A Man Called... Sunday by James Zee

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Ringo 24, 1973
Ringo (Sport Magazine, 1967 series) #24
The first Australian appearance of Víctor de la Fuente and Víctor Mora's Sunday (KG Murray, Australia).

A Man Called... Sunday

Episode 1
Page 1
by Víctor de la Fuente and Víctor Mora in Ringo 24, 1973 (KG Murray, Australia).

Alongside the comic's lead character, KG Murray's Ringo 24 gave cover-billing to a new series: "Introducing-- A man of courage who rides alone. A man called... Sunday".11Special thanks to Mark Muller and Spiros Xenos for images to illustrate this article....  

Episode 2: Il Implacable
Page 1
by Víctor de la Fuente and Víctor Mora in Saloon 1, 1981 (Hitpress, Spain).

From 1973 to 1977, Sunday appeared every issue and usually received cover promotion. The final Sunday episode is in Ringo 41, the comic's second last issue. Remarkably for KG Murray, all 18 episodes were printed in order and on a regular schedule.

Episode 3
Page 1
by Víctor de la Fuente and Víctor Mora in Ringo 26 (KG Murray, Australia).

The new series told the story of a Union colonel who returns from the civil war to discover his son missing and his wife killed by southern bandits. Sunday sets out to find his son, traversing the far-west and helping the people he meets.

Sunday is not a typical western protagonist for the time. He is a pacifist who repeatedly echoes, "Do not call me colonel, I remember the war". The series covers topics that were progressive for comics of the time, including unionism, abuses of the wealth, military corruption and freedom of the press. The stories are tinged with bitterness and the violence is not glorified.

Sunday was a product of the Spanish Selecciones Ilustradas agency, created in 1968 by artist Víctor de la Fuente (b. 1927) 22Born in Spain in 1927, Víctor de la Fuente began comics work in the studio of López Rubio in the...   and author Víctor Mora (b. 1931).33Víctor Mora is one of Spain's most significant comic writers and he created El Capitán Trueno, the most popular Spanish...   It was the first of several collaborations,44Including Les Anges d'Acier in Pilote (Dargaud, France), the famous French comic magazine that published Astérix et Obélix....   and just one of the westerns Víctor de la Fuente created and worked on during his career.55Victor de la Fuente worked on other popular Western series. In the mid-1970s he created Amargo (Hachette, Spain) and in...  

Although it is frequently reported that Victor de la Fuente drew all of the Sunday stories, the series is the work of more than one Fuente. Their story illustrates much about the motivations and operation of the Selecciones Ilustradas agency.

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References

1
Special thanks to Mark Muller and Spiros Xenos for images to illustrate this article.
2
Born in Spain in 1927, Víctor de la Fuente began comics work in the studio of López Rubio in the 1940s before emigrating to Argentina and then to Chile. During this period, he co-launched the magazine El Peneca and drew for Dell Publishing in New York. After returning to Spain in 1959, he began an association with Selecciones Ilustradas. From 1962 to 1971, he illustrated thousands of pages of comics for DC Thompson (Battle, War and Commando) and Fleetway (Eagle and Lion) in the UK. In the 1970s, he did diverse historical, western and sword & sorcery series in Europe, with "Haxtur" and "Haggath" subsequently published in Warren's Eerie and 1984. Víctor de la Fuente won the Grand Prize of the Barcelona Comic Fair in 2006. For further information, see lambiek.net.
3
Víctor Mora is one of Spain's most significant comic writers and he created El Capitán Trueno, the most popular Spanish comics hero. Mora was born in Spain in 1931 and worked in the SI studio from 1968 to 1974. Mora also authored Dick Turpin with Martin Salvadore, and Delta 99 and Dani Futuro with Carlos Giménez (Ringo/Gringo). Mora worked under a number of pseudonyms, including Eugenio Roca and Victor Alcazar. See lambiek.net/artists/m/mora-victor.htm and www.bailsprojects.com.
4
Including Les Anges d'Acier in Pilote (Dargaud, France), the famous French comic magazine that published Astérix et Obélix.
5
Victor de la Fuente worked on other popular Western series. In the mid-1970s he created Amargo (Hachette, Spain) and in 1979 he workd on Les Gringos, with writer Jean-Michel Charlier and Guy Vidal. This series includes as guest appearance by a 70 year old "Lieutenant Blueberry" (created by France's Jean Giraud). He has also worked on Italy's most famous western, "Tex" (created by Giovanni Bonelli and Aurelio Galleppin).