The big DC Comics news was announced today at the Western World's largest comic convention Lucca Comics & Games (only beaten in size by Tokyo's Comiket). A new DC Comics crossover between the DC Universe characters and those of Italian publisher Sergio Bonelli Editore and RW Edizioni.

The first crossover project, scheduled for release next year, will focus on the characters of Zagor and Flash.

Flash, all Bleeding Cool readers will know. Zagor possibly less so.

Zagor was created by Sergio Bonelli and Gallieno Ferri in 1961. Real name Patrick Wilding, living in the forests of Pennsylvania during the first half of the 19th century. Zagor is short for Za-Gor Te-Nay, "The Spirit with the Hatchet". A master acrobat, Zagor fights to maintain peace over all his territory, protect native American tribes and hunt down criminals.

As a boy, he saw his parents die at the hands of Abenaki native Americans and swore revenge. But he later learning that his father had himself slaughtered many native Americans, and he gained a more nuanced approach, becoming an avenger for justice, a hatchet-wielding acrobat, Zagor. Stories ranged from westerns, to supernatural horror, to science fiction.

The comic remains popular in Italy today, but also especially popular in Serbia, Croatia and in Turkey – which made unofficial Zagor movies in Turkish. The US saw initial reprints of Zagor in 2015 from Epicenter Comics, it's possible there may be a few more now.

This is the first planned Sergio Bonelli/DC Comics crossover with more to come in 2019 and 2020.

"Everyone at Sergio Bonelli Editore is excited to be part of an event of this magnitude," said Editorial Director Michele Masiero. "Our creative minds set off the moment we met DC and RW friends for the first time."

"We are proud to help make this historic project possible and be part of it," said Pasquale Saviano, Managing Director of RW Edizioni. "We look forward to working with SBE and DC to give Italian readers the most exciting stories they could have ever expected."