Mission Impossible: How Tex Willer Saved the West in Italian Imagery

Tex Willer, created in 1948 and published continuously for more than 77 years, is one of the most popular and enduring comic book series in Italy. The character introduced generations of Italian readers, both young and old, to a Western hero who challenged many conventions of the genre. Traditionally, Western heroes are rugged, independent frontier figures who uphold justice through courage, honor, and self-reliance in the face of danger and lawlessness. While Tex shares these qualities, he distinguishes himself through his deep respect for Native Americans, his willingness to challenge authority, and his role as a cultural bridge between the American frontier and the Italian imagination. A former outlaw turned Texas Ranger and Navajo chief, Tex is known by the title Aquila della Notte (Eagle of the Night). Faithful to the memory of his late Navajo wife, Lilyth, he is fiercely committed to defending Native American rights. Distrustful of the federal government and often at odds with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tex devotes himself to fighting injustice, whether confronting corrupt officials, hunting bandits, or battling sinister adversaries such as the magician Mefisto. 📅 Wednesday, July 22nd ⏰ 7:00-8:00pm 📍 ICCC, 1101 Milford St 🎟 Free event | limited seating, RSVP highly encouraged About the Presenter Alessandro Carrera is Chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of Houston. He has published extensively in many fields, including philosophy, Italian and Comparative Literature, Music, Cinema, journalism, and the arts. He has been awarded the Montale Prize for poetry (1993), the Loria prize for short fiction (1999), the Bertolucci Prize for literary criticism (2006), the Flaiano Prize for Italian Studies abroad (2019, and the Fondazione Marazza Prize for translation (2023). He has edited the English edition of Italian contemporary philosophers (Massimo Cacciari, Emanuele Severino, Carlo Sini) and has translated into Italian six novels of Graham Greene and all the songs and prose of Bob Dylan. Recently, he has published an anthology of his poems (Il vagoncino rosso, Crocetti, 2026).