Review – Texone – Magnus/Nizzi
Texone – The Valley of Terror
Claudio Nizzi (author), Magnus (artist)
Release date(s): June 1st 1996 by SBE, October 23rd 2016 by Veseli četvrtak (reviewed) – available @ veselicetvrtak.com
Veseli četvrtak, format (308 pages, HC, bw, Serbian), 2300 RSD (approx. 19 EUR)
Synopsis: In the valley of the Yuba River, a secret Asian sect, the Avengers is massacring the owners of the gold deposits in the area. Tex and Carson investigate and reveal the secret of the valley…
I must confess at the start of this review, I have never been a great Tex fan. If someone borrows me one, I enjoy the read, but do not consider owning one. Until I laid my eyes on this beauty, Texone by Magnus. Magnus is mostly known in the Balkan region for his work with Bunker on Alan Ford. Generations and generations have been raised up with his work.Legendary group TNT still remains one of the most popular italian comics side-by-side with Zagor.
Texone is an annual special edition of Tex in an oversized format featuring works of some of the most famous italian and world artists such as Jordi Bernet, Ivo Milazzo, Joe Kubert, Magnus, José Ortiz, Alfonso Font.
The story is located in the valley of Yuba river, once a prosperous region, now a region under a terror of secret cult named the Avengers. Tex and Carson arrive in the valley, and try to solve the mystery of the valley. A classical western story. Adds a bit of mystery, but the eyes here are not on the story as much as the art by Magnus.
Seven years. The time it took Magnus to complete his Great Tex story. His final and biggest work in his carrer. The late Bonelli was trying to persuade Magnus to work on it, but he was to reluctant to begin work on Texone, because of his respect for the character. After developing the starting points for the character he began work he didn’t get to see in the end. When you look at any page you can see the amount of detail, shading, perspective put onto the paper, researching the look of woods and leaves during sunlight and moonlight you begin to understand Magnus’s opsession. The insteresting fact is that Magnus drew only a few horses in the story (4 pages), unsatisfied with their look, so most of the horses were drawn by Romanini.
Praise to the publisher that really went all-in on this edition. Large format with over 80 pages of additional materials make sure you notice the hard work put into this edition. Looks really massive (as you can see in the pictures) and is worth the money. The cover design might have been done differently, but overall this looks great and impressive.
Pros: a different look of Tex, Magnus, amount of detail on the art
Cons: the story feells to generic, hardcore Tex fans might not like it
Conslusion: It is a great buy if you are a Tex fan, or even not (such as me). This is a great deluxe edition of Texone by Veseli četvrtak.
Why did I draw Tex? Because it was a good banner under which to fall. Having to fall, might as well fall at Alamo.’’ (Magnus)