Italian Studies | Comics Studies
In the 80s, while Frank Miller and Alan Moore were exploring the comics medium to convey a new sense of temporality, the Italian cartoonist Sergio Toppi was similarly experimenting new reading and compositional strategies in his works, and particularly in his graphic novel Sharaz-De (1984), inspired by the Arabian Nights. This paper investigates Toppi’s approach... Continue Reading →
This paper seeks to examine the categories of “high” and “low” within the medium of comics itself, through the example of the Italian comics magazine Orient Express (1982-1985). Founded by Luigi Bernardi, Orient Express was one of the many “auteur comics magazines” that in those decades imported a Franco-Belgian format into Italy. However, this editorial... Continue Reading →
My paper analyzes the contribution of the comics magazine Orient Express, published by Luigi Bernardi from June 1982 to March 1985, to the development of the adult comics culture in Italy. Although Orient Express consists of only thirty issues, its role in the Italian comics world of that period is not to be underestimated. Before... Continue Reading →
This paper examines the strategies employed in the early 70s by the Italian cartoonist Pino Zac to adapt Ludovico Ariosto’s The Frenzy of Orlando into a graphic novel. The Frenzy of Orlando is perhaps the most famous Renaissance epic poem and it consists of forty-six cantos in octaves. Zac’s work shows great balance between a... Continue Reading →
Sara Dallavalle, PhD 