Exploring other Italian original comics, I found a very interesting historical and fantasy comic set in the Etruscan period. Chiantishire, written and drawn by Marika Michelazzi, of the Storie Brute collective, accounts for six chapters colored in greyscale with particular inclusions of one or two colors depending on the specific scene: red is the most used color. The collective's website presents the story as such:
The journey of a noble Etruscan woman who, by entering Dionysus' thiasus, becomes immortal going through forgotten eras and people.
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| Valtha and her husband |
The woman in question is Valtha who, after a very impactful event, decides to follow her friend Kona and join the god Dionysus' thiasus, turns into a maenad. She saw the birth and fall of the Etruscan people, the many changes of society, a total of 27 centuries of humanity. After a period of silence from Dionysus during which the maenads lived independently in the human world, Valtha receives an invitation from Dionysus' brother, the satyr Siro, in order to rebuild the thiasus and discover the location of the disappeared god. Initially she was not interested at all, but if something happened to Dionysus, all maenads would disappear with him! Valtha decides to reunite with her dear friends to save them and not really for Dionysus. The narrative jumps between present and past, giving the reader the context of Valtha's origins and her relationship of deep friendship with her companions. At the same time, it can be interpreted as Valtha remembering important moments while they are running away from the harpies.
Since the story so far is relatively short (but not yet concluded), I will not explain the details of the plot, that deserves to be read with surprise. However, I could talk about the use of the different pantheons of deities in Chiantishire. In this world, it is implied that all the deities of different religions exist at the same time and have some kind of jurisdiction over the territories of their worshippers. Dionysus, his spouse Ariadne of Knossos and his maenads distanced themselves from the gods of Olympus and settled in Etruria, guests of Selvans, the lord of the forest. One of the deities of Valtha's religion appears too, as well as the Egyptian god Seth.
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| Dionysus and Ariadne |
The relationship between the gods presents a web of somewhat human comunication and behaviours: they are powerful, yes, but they have virtues and flaws, together with family conflicts. Dionysus escaped from Olympus and found refuge in Etruscan lands, but his Greek family keeps looking for him, and the consequences of this hunt are visibile in modern times. Valtha and her companions are chased by creatures and emissaries from Olympus, because they don't know either where is Dionysus and putting his maenads in danger will send a message. Valtha's current mission will consist in reforming the thiasus, join Ariadna once again and find Dionysus before someone else does, for his salvation and especially that of the maenads.
In the website of Storie Brute, the author wrote some deep dive articles about the historical context of Chiantishire's characters, here is what she says about the deities:
In Chiantishire, deities have very particular features: they have different forms, showy, their physicality feels the effects of the impact they have on the mortal population... But they can be killed, destroyed, die or not-live. Nothing is eternal, they have to adapt to the demands of time and space, as it will be seen slowly while the story proceeds.
On the other hand, the consequences of a mortal turned immortal are explored with Valtha's situation: what initially represented a relief after all the suffering of her past, later became a prison, where time passes in a different way and suddenly her son is already an adult. Furthermore, she cannot interact with him and she can only observe from afar. This is one of the reasons of her resentment towards Dionysus. Now Valtha only wants to protect her maenad family, despite her sour opinion on the deity.
Marika Michelazzi studied ancient history, representing in the most accurate way possible traditions, locations and cultural differences of the characters. The deep dive articles are an ideal complementary reading to enjoy more the details and read once more the story as well. Chiantishire is a charming historical fantasy work that is not only very thrilling, but also educational and it inspires readers to discover more about ancient history, thanks to the evident passion of the author. This work is available completely for free in the collective's website, and the printed version can be bought in the shop section of the same website.
Title: Chiantishire
Publisher: self-produced by the collective Storie Brute
Author (script, art and colors): Marika Michelazzi
Lettering: Marika Michelazzi
Digital platform: the website of the collective Storie Brute and the Jundo platform, all six chapters
Printed version: three volumes in A4 size, page number varies depending on the volume
Colors: greyscale over grey paper, with red and light blue accents
