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| Luciano Scarpa as Zarcone in Giancarlo Soldi's film "Diabolik sono io" (2019) |
There were times when publishers in Italy translated foreign first names into Italian: there were novels by Giulio Verne and plays by Guglielmo Shakespeare. This also happened with a few characters in novels; so, for instance, Hercules Poirot became Ercole Poirot in the early Italian translations of Agatha Christie’s books, while Gone with the Wind's Scarlett O'Hara became Rossella O'Hara both in the novel and the movie. In 1962, for the reasons I have previously explained, Angela and Luciana Giussani needed a non-Italian environment for their new comics series and, as they set Diabolik in the fictional European state of Clerville, it seems they went in the same direction.
Diabolik’s name was exotic enough for Italian readers, but his partner could not be named – let’s say – Eva Bianchi, nor their adversary be an inspector Rossi. They needed to sound ‘foreign’ too. Angela’s favourite philosopher from her school years was Immanuel Kant, so she borrowed his surname for ‘Eva Kant’; while inspector ‘Ginko’ – whose first name has never been revealed – comes from the nickname of Angela’s husband Gino Sansoni. Thus, all three main characters of the Diabolik saga have the distinctive letter K in their names.
Most other characters in Diabolik have Italian first names but foreign or foreign-sounding surnames, such as Gustavo Garian or Giorgio Caron. It has never been specified which is the official language in Clerville – a French-sounding name, which is pronounced Clèrville, anyway – though in the new movies by Manetti bros. everything from shop signs to newspaper titles is written in Italian. Actually, the city of Clerville is probably inspired by Milan with a touch of Paris, while the seaside city of Ghenf might have borrowed something from Genova and Marseille, along with little bits of the French Riviera.
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| Movie poster based on the cover of Diabolik #1 |
But all this wasn't established from the beginning: the first issue, Il re del terrore (‘The King of Terror’), might have been set in France. As I said, it would not be succesful, had it been set in Italy. And it was succesful: Angela and Luciana Giussani did strike gold when issue #1 was released on november 1st 1962, although they were not satisfied with the art. The artist Angela had hired, Angelo Zarcone, was working at the time on sexy comics stories that would be published by Gino Sansoni’s Astoria the following year, in the collection Albo-Romanzo Vamp. Anyway, right after getting his check for his work on Diabolik #1, Zarcone disappeared. Forever. Leaving no trace.
Most informations about him have been collected later by comics expert and publiher Gianni Bono, intrigued by the mystery. It is said that Zarcone lived in a small hotel in Milan and was always late in delivering his work; that he was nicknamed ‘The German’, since he had a little blond son from a German wife or girlfriend and was seen dressed like a German tourist. Zarcone was the first one to draw Diabolik’s face and according to Brenno Fiumali – Astorina’s historic art director and author of the cover of the first issue – he even resembled the character. Was Diabolik somehow a self-portrait of Angelo Zarcone?
Perhaps it was due to his disappearance that Diabolik #2, L'inafferrabile criminale ('The Elusive Criminal'), was released only three months later, with a two months' delay, on february 1st 1963, with art by a friend of Angela and Luciana’s, Calissa Giacobini aka Kalissa. She was the first (and for a long time, only) woman to work on the art of Diabolik, but she must have been an emergency solution, since the Giussani Sisters were not convinced by her work either: that was the only issue by Kalissa and one year and a half later both stories, #1 e #2, would be remade with new art and reissued. But in 1982, to acknowledge him as the first Diabolik artist ever, Angela and Luciana tried to locate Zarcone with the help of Italy’s top private investigator, Tom Ponzi, to no avail. Where did he go and why did he disappear?
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| A. C. Cappi as himself in the film "Diabolik sono io" (2019) |
In 2018 director Giancarlo Soldi filmed Diabolik sono io (‘I am Diabolik’), part documentary on the Diabolik phenomenon (with footage of the Giussani Sisters and original contemporary interviews to writers and artists of the series), part fiction. In the fictional side, Zarcone (actor Luciano Scarpa, as a Diabolik look-alike) might have been in a coma for over half a century. After the ambulance taking him from one hospital to another has an accident, he wakes up unaged like a comics character and flees, victim of amnesia, to search for himself in a world he doesn't know, where people on tv is talking about a character called 'Diabolik' who looks just like him.
But even after the movie was released in theatres and television in 2019, neither Zarcone nor any family member resurfaced and the mystery remains unsolved. Nevertheless, in spite of its poor art, the original historic issue #1 is today one of the most wanted comics in Italy and even forged copies are sold at a high price. So, what made Diabolik an instant hit and keeps the series going after more than sixty years?
To be continued...
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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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