European Western Comic Books - Pedrito el Drito

Pedrito el Drito is one of the most enduring characters in the history of Italian comics, Pedrito el Drito was created by Antonio Terenghi in 1951. In principle Pedrito was a simple cowboy of the Wild West and his adventures in books appeared as an appendix to strip as Forza John and Rocky Rider, published by the publisher Cino del Duca .  Building on the success among young readers he was then 'promoted' to becoming sheriff and a recurring character in Il Monello that of Albi of the Intrepid.

Recognizable by his small western black hat, disproportionate to the size of his head, which is completely bald, with long handlebar mustache, the classical star of the sheriff pinned on his chest, a red vest and black boots, Pedrito el Drito depicts the sheriff of a border town called Tapioka City, close to Mexico and is the protagonist of improbable adventures with bullies in the area. He is, therefore, a figure that deconstructs the myth of Hollywood 's defender of the law, actually he enjoys the quiet life, made ​​up of matches in scopone (an Italian card game) and drinking barbera, an Italian red wine in the saloon .

His existence is always threatened by gangs of thugs that infest the area and who disturb his quiet life, and by his indomitable faithful wife Paquita, who often surprises him at the tables, chasing her husband to punish him for his the misdeeds with shots from a rolling pin.

The stories continued becoming particularly more developed, although a project to turn this publication into a regular journal has never been accomplished. Pedrito has had considerable success but only in books and various compilations dedicated to him, also published by the publishing house Sergio Bonelli for The Great Comic Comics.  He also appeared on the Corriere dei Piccoli and in a number of comics in Italy.

One of the most enduring characters in the history of Italian comics, Pedrito el Drito was created by Terenghi in 1952, making his first appearances as a naive cowboy in the appendix to comic books Forza John! and Rocky Rider. Promoted to sheriff, in 1953 his stories started being regularly published on the comic magazines Il Monello and Intrepido. In the 1990s the comic series was published in Corriere dei Piccoli and Lupo Alberto. In spite of its western setting, the series was built as a humorous family saga based on the typical characters of an aggressive wife and a henpecked husband.

Antonio Terenghi was born in Alano di Piave, Province of Belluno on October 31, 1921, to a humble family. At young age Terenghi moved with his family to Milan, where he started working as an apprentice for a grocer and a blacksmith. He began drawing comics at eight years as an autodidact. At the age of twenty he enlisted and was sent to Africa, where he remained a prisoner of the English for seven years.  Back in Italy, he picked up where he stopped working for different publishing houses. At thirty years of age, in 1951, he developed the adventures of Poldo and Poldino.  In the same year debuted Pedrito el Drito, one of the longest-running cartoons in Italian history. He also worked with other great authors like Alfredo Castelli. He continued to produce strips up to 85 years old. Terenghi died on October 26, 2014.

As mentioned Pedrito el Drito has only been published in books like the latest compilation of his adventures.