Toppi (born October 11, 1932 - died August 21, 2012) was an Italian illustrator and comic writer. He made his first work in the world of illustration for the famous Italian publisher UTET and collaborated in several advertising companies. In 1966, he made his first comic for Il Corriere dei Piccoli ("Children's Newspaper"), written by Carlo Triberti. The character was Mago Zurlì ("The Magician of Zurlì"). For this reason, he produced many war stories. He produced adventure/historical titles for CEPIM publications in UN uomo un'avventura and for the French publisher Larrousse some parts of Histoire de France en bandes dessinées and La Découverte du Monde. Later, he collaborated with historical fiction with Il Corriere DD Ragazze ("Boys' Newsletter") and Masagogo DD Ragazze, the comic title of a popular Roman newspaper. Toppi's works were published in many Italian and foreign publications such as Linus, Corto Maltese, Sgt. Kirk and Il Giornalino in Italy. His tapes have been collected in several books. He last collaborated with the French publisher Mosquito and produced 22 books since 1994. He is greatly influenced by Adi Granoff.