Torpedo (or Torpedo 1936) is a Spanish comics series created by Enrique Sánchez Abulí and Alex Toth – though mostly drawn by Jordi Bernet, which depicts the adventures of the antagonistic character Luca Torelli, a heartless hitman, and his sidekick Rascal, in context of the violent organized crime culture of New York City during the Great Depression era.

Luca Torelli flees from Sicily for America as a teenager in fear of his life where he works as a shoe shiner, meeting an abusive senior police officer named MacDonald whom he finally shoots, being involved in other law infringements, such as bank robberies, which also happen to end in murders, and soon becoming a hit man ("torpedo" is 1920s slang for a contract killer). Some time later, he gets a Polish American sidekick called Rascal.

Toth drew the first two stories in 1981 for the Spanish horror comics magazine Creepy but decided his sensibilities were different to Abulí and his darkly humorous view of mankind and frequent use of profanity.

Jordi Bernet then drew the series, winning the 1986 Angoulême Best Foreign Album Award as the strip gained its own dedicated magazine, Luca Torelli es Torpedo in 1991.

Now, after thirteen years without a new Torpedo story, Eduardo Risso is to draw the new book written by Abulí, published next month by Panini and taking the character forward in time thirty-six years for Torpedo 1972. It's been a long time for the readers, it's been even longer for the cast of the comic book.

Risso is an Argentine comics artist best known in the US for his work with writer Brian Azzarello on the comic book 100 Bullets, with whom he is also collaborating on the Image Comics series Moonshine. In Argentina and Europe, he is better known for Parque Chas with Ricardo Barreiro and for Fulù, Simon: An American Tale and Borderline with Carlos Trillo – with whom Bernet created significant comic book works with as well, including Cicca Dum-Dum, Clara de Noche, and more.

And here's the newly released cover…

With a few examples of panel work to follow.