SAF ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS MAGIC WIND... Gianfranco Manfredi's Magic Wind is a monthly adventure series from SAF, set on the American Frontier in the late 1800's. Through over 75 issues to date, the wide ranging series has followed the journey of Private Ned Ellis, who the Indians call "Magic Wind". Magic Wind (alias Ned Ellis) is an ex-soldier who was victim of a political-military plot. Barely surviving an explosion of an armored freight car, set up by a gang of corrupt soldiers and arms traffickers, and in between life and death, he is taken in by Lame Horse, an old Lakota shaman. Interpreting the indications he received in a vision, the old man sees in Ned an emissary of the Big Spirit. Welcome among the Indians, Ned is reborn. Haunted by a harrowing past that comes back to him in fragments and sometimes threatens to overwhelm him, and running toward a future that is frequently unsettling and appears menacing to the Indians, Magic Wind lives the double role of warrior and shaman. He struggles with flesh and blood adversaries, as well as with enemies even more dangerous and lethal than men: ghosts, evil spirits and mysterious creatures that cannot be confronted with traditional weapons. He must constantly seek new resources in the secret powers of Indian magic. Still, Magic Wind is not a hero with omnipresent supernatural powers. In fact, his abilities only awaken in certain difficult situations and require the delicate balance between body and mind that cannot be maintained for long. Such experiences often leave him exhausted and confused. They save him from the burden of solitude and leave him with the feeling of belonging to his adoptive tribe, profound feelings of friendship and understanding of others. Ned is not a cold-hearted executioner for whom the end justifies the means. Even though violence often surrounds him and emergencies force him to make quick decisions, Magic Wind always respects his adversaries. He is even generous enough to forgive them if he sees that they can be redeemed.

Book #1: Fort Ghost He was hit in the head by a metal fragment that wiped out his memory and in return bestowed on him the power of clairvoyance. Among the Sioux he is known as Magic Wind, as it was the wind that led them to him. But he used to be Private Ned Ellis, survivor of an explosion on the army train he was travelling in. What awful secret lurks behind what seems on the surface to be a tragic accident? To unravel the mystery, Ned will have to embark on a tormented journey into his past. Only at the end of his path, among the specters of Fort Ghost, will he be able to find the truth. On the train, he meets Willy Richards, a journalist from Chicago, and they instantly become inseparable friends. They share the same enemy: Howard Hogan, an ignoble businessman from Chicago who, the two friends discover, robbed a military train years ago, disguising it as an accident. This first story serves as introduction of the characters and their main traits, as well as serving as a prologue to the series.

Book #19: The Devil's Left Hand The coal mining town of Eureka lives in fear of Sheriff Coleman and his deputies, who shoot first and ask questions later. And that's not the biggest problem in Eureka: irresponsible log-ging, sabotage, lawlessness and even a haunt-ing plague the town. Ned Ellis regains another memory just in time to realize that Sheriff Coleman has a beef to settle. Ned used to be one of Coleman's deputies until a disagreement over an arrest led to a gunfight between the two men. Coleman lost the gunfight, and has been confined to a wheelchair ever since. Before trying to exact his revenge, the Sheriff uses Ned to figure out who is responsible for the state of affairs that has turned Eureka into a living Hell.

Book #24: The Man Without a Face Dick Carr, a popular Chicago actor and master of disguise, was disfigured when his wife threw acid in his face during a performance. Dick killed her in front of the appalled audience audience and ran away, throwing himself into the river. Everybody believes that he's dead, but Dick has survived. Dick uses his chameleon-like ability to pose as Hogan, and goes to Loup Fork in Hogan's place. Unfortunately for Dick, Hogan's host in Loup Fork is a maniacal banker whose sick hobby is torturing newborn babies. When Magic Wind arrives at Loup Fork on Hogan's trail, the sheriff falsely arrests him for kidnapping the town's newborns. Ned is sentenced to death for the crime and Dick Can uses his talents to help free him, resulting in a whirlwind of mistaken identity with life and death stakes.

Book #72: Jerico A series of firebombings disturbs the peace in Jericho, a mercantile town that derives its wealth from travelers passing through on the rails. Poe almost falls victim to the first of these blazes, but he is saved by Sister Blandina, a young nun from Italy. She is terribly worried: she's had a vision warning her that Jericho is doomed to a dramatic fate. The small American town is named after the ancient Biblical city that Joshua conquered: a sacrilege, as the Bible explicitly forbids reconstruction of Jericho.

Book #74: Niagara Magic Wind, whose heart has been closed to visions for some time, has a dream about Norma. He sees her standing at the edge of a waterfall, about to plunge to her death. Has he had a simple nightmare or a dark premonition? The only way to find out is to find Norma Snow, who lives in voluntary isolation near Howard Hogan and Doctor Kernan in an old house, full of sorrow. But why is Senator Fulton's agent Henry Task (Dick Carr in disguise) trying to prevent Ned from finding Norma and encountering Hogan, while another takes charge of thwarting Poe?

For synopses of all of the "Magic Wind" issues to date, visit
www.safcomics.com/magicwind