Aurelio Galleppini, who used the pseudonym of Galep, was the artists that first brought to life the well-known Italian comic character Tex Willer. Born in Casal di Pari, Galleppini was a self-taught artist who gave up his technical studies to pursue an artistic career. He published his first professional drawings in Mundos Fanciulla. He was active in comics since the mid-1930s, starting with the creation of 'Il Segreto del Mohore' with Lavezzolo. With Federico Pedrocchi, he made 'Pino il Mozzo' and 'Le Perle del Mar d'Oman' for the publishing house Mondadori.
He lived and worked in Florence since the early 1940s. He contributed to La Patria, for which he created 'La Conquista dell'Atlantico' and 'La Fiamma che non si Spegne'. He also appeared in the fascist magazineL'Avventuroso, with among others 'La Sirena dell'Artide'. Note that his name was spelled Caleppini instead of Galeppini in this magazine. After being moblized for the Italian army, he returned to civil life in 1947. He settled in Milan, where he contributed to Intrepido and Albi dell'Intrepido.
He began a longtime collaboration with Gianluigi Bonelli, starting with 'Occhio Cupo' in L'Audace. Galep and Bonelli then created the famous 'Tex Willer' character, whose adventures appeared in their own comic book, Collana del Tex, from 1948.
Text (c) Lambiek
