Published by Casa Editrice G. Nerbini (founded in 1897 by Giuseppe Nerbini) in Florence, Italy on the 15th of May 1937, this comic series was titled L’Avventuroso, and is one of the first comic books released to solely feature the Phantom.
The series ran for 12 editions, in full color and contains approximately 40 pages. The comics are in landscape format measuring 31.5cm x 22.6cm.
Translating to ‘The Masked Man’, L’ Uomo Mascherato is the prominent heading on edition number 1 with a cover price of 2 lire. Part 1 of the Lee Falk and Ray Moore classic ‘The Singh Brotherhood’ story is published. The front and back cover can be seen below.
Part 2 of the Lee Falk and Ray Moore classic ‘The Singh Brotherhood’ story is published in edition number 2. The front and back cover can be seen below.
The front covers of all 12 editions can be seen below.
L’Avventuroso
In issue 101 of L’Avventuroso (translated to ‘The Adventurous’), dated 13th of September 1936, Mario Nerbini triumphantly announces to readers of purchasing the rights to publish the Phantom in Italy, made only a few months after the release of the Phantom comic strip in the United States.
The below editions of L’Avventuroso were published in full color on a weekly basis containing 8 pages and measure 32cm x 43.5cm. As can be seen below, on the back cover, ‘L’Uomo Mascherato’ makes his first appearance in Italy.
Issue #101
Issue #102
Issue #103
The L’Avventuroso series contains a total of 450 edition, published in Italy from the 14th of October 1934 thru till the 16th of May 1943. Editions number 1 thru till 439 were published by Nerbini, then by Mondadori from edition number 400 thru till 450.
A variety of comic book characters appear throughout the series, including Mandrake the Magician, Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, Mickey Mouse, Secret Agent X9, Terry and the Pirates, Lone Ranger and many more.
The Phantom appears in the series from edition number 101 to 221, then from 333 to 376, then from 271 to 332, then finally from 378 to 388.
The Phantom 