(1924). Fumetto during Fascism The fascist regime was quick to recognize the potential for propaganda through the new medium. During the 1920s several periodicals published educational comics for Italian youth, including Il Giornale dei Balilla (1923) and La piccola italiana (1927). The three most popular characters of the period, reprinted for decades on Corrierino, were: "Il Signor Bonaventura" by Sergio Tofano (1917), was the Italian response to "Happy Hooligan", with a big difference: if the latter is always unlucky, at the end of every story Bonaventura wins a million liras. "Sor Pampurio" (an Italian equivalent of "Bringing Up Father") by Carlo Bisi (1925), was a parody of parvenus: not really Fascist, it expresses bourgeois classism. "Marmittone" by Bruno Angoletta (1929), was a mildly antimilitaristic strip, the maximum anti-authoritarianism allowed by Fascism. Beginning January 1, 1939, the publication of foreign comics was forbidden, and Italian material was required to follow a strict standard, exalting heroism, patriotism, and the superiority of the Italian race. To work around these restrictions, some publishers simply renamed American heroes with Italian names. The only exception to the censorship was Topolino, the Italian name for Mickey Mouse, published by Nerbini starting on December 31, 1931. Apparently, the reason behind this special treatment for Walt Disney's character was Benito Mussolini's children's passion for the little mouse. In 1935 Nerbini sold Topolino to Mondadori, which published it with great success until 1988. In 1932 Milan publisher Lotario Vecchi started Jumbo, a weekly magazine that many consider the first true Italian comics publication. The magazine reached a circulation of 350,000 copies, sanctioning comics as a mainstream medium with broad appeal. In 1937 Il Vittorioso appeared, a Catholic magazine entirely composed of Italian comics. It was an attempt to compete with similar secular publications like L'Avventuroso (1934), Il Monello (1933), and L'Audace (1937). After World War II: Bonelli and the rise of the comic book The end of World War II marked a flurry of activity in the Italian comic press: many titles that were forced to suspend publication during the war come back to saturate the newsstands, joined by new publications often backed by improvised publishers looking for a quick buck. Finally this oversupply of comic material resulted in a crisis of the traditional comic magazine. 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),