Who created it? Preceded by a number zero with a different graphic look, the first volume of the collection Un uomo un'avventura appeared on Italian newsstands in November, 1976, under the banner of Editoriale Cepim (as today's Sergio Bonelli Editore was then known). An idea of the selfsame Sergio Bonelli, the collection was edited by Decio Canzo, who also wrote some of the scripts. Thirty volumes appeared in all, on an irregular schedule, during the course of the series' five-year life span (the last volume appeared in November, 1980). The cover price doubled during that time, going from 2500 lire in 1976 to 5000 lire in 1980.

What is it? It was the first (and so far the only) collection of hardbound volumes published by Bonelli. The color and the prestigious covers (these were large-format 24 x 31.5 cm books in the classic "French format", printed on heavy coated stock) constituted the most distinctive traits when contrasted to the publisher's traditional output. But it is principally innovations in content that caused the series to be remembered as one of the brightest moments of Italian comics publishing.

Who are the heroes? The real heart of the collection is in fact adventure, or rather, every kind of adventure from the most classical to the less common, but always taking place within an extremely realistic historical context, around which revolve the human vicissitudes of heroes, antiheroes, and common people. From the exotic Foreign Legion to the Zulu war in South Africa; from the Brazilian Cangaceiros to the Boxer Rebellion in China; from the mysterious Thugs of India to Prohibition America; from enigmatic Tibet to jazz in Harlem's golden age; from the battles of the Russo-Japanese War to those of World War II; from the Florida swamps to the endless African desert; from the distant Caribbean to the frozen wastes of Canada.

Who are the authors? The clear break with editorial tradition is evident even in the decision to feature the artists' names in the cover box at the expense of the writers'. Thanks to this decision, sharing the spotlight with distinguished creators like Hugo Pratt, Attilio Micheluzzi, Dino Battaglia, Sergio Toppi, Guido Crepax, Gino D'Antonio, and Alarico Gattia were some of the publisher's long-standing artists like Aurelio Galleppini and Renato Polese, as well a others as yet not well known to Bonellian readers, like Giancarlo Alessandrini, Guido Buzzelli, Milo Manara and Ferdinando Tacconi. Backing up these last on the scripts, besides the already-mentioned Bonelli, Canzio, and D'Antonio, was a young but promising Alfredo Castelli. The collection also had the privilege of hosting prestigious international creators like Fernando Fernandez, Robert Gigi, Jo Oliveira, and Enric Siò; of consecrating the unique narrative gifts of an author like Bonvi, and of christening the first color story by the Berardi - Milazzo team, then at the height of their collaboration.