Sergeant Kirk, El Sargento Kirk or Sgt. Kirk, is the title and main character of a western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 comics

Comics

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 series by Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 comic book creator

Comic book creator

A comic book creator is someone who creates a comic book or graphic novel.The production of a comic book by one of the major comic book companies in the U.S...

 Hugo Pratt

Hugo Pratt

Hugo Eugenio Pratt was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese...

 and Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 author Héctor Germán Oesterheld

Héctor Germán Oesterheld

Héctor Germán Oesterheld , also known as his common abbreviation HGO, was an Argentine journalist and writer of graphic novels and comics who has come to be celebrated as a master in his field....

.

Publication history

The series, originally created in Argentina during the Golden era of Argentine comic, was first published in issue 225 of the weekly comics magazine Misterix on January 9, 1953. Sargento Kirk continued its run in Misterix until issue 475 on December 20, 1957, when Oesterheld's own publishing house Ediciones Frontera was established, and the series resumed in the Frontera magazine Hora Zero. It ran until 1959 when Pratt departed from Argentina. Additional Sargento Kirk stories were published into the early 70s, drawn by Jorge Moliterni, Porreca and Gisela Dexter.

Synopsis

Sergeant Kirk is a former soldier of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 who goes on to serve in the post-war Wild West. Forced to participate in a massacre of American Indians by the U.S. Army, Kirk deserts and devotes himself to defending the Indians. An essentially noble man, Kirk treats even his enemies with tolerance and humanism

Humanism

Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

. Among Kirk's companions appearing in the series are "El Corto”, Dr. Forbes and the Native American boy, Maha.

Magazine

Sgt. Kirk was chosen as the name of the magazine Pratt launched in Italy in July 1967, aided financially by the patron Florenzo Ivaldi. This carried showcased work from the Argentine period, as well as the series Luck Star O'Hara, Gli Scorpioni del Deserto, and the first publication of Corto Maltese

Corto Maltese

Corto Maltese is a comics series featuring an eponymous character, a complex sailor-adventurer. It was created by Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt in 1967...

in the story Una Ballata del Mare Salato. The magazine maintained regular distribution until 1969, and was issued sporadically during the 70s.

Sources

• Sgt. Kirk publications, Misterix publications ArchivesPratt
• Sgt. Kirk magazine dossier FFF

Footnotes

External links

• Sergent Kirk French album publications Bedetheque