Zero Press – Wikipedia

Zero Press , at the beginning of its existence also known as Big Comics , it was a comic book publishing house founded by Sal (Salvatore) Virelli and activates approximately in the mid -nineties. The house failed definitively in 1998.

The Zero Press was specialized in parodies, especially of the following three types of comics: US superhero registers, Italian comics published by Sergio Bonelli Editore and Manga, especially those published in Italy as heads of the Star Comics; However, non -parodic registers were also made containing original stories. Sal Virelli was the publisher and supervisor of the Albi, while the texts of all the stories (and sometimes even the drawings) were the work of Stefano Nocilli. Among the numerous designers of the house, Federico Dertefano should be remembered in particular. Leomacs, Andrea Cuneo, Davide Calì (aka, Lex Luthor), Lucio Parrillo and Massimiliano (Max) belly, also notes.

Among the various books it published by it only the Kenshemo saga the war (parody of Ken the warrior) was serialized in several numbers while all the other books were unique numbers.

The stories of the zero press registers are characterized by a very particular humor: the sense of humor is quite bitter and “adult” in them, as they are not the typical goliardic parodies but are wedges of sarcastic references to Italy of the period (with Caricatures of some characters of politics and entertainment) and on television, mocked the common places in the setting of the drawings, plots and dialogues of Italian, American and Japanese comics, and are characterized by a rather aulic way of talking about characters, Which can be both a parody of the pompous tone of some series of comics (probably the Marvel ones, as it is said in some books), and a way of distancing themselves from the typical parodies that present a often rather elementary language.

In terms of drawings, the tables (in particular those of Dertefano) are often very elaborate and rich in more or less comic details, and the design style of the characters oscillates between the realistic and the caricatural. There are many references to other characters in the comic and animation within the tables, as well as other zero press characters who do not belong to the current history and sometimes interact with the other characters. There are also several internal references in dialogues and plots to other Zero Press albums, particularly in the Kenshemo saga which is equipped with its continuity.

The title of the register is reported in italics, and in brackets the series of which these comics are parody is named.

Italian series parodies [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

• September 1995: Ist Blob (Dylan Dog) (published as Big Comics)
• December 1995: Nathant Neuter – Vaffa special agent (Nathan Never) (published as Big Comics)
• May 1996: Lazaron Lord – The true identity (Lazarus Ledd) (published as Big Comics)
• May 1996: Natrant Neuter contro Lazaron Lord (Published as Big Comics)
• May 1996: Parabolik – Crimi and Misfatti S.p.A. (Diabolik)
• October 1996: fax – Balls in cane (Tex)
• Ot October 1996: Martyn Clysère – Italian Jones and the last crusade word (Martin Mystery)
  • A second part, entitled “Martyn Clystère and Mandrago – Hemorrhoid Sulla Terra! “, announced at the end of the story, will never be published due to the failure of the house.
• October 1997: Zugar – The witty with the acceptance (Murmur)
• March 1995: Isto Bob – The night of the living gardens (Dylan Dog)

US series parodies [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

• February 1997: Papman – The legend of the dark parody (Batman)
• May 1997: Thrush (The Raven)
• October 1997: Stuporma, the zinc man (Superman)

Japanese series parodies [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

• October 1996: Kenshemo the war – Who touches yellow dies (Ken the warrior)
  • February 1997: Kenshemo the war against Bobo
  • May 1997: Kenshemo the war against Mr. Jingle
  • May 1997: Kensheemo The War War Contro Agliens
  • May 1997: The death of Kenshemo the war
  • October 1997: Kenshemo the war against Rocopop
  • October 1997 The warriors of Katzuto
  • May 1998: Kenshemo against Dragor Pall (Last number)
• October 1997: Rasma 3/4 – Anything but woe! (Ranma ½)
• October 1997: Dragor Pall – The predators of the lost orc (Dragon Ball)
• May 1998: Dr. Pulp and Anal – Papagotchi, the virtual pig! (Dr. Slump e Arale)

Mix of countries [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

• Demons
• Protector
• ONE. National operational unit

Dragor Pall [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

Dragor Pall is a parody of Dragon Ball conceived by Sal Virelli. The register (unique number) takes its name from the nickname of the protagonist Botu Lino, almost identical to Goku as a young man was only for the snake tail instead of a monkey. Even his friends make the verse to various characters from the world of Dragon Ball: Kiki is a girl who vaguely recalls Bulma, Oronz is a sort of anthropomorphic hippopotamus with the diapers that makes the verse to the pig transformist Olong, and finally Maui, the man Coccinella (because she wears a ladybug shell on the back), it is a parody of the master Muten with Maurizio Costanzo’s face.

In history, The predators of the lost orc , Botu comes into possession of a map that indicates the location of the Dice of the Ogon, two magical objects that allow those who find them to express a desire (and that Botu wants to exploit to break through in the world of television). To get hold of the dice, however, Botu will face three terrible tests:

• I clash with Hamamet the magnificent, Arab warrior from the features of Bettino Craxi
• Clash with the two giants Vito and Gaetano, the Bronzes of Riaku (won by Botu with the Effangala technique, a parody of Kamehameha)
• Compilation of form 740 administered by the perfidious Vaselyn.

In the end Botu and company manage to get the dice, but they can’t do better than to end up acting in a film entitled “Jessica Bobbit still cuts” (which makes the verse both to those who have stuck Roger Rabbit and the news events with Protagonist Lorena Bobbit), directed by Vaselyn himself.

Errors [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

In a table Botu says that the special blow he is performing was taught by Kenshemo the war, but in the register Kenshemo the war against Dragor Pall Not only are the two know each other, but Botu even has to cross a dimensional portal to meet Kenshemo.

Papman [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

The register contains two stories that make the verse to the two Batman films directed by Tim Burton.
In the first story Papman (the man-pasta) assumes his identity as superhero to avenge the death of the parents attacked by a criminal, or at least so he believe : In fact, due to the abuse of drugs during his young age, his mind is not perfectly in place, and so he continues to believe that his parents have deceased while on several occasions it is shown that they are alive. The enemy he has to face is a clown, an obvious parody of the Joker (and some allusions of the dialogues make the reference to the film making it clear that it is Jack Nicholson), who kidnapped the favorite daughter of “Oira Morfei” to take revenge on how He had been treated by the other circus artists and asks for a huge redemption to leave it free. Obviously not everything goes as expected.

In the second story, the criminal on duty is the pinguine, a stuffing of banks: the reference is twofold as not only is a parody of the penguin of Batman – The return , but it is also a reference to the religious homonymous of the film The Blues Brothers . The references with the film become more labile, while they become stronger those with the comic with the introduction of the Auzenta of Papman, an ex-hydraulic learning driver who makes Robin’s parody, giving way to the most classic homoerotic and pedophile allusions on the relationship between the two.

Due to the closure of the house, some parodies announced and advertised on the same registers (even if it was not known at what level of completion they were) were never published. Among them:

This list must also be added series that made the parody of phenomena of the television world:

• X-Falsi (X-Files)
• Skass Treck (Star Trek, apparently parody both of the original and subsequent series)