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Post by james on Aug 7, 2023 2:59:44 GMT -5
Can anyone recommend a really good Italian comic trade? I don’t speak Italian so if it’s been translated into English that I can pick up while I’m here would be great
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 7, 2023 4:40:52 GMT -5
Hmm, there are a lot of good Italian comics (I can recommend quite a bit of stuff published by Bonelli alone), but I think you might have an easier time finding stuff in translation back in the US rather than in Italy. Your best bet - if you have the time - is to find either a specialized comic book shop or just a really big bookstore near you and ask the staff if they have any Italian comics in English translation. Coincidentally, just a few minutes ago I posted a brief review of a translated Italian comic, Dylan Dog - Zed, in another thread. If you in turn follow the link to the European comics thread I posted there, you can find reviews of various Italian comics (all originally published by Bonelli) on that and the preceding and following pages.
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Post by zaku on Aug 7, 2023 5:37:32 GMT -5
Hmm, there are a lot of good Italian comics (I can recommend quite a bit of stuff published by Bonelli alone), but I think you might have an easier time finding stuff in translation back in the US rather than in Italy. Your best bet - if you have the time - is to find either a specialized comic book shop or just a really big bookstore near you and ask the staff if they have any Italian comics in English translation. Coincidentally, just a few minutes ago I posted a brief review of a translated Italian comic, Dylan Dog - Zed, in another thread. If you in turn follow the link to the European comics thread I posted there, you can find reviews of various Italian comics (all originally published by Bonelli) on that and the preceding and following pages. Well, there are more modern Italian authors that are quite interesting, like Mirka Andolfo or ZeroCalcare
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 7, 2023 7:47:11 GMT -5
Can anyone recommend a really good Italian comic trade? I don’t speak Italian so if it’s been translated into English that I can pick up while I’m here would be great To my knowledge, the only Italian comic I've read is Magic Wind. It's a western comic with a bit of magic in it that I remember liking alot. I think 9 or 10 issues got translated to issue... I think they were each 2 or 3 American comics worth of material.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 7, 2023 9:18:35 GMT -5
So it's written by a French author, but Corto Maltese was primarily published in Italy and remains one of my favorite comic series of all time. Here's what I wrote about Corto Maltese: Ballad of the Salty Sea (his first and best collected edition) back during The CCF Top 100 COMIC SAGAS EVENT: Hugo Pratt was really just getting started when he first produced this serial feature as a backup in his Sgt. Kirk magazine, but it became the work for which he is best known. While later Corto Maltese adventures show tremendous growth in terms of visuals, there's a magic, depth, and level of artistry to be found in this initial saga that is far more fleeting in the ensuing adventures (at least in the ones that have been published in the United States thus far). The magic of this volume lies primarily in its sense of understatement. The most important elements of this story, in terms of characterization, motives, and (most importantly) symbolism, are muted and rarely paraded on panel for the convenience of the reader. Even key plot points and the passage of time itself become obscured and dream-like at times. Much as with the sea for which the story is named, Ballad is reluctant to spell out its secrets for the sake of the reader. The same burning frustration Corto feels when looking out at the ocean and wondering if he doesn't have it all wrong pervades the telling of this story and challenges us to look deep. And, of course, as this is Pratt's first outing, the story matures as it goes, the early chapters trying far too hard to introduce action sequences that aren't warranted once every twenty pages. Once those subside, the flight of those damn gulls and the heavy silences that accompany them are far more striking than the fists that swing and the guns that fire. This series fires on all engines like no other, providing simple guilty pleasure escapism while hiding complexity and depth like Easter eggs in nearly every page, there only if you're open to receiving it. I've never read anything else quite like this, and while five re-readings have exposed some of the work's flaws that I otherwise might never have noticed, it still remains one of my absolute favorite sagas of all time and likely the greatest adventure epic ever committed to the comic book page.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 7, 2023 9:26:27 GMT -5
Also, I don't know a darn thing about Alan Ford, but I know it's considered one of Italy's greatest comic series. And Italy also publishes Topolino, the finest Disney comic to be found anywhere. Whereas our Disney titles have been in disarray since the 1970s, Topolino continues to attract top level talent that provide fresh, dignified, and downright artistic new takes on the classic Disney characters. Andrea "Casty" Castillan is widely considered to be the greatest of these and is still active, so I'd strongly encourage you to check out an issue with his work in it. Some of his work has been translated into English, but not much of it. Here's my write-up of one of Casty's Mickey Mouse stories from The CCF Classic Comics Christmas 2018:
3. Mickey Mouse and the World to Comeby Andrea Castellan (Panini 2008) While it's technically fair-game to count any Mickey Mouse comic as an adaptation, and while this is actually one of my favorite Mickey Mouse stories of all time, it's my #2 pick for this event because of how lovingly it adapts the look and feel of Sky Captain and World of Tomorrow. Creator Andrea Castellan cites the film as his primary inspiration for this story, as Skycaptain is a visually enthralling film that showcases a sci-fi world of limitless possibilities and...almost no story. So Castellan gives that world a story, and boy is it a doozy. Seldom has a Disney comic ever been this intricate, sophisticated, dark, and thoughtful in its exploration of science fiction concepts. While we watch the relatively simplistic Mickey Mouse process a decades old mystery involving Iron Giant-style robots, foreign government conspiracies, and the mathematical theory of denumeration, the planes roar overhead while villains cackle maniacally, and the whole thing captures the rush of a big budget science fiction thriller. It's just a tremendous story that, unlike the film that inspired it, delivers so much more than its audience had anticipated.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 7, 2023 9:47:56 GMT -5
Also, I don't know a darn thing about Alan Ford, but I know it's considered one of Italy's greatest comic series. (...) I think zaku could probably provide the best assessment of how popular it is in Italy, but I've noted several times in the European comics thread that it's arguably the most popular comic series throughout the Western Balkans. However, I don't think any of it has ever been translated into English.
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Post by zaku on Aug 7, 2023 9:54:59 GMT -5
Also, I don't know a darn thing about Alan Ford, but I know it's considered one of Italy's greatest comic series. (...) I think zaku could probably provide the best assessment of how popular it is in Italy, but I've noted several times in the European comics thread that it's arguably the most popular comic series throughout the Western Balkans. However, I don't think any of it has ever been translated into English. Well, the sad truth: in the 70s/early 80s it was probably one of the most popular comics in Italy. Now kids only read manga. Even superhero comics are for a niche audience.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 7, 2023 10:27:57 GMT -5
Vittorio Giardino's material is a darn good read, like Hungarian Rhapsody, Orient Gateway, and No Pasaran. They feature his character, Max Fridman, an intelligence officer, in the 1930s, as the Germans begin extending their reach, before outright war. No Pasaran is set during the Spanish Civil War. He also has Jonas Fink: A Jew in Communist Prague, about a young Czech, whose father was imprisoned as a political prisoner, who then must find his way in life, under Communist rule.
Deadly Dalliances is a collection of short stories, involving brief encounters and murder themes, which are interesting character studies.
Little Ego is a sex satire of Little Nemo, with a female character.
Those all were translated into English, but out of print in the US. There is a collected Max Fridman, which covers the earlier works and Deadly Dalliances. Giardino also did the detective series Sam Pezzo.
There are also the old standbys of Diabolik, about a super thief, who usually fights scummier criminals, as well as his knock-offs, like Kriminal. Don't know if they are in print, but the Killing series is a gonzo one to check out, done entirely with photos, feature the adventures of a super criminal, who battles other criminals. Those get a bit salacious, as there is usually a female character who ends up in the hands of the rivals and is tortured (implied).
Alan Ford is pretty good visual storytelling and you can follow the plot without speaking the language. Giardino's work, too, though his stories can get more complex.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 10, 2023 21:11:59 GMT -5
Also, I don't know a darn thing about Alan Ford, but I know it's considered one of Italy's greatest comic series. And Italy also publishes Topolino, the finest Disney comic to be found anywhere. Whereas our Disney titles have been in disarray since the 1970s, Topolino continues to attract top level talent that provide fresh, dignified, and downright artistic new takes on the classic Disney characters. Andrea "Casty" Castillan is widely considered to be the greatest of these and is still active, so I'd strongly encourage you to check out an issue with his work in it. Some of his work has been translated into English, but not much of it. Here's my write-up of one of Casty's Mickey Mouse stories from The CCF Classic Comics Christmas 2018:
3. Mickey Mouse and the World to Comeby Andrea Castellan (Panini 2008) While it's technically fair-game to count any Mickey Mouse comic as an adaptation, and while this is actually one of my favorite Mickey Mouse stories of all time, it's my #2 pick for this event because of how lovingly it adapts the look and feel of Sky Captain and World of Tomorrow. Creator Andrea Castellan cites the film as his primary inspiration for this story, as Skycaptain is a visually enthralling film that showcases a sci-fi world of limitless possibilities and...almost no story. So Castellan gives that world a story, and boy is it a doozy. Seldom has a Disney comic ever been this intricate, sophisticated, dark, and thoughtful in its exploration of science fiction concepts. While we watch the relatively simplistic Mickey Mouse process a decades old mystery involving Iron Giant-style robots, foreign government conspiracies, and the mathematical theory of denumeration, the planes roar overhead while villains cackle maniacally, and the whole thing captures the rush of a big budget science fiction thriller. It's just a tremendous story that, unlike the film that inspired it, delivers so much more than its audience had anticipated. Oh hey, I think they did some Ducks too? Now that Shax's mentions it, I think the IDW Uncle Scrooge/Donald Duck books that were done not too long ago were mostly Italian reprints.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 10, 2023 21:50:43 GMT -5
Also, I don't know a darn thing about Alan Ford, but I know it's considered one of Italy's greatest comic series. And Italy also publishes Topolino, the finest Disney comic to be found anywhere. Whereas our Disney titles have been in disarray since the 1970s, Topolino continues to attract top level talent that provide fresh, dignified, and downright artistic new takes on the classic Disney characters. Andrea "Casty" Castillan is widely considered to be the greatest of these and is still active, so I'd strongly encourage you to check out an issue with his work in it. Some of his work has been translated into English, but not much of it. Here's my write-up of one of Casty's Mickey Mouse stories from The CCF Classic Comics Christmas 2018:
Oh hey, I think they did some Ducks too? Now that Shax's mentions it, I think the IDW Uncle Scrooge/Donald Duck books that were done not too long ago were mostly Italian reprints. Yes. They did a ton of Ducks stuff. Romano Scarpa is a big Italian name who did a lot with the ducks. A lot of his stuff was reprinted by IDW.
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Post by tonebone on Aug 15, 2023 14:52:19 GMT -5
The series Orphans is really good. It sort of reminds me of Ender's Game... in that it features children (the "orphans of war") being trained to be warriors in a future war. The story unfolds to be complex and layered, with lots of great twists and turns. It's by Roberto Recchioni and Emiliano Mammucari.
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