His friends
  
  


             
illy Richards, called Poe because of his amazing resemblance to the
famous writer, is Magico Vento's inseparable companion and friend. Persecuted for his courageous pieces of investigative journalism in which he uncovered all sorts of shady political deals, Poe has an anarchist's spirit - he
detests oppressive power, he's an enemy of Washington lobbies, of unscrupulous wheeling and dealing in the world of big business and of the ruthless «civilization» of the Frontier carried out at the expense of the Indians. But he's also a man accustomed to city life, ill at ease out in the prairies, and he has been forced to become a man of action more or less despite himself. Indian customs often leave him feeling perplexed. He has a natural inclination to be distrustful of the supernatural, partly because he is afraid of it: in the past he was an alcoholic and it cost him an enormous amount of effort to get rid of the delirium caused by whisky. He regards himself as a no-nonsense kind of person, and he's always tried to find rational answers even to the most incredible events. But, although he's unwilling to admit it, Poe is above all a man of strong emotions, unable to separate judgments from affections, and it's this that makes him particularly attractive.
  
Dick Carr is an extraordinarily talented actor who falls victim to a terrible instance of matrimonial revenge. Tired of his never-ending string of affairs with other women, his wife throws vitriol at his face during a performance, and he suffers terrible burns. Dick strangles her on the spot right in front of the horrified audience, thereby condemning himself to being constantly on the run from his past and to a life of loneliness. Carr's extraordinary ability to disguise himself
and act out parts enables him to assume any identity he wishes, and that's why, when we see him return to action, we find him with the scowling features of Howard Hogan, and then as Hogan's «lieutenant», Herbert. But this is not all: as he has a rather complex personality, Dick Carr gradually shifts from an attitude of egoistical vengefulness, which had led him to become one of Hogan's henchmen, to a front line commitment against the latter's crooked dealings. At first Carr's U-turn is due to the fact that Magico Vento has managed to gain control over his mind, but then, once his testimony before the Federal Inquiry offers him the opportunity for a new life serving the law, he fights courageously alongside Ned and Poe with the new identity of Henry Task.
Major Eccles commands the military garrison stationed in the area where Magico Vento's tribe lives. He is an upright and honest man, capable of understanding the rightful demands of the Indians and wishing to keep the peace. He knows and appreciates Magico Vento's powers, just as he is certainly not unaware that the former soldier is wanted, like Poe, by Hogan's men: for Major Eccles, this is one more reason to side with his two friends.
   

Senator Fulton, Hogan's sworn enemy and bitter opponent of the coterie of political cronies who regularly come to Hogan's aid, searches tirelessly for the evidence of crimes that shore up the entire network of shady activities undertaken by the tycoon from Chicago. His integrity and his opposition to the fatal connivance between political and economic interests that underlies
Hogan's speculative maneuvers earned him an attempt on his life. Fortunately, the attack failed completely, and it certainly did not dissuade the gutsy Senator from trying to get to the bottom of things. It was Fulton who was instrumental in getting Dick Carr included among the agents of his federal secret service in exchange for his testimony. Similarly, Fulton never fails to give Ned and Poe as much help as he possibly can, fighting faithfully side by side with them against all the plots and intrigues that are seriously jeopardizing peace in the Western Territories during this period.
Inspired by the real figure of George Catlin (1796-1872), an artist, ethnologist and writer, Cole Turpin, called Molti-colori, is a likeable adventurer who doesn't hesitate, when the need arises, to resort to some scam or some providential stratagem, and doesn't shrink from a few tricks even if they involve deception. Nor does he shrink from the prospect of lifting a thing or two if the object of his desire is an interesting souvenir of the magic tradition of some tribe. But he's a sincere and respectful friend of the Indian Nations and their cultures, and he devotes considerable effort to trying to document their traditions in his sketches, aware of the terrible damage wreaked by so-called progress on the immense and precious spiritual heritage of the

 

Native Americans.
    

The shaman Cavallo Zoppo is Magico Vento's mentor. He is killed by Louis Beaumont, a Confederate officer who practises voodoo, but he still continues to accompany Magico Vento as a Spirit Guide; whenever particularly difficult circumstances require his presence, Lame Horse appears and offers advice.   
 
Uccide-se-Stesso is a heyoke, a «contrary», the comedian of the tribe - a trickster. He talks and acts in opposites, and he behaves paradoxically, but he's a highly sensitive man, always ready to comfort others but himself equally in need of attention and consolation.
  
The young daughter of Coda-di-Toro, the head of the tribe that gave shelter to Ned, Rifiuta-di-Smettere is a girl who's full of life, stubborn and proud, sexually liberated, with no intention at all of getting married, much too wrapped up in defending her freedom to want to get really involved with a man. Rebellious and defiant by temperament, Refuses-to-Give-Up is bound to Magico Vento by a love that has never been openly declared, although often and eagerly put into practice.
  
Rita Fletcher is a young lady on the run. The widow of a peasant who was much older than her, to whom she was very sincerely attached although without actually loving him, she is forced to resort to a pistol to make it clear who's the boss. Magico Vento offers her his protection, which soon blossoms into mutual love. But even Magico Vento wouldn't have managed to get Rita, who is of Italian origin, onto a ship bound for Europe if it hadn't been for the providential intervention of Senator Fulton, who procured her a different identity.
            
Little Boy, the agent who works in tandem with Henry Task, is one of Senator Fulton's most trusted men, as well as being a first-class investigator. For Ned and Poe he's a truly precious ally, especially when they're faced with the need to shed light on the tangle of mysteries smoldering in the corridors of power in Washington.

HIS ENEMIES

Lots of them, but none of them as treacherous and
determined as the diabolical wheeler-dealer Howard Hogan!