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| Miriam Leone (Eva Kant) and Monica Bellucci (Altea von Vallenberg) in "Diabolik, who are you?" (2023) - 01 Distribution |
How come two fictional criminals become household names and movie heroes? Let’s start from the very beginning: in 1961 former model and amateur plane pilot Angela Giussani has been married for fifteen years with horror, science-fiction and sexy-ish comics publisher Gino Sansoni, owner of Casa Editrice Astoria and Gino Sansoni Editore, with headquarters in a flat in via Leopardi, Milan. In 1961 Angela decides to become a publisher on her own and opens - in the kitchen (cucina) of the same flat - Astorina (literally, ‘small Astoria’), specialized in comics, called fumetti in Italian, since the dialogue balloons recall puffs of smoke (fumo). Astorina starts publishing Elliot Caplin’s Big Ben Bolt comics from the US, which don't seem to be particurarly succesful in Italy. Then Angela decides to write something new and her younger sister Luciana joins her as co-author. They don’t expect their new creation will be so groundbreaking as it will turn out to be.
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| Angela Giussani (1922-1987) and Luciana Giussani (1928-2001) |
Two myths surround the birth of Diabolik and both are connected with railways. Myth one: while travelling by train, Angela finds on a seat an abandoned copy of the first Fantômas novel (1911) by French authors Allain and Souvestre, reads it and finds the inspiration for a modern day mysterious criminal with no name and many faces. Myth two: from the window of Astorina overlooking the Stazione Nord, the Milan railway station of Ferrovie Nord, Angela and her sister Luciana see thousands of commuters coming and going every day; so they conceive a comic book that people can buy in newsstands, carry easily in a pocket or a bag and read comfortably on the way to work or home, even while standing in an overcrowded train. Stories have to be gripping, so they might be crime stories, something still unusual in Italian-made comics at the time. And that’s what they set themselves to do.
In 1962 crime novels (gialli in Italian, learn here the origin of the word) are a huge hit in Italian newsstands, a good reason for Angela and Luciana Giussani to consider creating a giallo a fumetti. And what about something really new, such as crime comics where the real ‘hero’ is an unpunished criminal, like Fantômas? At the time, in books, films and comics, robbers and burglars get always jailed or killed in the end, or at least lose their loot. The rules imposed to Hollywood movies by the Hays Code have become a standard everywhere, including French noir masterpieces of the Fifties such as Auguste Le Breton's novel Rififi or Albert Simonin's novel Grisbi, both turned into films.
There must be something in the air, because in 1962 American writer Donald E. Westlake, writing under the pen name ‘Richard Stark’, lets his editor convince him that Parker, the robber in his novel The Hunter, should stay alive and free at the end of the book, and return in further novels. Good idea, since Parker will become an icon of caper fiction: he will appear in twenty-four novels and a few times on the big screen, with the likes of Lee Marvin, Mel Gibson or Jason Statham. Donald/Richard will write about his ‘James Bond of crime’ till his death, on december 31st 2008.
As Diabolik current author Mario Gomboli noted, Parker and Diabolik have some features in common: they’re both careful planners of perfect heists, both cold-blooded but not sadististic killers and both (unlike James Bond) strictly monogamous. But in 1962 only the first of Richard Stark’s books has been published and won’t arrive in Italy before 1964. For Angela and Luciana, the model is clearly Fantômas, created over half a century before in France by Allain and Souvestre.
Fantômas – whose real name is unknown – is a master of disguise, has a lover called Lady Beltham and is chased by French police inspector Juve with the help of journalist Fandor. The same cast of characters is recreated in the first three issues of Diabolik, with Diabolik himself, Lady Eva Kant, inspector Ginko and his sidekick Gustavo Garian, a character who will later fade out of the series.
Elements of the plot of the first three issues actually recall the first Fantômas novel, but with a more modern and technological approach that soon – as we’ll see – anticipates both the 007 movies and the Mission: Impossible tv series. Again, there must be someting in the air...
Read also
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| Anthology, december 2023; art: Giuseppe di Bernardo |
Andrea Carlo Cappi, born in Milan in 1964 and living between Italy and Spain since 1973, is an Italian writer, translator and editor. Author of over seventy titles - most of which set in his noir/spy story universe "Kverse" - and member of IAMTW, he also writes tie-in novels for "Diabolik" and "Martin Mystère". Also a member of World SF Italia for his work in speculative fiction, in 2018 he won Italcon's Premio Italia for best Italian fantasy novel. He also works for the Torre Crawford festival and literary award, in memory of F. M. Crawford.
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