The term fumetto (literally little puff of smoke) refers to the distinctive word balloons that contain the dialogue in comics (also called nuvoletta, "little cloud", in Italian).

The first issue introduced readers to the adventures of Bilbolbul by Attilio Mussino, featuring a little black kid who is considered the first Italian comic character.

Il Corrierino introduced American comics to an Italian audience: "Happy Hooligan" was renamed "Fortunello", "The Katzenjammer Kids" became "Bibì e Bibò", Bringing Up Father was "Arcibaldo e Petronilla", "Felix the Cat" became "Mio Mao".

Among the numerous publications of the period were L'Avventura (1944), a Roman magazine that presented American adventure strips like Mandrake, L'Uomo Mascherato (The Phantom), and Flash Gordon.

In 1945, one of the most original magazines of the period was born: L'asso di Picche published in Venice as a result of the work of a group of young Venetian artists, including Alberto Ongaro, Damiano Damiani, Dino Battaglia, Rinaldo D'Ami, and above all Fernando Carcupino and Hugo Pratt.

Born on September 30, 1948, from the imagination of Gian Luigi Bonelli and from the pencil of Aurelio Galleppini, Tex Willer became the model for a line of publications that became known as Bonelliano, from the name of the publisher.

Some of the series that followed Tex Willer were Zagor (1961), a tomahawk-wielding hero who protects the imaginary Darkwood forest in eastern US, Comandante Mark (1966), featuring a soldier in the American independence war, and more recently Mister No (1975), about an American pilot who operates a small tourist flying agency in the Amazonian jungle, and Martin Mystère (1982), featuring an anthropologist/archaeologist/art historian who investigates paranormal phenomena and archaeological mysteries.

The latter was created in the 1960s by one of the most famous duos of comics history, Magnus & Bunker, whose most outstanding creation, however, is the humorous espionage series Alan Ford (1969).

In the 1970s and early '80s, many young intellectual artists centred around the famous student city of Bologna began to be influenced by the underground comic scene of the United States, typified by the work of Robert Crumb.

[8] Artists such as Andrea Pazienza, Filippo Scòzzari, Stefano Tamburini, Tanino Liberatore, and Massimo Mattioli published stories with dark and surreal themes, ranging from political activism, to struggles with drug addiction and the disagio and disillusionment of youth culture in Italy.

Though read by a more restricted audience, in the past years comics series with the greatest critical success are Corto Maltese, by Hugo Pratt, and Valentina by Guido Crepax.

At present American production of new stories has dwindled (Don Rosa publishes in Europe), and this niche has been filled by companies in South America, Denmark and Italy.

Among the most important artists and authors are Marco Rota, Romano Scarpa, Giorgio Cavazzano, Massimo De Vita, Giovan Battista Carpi and Guido Martina.

The main publication, digest size Topolino, prints only new stories every week, but there exist 32 different series of reprints going on, for 30 million of copies sold each year.