Milo Manara
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Milo Manara | |
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| Birth name | Maurilio Manara |
| Born | September 12, 1945 Lüsen (Luson), Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Area(s) | artist, writer |
| Notable works | The Adventures of Giuseppe Bergman Butterscotch Click Indian Summer |
| Awards | full list |
Milo Manara, byname of Maurilio Manara (born September 12, 1945 in Lüsen (Luson), Bolzano-Bozen) is an Italian comic book creator (writer and artist), best known for his erotic approach to the medium.
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[edit] Biography
After architecture and painting studies, he made his comics debut in 1969 drawing for Genius, a Fumetti neri series of pocket books from publisher Furio Vanio in the wake of the popularity of Kriminal and Satanik.[1] In 1970 he illustrated for the magazine Terror, and starting in 1971 drew the erotic series Jolanda de Almaviva written by Francisco Rubino, issued in small format by publisher Erregi. Joining the youth magazine Il Corriere dei Ragazzi, he worked with Rubino, Carlo Barbieri, Mino Milani and Silverio Pisú.[2] With Pisú Manara launched the publications Telerompo and Strategia della Tensione in 1974 and the series Alessio, Il Borghese Rivoluzionario, and with writer Mino Milani the series La parola ai giura in 1975. Manara and Pisú later went on to publish Lo Scimmiotto (The Ape) along the story of the Chinese Monkey King in Alter Linus in 1976, and with Alfredo Castelli, L'Uomo delle Nevi (The Snowman) in 1978.[2]
During this period Manara began publishing work in several Franco-Belgian comics magazines including Charlie Mensuel, Pilote and L'Écho des savanes.[1] For (A SUIVRE) Manara created the first stories featuring HP and Giuseppe Bergman, which grew to become a large body of work. The character "HP" is based on Manara's friend, the Italian comics creator Hugo Pratt, and a collaborator on some of Manara's most acclaimed work, initially Tutto ricominciò con un'estate indiana (1983, Indian Summer) and later El Gaucho (1991). Manara also completed two stories working with another of his heroes, Federico Fellini.[1] In his own right Manara has been commended on his skills as a scenarist, as with the western L'uomo di carta (1982, The Paper Man).[2]
Manara's reputation for producing comics that revolve around elegant, beautiful women caught up in unlikely and fantastical erotic scenarios became solidified with work such as Il Gioco (1983, also known as Click or Le Déclic), about a device which renders women helplessly aroused, Il Profumo dell'invisibile (1986, Butterscotch), introducing the heroine Miele (Honey) and a sweet-smelling body-paint which makes the wearer invisible, and Candid camera (1988, Hidden Camera) featuring the same protagonist in further explicit adventures. In the following years of combining sequels, original work and collaborations with noted creators, Manara's production continued in this direction to explore erotic comics themes with an artistic and storytelling expression in a manner considered unique to Manara.
In the U.S. The Ape was serialised in Heavy Metal in the early 1980s and Manara received some exposure through collaborations with Neil Gaiman and other artists. Curiously, Manara does not enjoy the popularity in his native Italy that exists in France, where he is considered one of the most important comics creators in the world.
[edit] Style
Manara's style favors clean lines for women reserving more complex drawings for monsters or other supernatural elements. As with his compatriots Tinto Brass and Leone Frollo, there is an emphasis on the portrayal of the female buttocks. Many of his comics feature themes of bondage, domination and humiliation (though not so hardcore or graphic as by Erich von Gotha), voyeurism, the supernatural, and the sexual tension beneath various aspects of Italian society. The works vary in their explicitness, but the general mood is playful rather than misogynistic. Manara's skill in creating atmosphere, his obvious talent, and his occasional excursions into more "mainstream" stories, have helped to give him an air of artistic respectability.
[edit] Later work
In connection with their joint project Quarantasei, in July 2006, Manara designed a helmet for Moto GP rider Valentino Rossi, specifically made for the Italian GP in Mugello. Rossi declared:
| “ | He has drawn some kind of a mythical history of my life, in cartoons, with some of my heroes such as Steve McQueen, Enzo Ferrari, Jim Morrison, and other characters such as my dog Guido, the chicken Osvaldo and a lot of beautiful women! I really like Milo...he's a person that I have admired for a long time. | ” |
In October 2006, Manara developed character designs for the animated television series City Hunters. The series, of ten 11 minute episodes, blends traditional animation techniques with modern CGI, to be broadcast across all of Latin America on the FOX network throughout 2006 and 2007.
Manara is slated to pencil an X-Men project written by Chris Claremont for Marvel Comics.[citation needed]
[edit] Bibliography
| Original title | English title | Year | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jolanda de Almaviva - La Figlia del Mare | 1971 | written by Francesco Rubino | |
| La parola ai giura | 1975 | written by Mino Milani | |
| Alessio, Il Borghese Rivoluzionario | Alessio | 1975 | written by Silverio Pisu |
| Lo scimmiotto | The Ape | 1976 | written by Silverio Pisu |
| Un uomo un'avventura: L'uomo delle nevi | The Snowman | 1978 | written by Alfredo Castelli |
| HP e Giuseppe Bergman | HP and Giuseppe Bergman | 1978 | |
| Le avventure asiatiche di Giuseppe Bergman | The Indian Adventures of Giuseppe Bergman | 1980 | |
| L'uomo di carta, o Quattro dita | The Paper Man | 1982 | |
| Tutto ricominciò con un'estate Indiana | Indian Summer | 1983 | with Hugo Pratt |
| Il gioco | Click | 1983 | |
| Il profumo dell'invisibile | Butterscotch | 1986 | |
| Candid camera | Hidden Camera | 1988 | |
| L'apparenza inganna | 1988 | ||
| Viaggio a Tulum | Trip to Tulum | 1989 | with Federico Fellini |
| L'arte della sculacciata | The Art of Spanking | 1989 | written by Jean-Pierre Enard |
| Le avventure africane di Giuseppe Bergman | An Author in Search of Six Characters and Dies Irae | 1990 | |
| Breakthrough | 1990 | written by Neil Gaiman | |
| Il gioco 2 | Click 2 | 1991 | |
| El Gaucho | El Gaucho | 1991 | with Hugo Pratt |
| Il sogno di Oengus | 1991 | written by Giordano Berti | |
| Il viaggio di G. Mastorna detto Fernet | 1992 | with Federico Fellini | |
| La feu aux entrailles | 1993 | with Pedro Almodovar | |
| Il gioco vol.3 | Click 3 | 1994 | |
| Seduzioni | 1994 | ||
| Storie brevi | Shorts | 1995 | |
| I viaggi di Gulliver, o Gulliveriana | Gulliveriana | 1995 | based on text by Jonathan Swift |
| Kamasutra | Manara's Kama Sutra | 1997 | based on text by Vatsyayana |
| Ballata in si bemolle | Fatal Rendezvous | 1997 | |
| L'asino d'oro | The Golden Ass | 1999 | based on text by Apuleius |
| Le avventure metropolitane di Giuseppe Bergman | The Urban Adventures of Giuseppe Bergman | 1999 | |
| Bolero | 1999 | ||
| Tre ragazze nella rete | www. | 2000 | |
| Rivoluzione | Revolution | 2000 | |
| Il gioco vol.4 | Click 4 | 2001 | |
| Il profumo dell'invisibile 2 | Butterscotch 2 | 2001 | |
| Le donne di Manara | Women of Manara | 2001 | |
| Memory | 2001 | ||
| Fuga da Piranesi | Piranese: The Prison Planet | 2002 | |
| Il pittore e la modella | The Model | 2002 | |
| Pin-up art | 2002 | ||
| Aphrodite | Aphrodite, Book 1 | 2003 | written by Pierre Louÿs |
| Donne e motori | 2003 | ||
| Fellini | 2003 | ||
| L'odissea di Bergman | The Odyssey of Giuseppe Bergman | 2004 | |
| I Borgia - La conquista del papato | Borgia 1: Blood for the Pope | 2004 | with Alejandro Jodorowsky |
| The Sandman: Endless Nights | 2004 | written by Neil Gaiman | |
| I Borgia vol.2 - Il potere e l'incesto | Borgia 2: Power and Incest | 2006 | with Alejandro Jodorowsky |
| Quarantasei | 2006 | with Valentino Rossi |
[edit] Adaptations
- Series
- Click (1997 IMDb)
- City Hunters (2006, animated TV series created by Gastón Gorali & Alberto Stagnaro)
[edit] Awards
- 1978: Yellow Kid and Gran Guinigi prize for an Italian artist [3]
- 1998: Harvey Awards: Inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame [4]
- 2004: Eisner Award, with various artists for Best Anthology, for The Sandman: Endless Nights [5]
[edit] Sources
- Manara publications in (A SUIVRE) Pilote, L'Écho des Savanes and BoDoï BDoubliées (French)
- Manara albums Bedetheque (French)
- Footnotes
- ^ a b c Lambiek Comiclopedia. "Milo Manara". http://lambiek.net/artists/m/manara.htm.
- ^ a b c Comiquendo online. "Milo Manara" (in Spanish). http://www.revistacomiqueando.com.ar/2007-04/nota_manara.php.
- ^ Immagine-Centro Studi Iconografici. "13° SALONE INTERNAZIONALE DEI COMICS, LUCCA 13, 1978" (in Italian). http://www.immaginecentrostudi.org/saloni/salone13.asp.
- ^ Harveyawards.com. "1998 Harvey Award Winners". http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1998win.html.
- ^ Brodart Graphic Novels. "2004 Eisner Award Recipients". http://www.graphicnovels.brodart.com/2004_eisner_awards.htm.
[edit] External links
- Milo Manara official site
- Milo Manara site on Casterman (French)
- Milo Manara biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia
- Milo Manara biography on Comiqueando online (Spanish)
- Manara Eurotica catalog NBM Graphic Novels publisher
- Milo Manara at the Internet Movie Database
- La Mansarda di Miele (Honey's Attic) (Italian)
- How to draw a sexy girl by Milo Manara Video on YouTube
