The Phantom Comics

Zigomar

Posted by https://quadripop.blogspot.com – 25th August 2019

Characters with the same name are common in pop culture, but in this case we have different characters from countries far away from each other. The name Zigomar is a proper name in Brazil, however, I could not find an etymology.

Leon Sazie’s Zigomar.

Already published in the blog, a post about police literature and comics, Zigomar did not figure in the post for not having comics.
In 1909, French writer Léon Sazie (1862-1939) created Zigomar as a leaflet on the pages of the extinct French newspaper Le Matin, Zigomar is the leader of a crime syndicate, predates characters such as Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer and even the Brazilian Garra. Francisco Armond Gray (screenplay) and Renato Silva (drawings), already in the series, the villain is the protagonist. In 1910, the character was adapted for cinema by Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset for Eclair, the following year the director released the film series Zigomar roi des voleurs (Zigomar, the king of thieves), starring Alexandre Arquillière in 1912, plus a series, Zigomar vs. Nick Carter, where Zigomar confronts Detective Nick Carter, an American detective created by Ormond G. Smit in 1886, the son of one of the founders of the pulp publisher Street & Smith. Alexandre Arquillière played Zigomar and Nick Carter was played by Charles Krauss. Hippolyte Jasset had already adapted the detective in a 1908 series, Nick Carter, Le Roi Des Detectives, starring Pierre Bressol. The production is aimed at the first series, later the format would be transported to the United States, being associated with smaller studios and low-budget productions such as the B-movies, to the point that serials are also classified as B-films. Zigomar had an influence on Japanese cinema, the Japanese studio Yoshizawa Shōten released sequels: Nihon Jigoma (“Japanese Zigomar”, Yoshizawa, 1912), Shin Jigoma daitadai (“Great Great Detective Zigomar”, M. Pathe, 1912), and Zoku Nihon Jigoma kaishinroku. (“The Altered Record of the Japanese Zigomar”, Yoshizawa, 1912).

The Serbian or Yugoslav Hero?

Yugoslavia was a European country that located in the Balkans which brought together Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, its foundation was in 1918 in 2006, Serbia and Montenegro separated and formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which would later become Serbia and Montenegro in 2008, Montenegro separates from Serbia.
The Serbian Zigomar was created in 1939 by Bosnian writer Branko Vidić (1904-1967) and Russian designer Nikola Navojev (1913-1940) in Mikijevo Carstvo magazine (The Kingdom of Mickey). Serbian comic artists such as Zdravko Zupan (1950-2015) and Aleksandar Zograf claim that the name may have come from the villain created by Sazie at the suggestion of Milutin S. Ignjačević, editor of the magazine, I’m in Prague (Czech Republic) and Munich ( Germany) . Inspired by Lee Falk’s Ghost and Lone Ranger , Zigomar repeats the rich man’s undercover tribe and fights crime like Zorro , Green Beetle, Batman and others. Zigomar also had a youthful sidekick, the Chinese Chi Yang. The character was published between 1939 and 1940, and even featured a curious crossover with the Phantom in the 1935 and 1936 editions of Yugoslav magazine Politikin Zabavnik (1939), preceding many Marvel and DC crossovers, where heroes fight and unite, Interestingly, this crossover was published in 1942 on the pages of the Youth Supplement. Crossover made the hero known to Ghost fans in the 1970s, lawyer Dragiša Jovović from Belgrade, a comic book collector and Ghost fan, contacted Ed Rhoades and sent him a copy of the story. In the same decade, Italian publisher Club Anni Trenta published in the regular hero series, in 2016, the Australian publisher Frew published in The Phantom # 1763.

Brazilian Villain.

Superargo is a Brazilian superhero created by Eugênio Colonnese (1929-2008), Italian-Brazilian draftsman and Rubens Cordeiro in 1967, mixing elements of superhero comics and crime stories. The name may have come from a theatrical Italian-Spanish superhero starring Giovanni Cianfriglia in two films between 1966 and 1968: Superargo against Diabolikus, or Superargo, the hombre enmascarado and Superargo – L’invincibile Superman or Superargo, el giant.
In the fifth edition of his magazine, Superargo fights a villain named Zigomar, who does not wear masks, the script was written by Rubens Francisco Lucchetti, the pope of the Brazilian pulp fiction, who acted as the writer of comics, radio shows and movies with the Director Ivan Cardoso and actor and director José Mojica Marins, Coffin Joe, Lucchetti also wrote short stories, novels and novels with various pseudonyms, the layout provided by Colonnese (signing as Djan) and Lamb’s final artwork.

The Serbian or Yugoslav Hero?

Yugoslavia was a European country that located in the Balkans which brought together Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, its foundation was in 1918 in 2006, Serbia and Montenegro separated and formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which would later become Serbia and Montenegro in 2008, Montenegro separates from Serbia.
The Serbian Zigomar was created in 1939 by Bosnian writer Branko Vidić (1904-1967) and Russian designer Nikola Navojev (1913-1940) in Mikijevo Carstvo magazine (The Kingdom of Mickey). Serbian comic artists such as Zdravko Zupan (1950-2015) and Aleksandar Zograf claim that the name may have come from the villain created by Sazie at the suggestion of Milutin S. Ignjačević, editor of the magazine, I’m in Prague (Czech Republic) and Munich ( Germany) . Inspired by Lee Falk’s Ghost and Lone Ranger , Zigomar repeats the rich man’s undercover tribe and fights crime like Zorro , Green Beetle, Batman and others. Zigomar also had a youthful sidekick, the Chinese Chi Yang. The character was published between 1939 and 1940, and even featured a curious crossover with the Phantom in the 1935 and 1936 editions of Yugoslav magazine Politikin Zabavnik (1939), preceding many Marvel and DC crossovers, where heroes fight and unite, Interestingly, this crossover was published in 1942 on the pages of the Youth Supplement. Crossover made the hero known to Ghost fans in the 1970s, lawyer Dragiša Jovović from Belgrade, a comic book collector and Ghost fan, contacted Ed Rhoades and sent him a copy of the story. In the same decade, Italian publisher Club Anni Trenta published in the regular hero series, in 2016, the Australian publisher Frew published in The Phantom # 1763.

Zigomar the Filipino Zorro.

As I mentioned in the Zorro comic post , Zorro has been copied a lot in various media, no different in the Philippines. The Philippines is a set of archipelagos in Asia, with a rather complex history, once a colony of the Spanish Crown to the United States and was occupied by Japan in World War II in 1946, was recognized by the United States. The country is home to several ethnicities, including indigenous peoples, immigrants from China, Spain, Mexico, the United States, India, South Korea and Japan.

In 1964, the film Zigomar, written and directed by Armando Garces and starring Jess Lapid, a star of the Philippine western, is released. I found no evidence of influences of the French villain or Serbian hero, the Philippine Zigomar was the Zorro by another name, Lapid also stars Leon Guerrero, referred to as the Philippine Lone Ranger . In 1984, a remake of Zigomar with Jess’s nephew Jess is released in France, the film was titled Zorro – Le Justicier Masqué, the Republic Pictures series that looked like Zorro were also called Zorro as The Vigilantes. Are Coming (1936) and Don Daredevil Rides Again (1951). In 1982, Lito had made a remake of Leon Guerrero.

Zigomar in Martin Mystère’s fancomic.

In 2014, Associazione Culturale Nipoti di Martin Mystère, a fan club of the Italian series Martin Mystère, launched the fancomic Nel Segno by Zeta Part 1 in Franco Villa’s Get a Life! Magazine, illustrated by Lucas Ferreira Santos, in the 45th edition. , published in July 2016, with Villa scripts,  with cover by Gianmarco Lizzio and art by Tyrell Deaverl, the arch is completed in the following edition, with drawings by Lucas Ferreira dos Santos and artwork by   Josel Sousa.
The arc of history unites Zorro and the Serbian Zigomar, including William Lamport (1611-19659), an Irishman who lived in Mexico and would have led a rebellion against the Spanish Crown, for Italian professor and paleographer Fabio Troncarelli, Lamport was an influence on Zorro’s creation, according to him, the black clothing and the Z mark would be inspired by Freemasonry, in the story arc, unite these elements and the Zigomar ring has powers. The fan club’s blog still features an art showing a Tarzan meeting with French Zigomar, designed by Joe Teanby, for a comic called L’Alfa e l’Omega,   there is also a model sheet by  Fabio Postini (who signs as The Fab), both influenced by Zorro, although not acting on the Filipino, we can conclude that it is a coincidence.