Bilbolbul is the first Italian comic book character, who appeared for the first time on December 27, 1908 within the pages of Corriere dei Piccoli, the supplement for children combined with the Corriere della Sera of the time. Draftsman and author of nursery rhymes in kissed rhyme Attilio Mussino, famous illustrator who also worked on the 1911 edition of the Adventures of Pinocchio. The surreal and disruptive cartoon even for modern times, tells of an African child who has the curious characteristic of transform or take literally all the metaphorical phrases in common use.
If he happens to be confused by losing his mind, his head really detaches from his body, so even if he is angry it becomes really green with anger, so much so that it has to be painted again to return to its natural color. In case of help, you cannot tell Bilbolbul to give you a hand, because he will surely detach his limb from his arm to deliver it to you, but fear not because when he returns to his Tukul (the hut), it will be reassembled by his mother or some relative. When Bilbolbul says he wants to touch the sky with a finger, then his finger stretches out to the point of reaching the clouds, so his father will be forced to shorten it with a pair of scissors.
One of the most curious stories is that of when he promises his parents to engage in study. At the phrase `` Bilbolbul plants himself at the table '' the nice African child appears, who, armed with a pickaxe and a watering can, begins to `` plant the table '' as if it were earth. So after a month of study and effort, Bibolbul blooms again and from his arms the branches of a flowering tree sprout from which the fruits will also ripen, which will be collected by his parents.
Attilio Mussino made Bilbolbul's comics, they used the caption instead of the balloons and published them alternately, for a total of about fifty pages until 1958.

In honor of this historic character, the name was given to the International Comics Festival which is held every year in Bologna since 2007.

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