozen soup, soup made of motor oil and boiled tires, or even from dirty laundry water. At one point there is a meat shortage, but the shortage is resolved after the mysterious disappearance of several young soldiers... The cook is also in constant battle with the "Sergenten" and the "Proud Ally" who always try either sabotaging his kitchen or steal his food.
- The "Alleaten del Sol Levante" (The Ally from the Rising Sun) is a clear satire of the Japanese soldier, partly based on stereotypes such as a self-sacrificing attitude, sense of honor, etcetera. He is also portrayed as a sex maniac and exchanges racist taunts with Musolesi, whom he despises. Because of his short stature, for a long time he is believed to be the son of a gay couple of German soldiers.
- The SS execution squad and the jew are one of the many examples of dark humour in Sturmtruppen: the SS must "exterminate" the jew, but they are so bad at shooting that they always miss; the SS commander blames the jew for moving. On his side, the jew is very collaborative, trying to cheer up the SS commander when he suffers a nervous breakdown by telling him the details of his execution and cremation.
Film adaptations
Sturmtruppen's success spurred two cinema adaptations. The first one, Sturmtruppen (1976), was co-written by Bonvicini and directed by Salvatore Samperi. In 1982 a sequel, Sturmtruppen II, was released, again directed by Samperi and featuring Renato Pozzetto, Massimo Boldi and Teo Teocoli. Bonvi had a little part as a German officer. The quality of the two movies was uneven.