The historical magic of Chiantishire [indie comic]

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.

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.

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

The delicious continuation of Squisito! [Jundo Original]

Cover of Squisito! n.2

Three years ago, I made a positive review of the volume of the Italian comic "Squisito!", written and drawn by Gianmarco Bonelli, published by Jundo Comics on its platform and later on paper. Since in the meantime they released the second volume, which I liked very much at the time of publication, I decided to complete my thoughts on the story as it is today. Currently, "Squisito!" has twelve chapters (that is the two volumes together) and there are no updates on the story since 2023. Very likely the story is on hiatus while the author is working on other projects.

Lucius in the cover
illustration for chapter 7

Picking up where we left off, Pia & Leo are looking for a bottle of 1995 Montemezzo wine in the reigning city of Mezzavia. The wine is very expensive, therefore they accept the mission of collecting the super delicate imprinting eggs. After many attempts, Leo finally obtained a new friend (Gargantua, who was born from one of the eggs) and the necessary egg to complete the task. Meanwhile,  Pia had to got to prison as a guarantee because they could not pay the tax to stay in the kingdom. There Pia meets Lucius, a wudelen wolf (species of anthropomorphic wolf) who becomes her friend and combat teacher. Leo ends up in prison as well after cooking the egg for the queen. When the guards try to take Leo and bring him who knows where, a fight starts between them and Pia & Lucius. Pia ends up getting seriously injured, and Lucius asks Leo to go gahter the vigormoss, a powerful medicinal herb.

In this part we have a parallel development for Pia and Leo: she sees her parents during the feverish delirium of the wound, while Leo has to face the giant bat in the darkness of the moss cave. What results of this is that Pia is afraid of not being able to reach her parents, metaphorically and literally, and Leo detests himself because every time he is in danger all he can do is fleeing. These recurring moments of vulnerability make the characters more human, because overcoming insecurities and growing up is a gradual process with multiple important events.

Leo managed to give the vigormoss to Pia, who heals immediately. The queen arrives at the fight scene and finally explains why she called for Leo, she has a mission for him: go to the neighbouring kingdom of Findivia, and deliver a porition of the same imprinting egg dish and a letter to the king. In a great show of negotiation, Leo manages to earn freedom for Pia, Lucius and the friar who helped him find the cave of vigormoss.

Lucius, Leo, Gargantua and Sisto leave the prison

In Findivia, Pia and Leo discover that the king does not accept visitors, but the winners of the annual hunt of the Prometeus  chicken can talk to him! This, paired with the fact that the chicken's liver is one of the ingredients they're looking for, leads the two of them to join the competition. Teaming up with the extravangant gatherer friend of bees, Honey, they enter the chaos of the hunt. Following Honey's strategy, they manage to retrieve the chicken, but only after facing the dangerous team of Tristano the cannibal, who is here for the recipe book and the map. In their individual fights, Pia and Leo complete the process that started earlier in prison and with new resolve they develop their characters. Pia faces her newfound fear of knife wounds, regaining her fighting spirit, and Leo uses his habit of escaping by instead getting close enough to the enemy and damage him.

The three win the chicken, Honey defends the other two from Tristano until the end of the hunt, and finally Leo can cook for the king. The queen's letter, intended for all her siblings, is an offer of peace and reconciliation between them, because the egg brought up ancient memories of happier family times that she wants to recover. At the same time, Leo finally prepares the appetizer and Pia declares with tears in her eyes that it is like a real family lunch.

As I mentioned in the article about the first volume, the One Piece influences are evident, especially in the designs of the guards and the participants in the chicken hunt. This is not a negative observation, rather some proof of how works that we admire can manifest themselves in original projects. The drawing style keeps being very ideal for the fun moments and the action scenes, you can also notice improvements in the more confident strokes and more impactful actions! That said, the environments are a lovely example of how to create fictional locations that are still clearly Italian. Findivia is personally my favorite with all the stairs and slopes, a good representation of a hill or mountain village.

Pia uses the techniques learned with Lucius

Personally I wanted to continue reading the adventures of Pia and Leo, but at the same time if the project ended here, the scene of the family lunch would be a wonderful final image to remember them like this, happy and ready for new experiences.

Title: Squisito! Fantastici Sapori Tradizionali Italiani
Publisher: Jundo
Author (script, art and color): Gianmarco Bonelli
Editing: LVCE1807 Lettering: Gianmarco Bonelli
Supervision: Matteo Vesprini
Digital platform: www.jundo.it and the Jundo app (the first nine chapters are available for free)
Printed version: Tankobōn 16.5x12 volume, flexible cover with dust jacket, 232 pages
Colors: B/W with the first 5 pages in color in the printed version
ISBN code: 979-12-81537-088 

An Italian fantasy culinary adventure: Squisito! [Jundo Original]

[This is a translation of the Italian article posted on December 19th 2022]

Cover of Squisito! n.1

Publishing house Jundo successfully reaches another goal, bringing as an exclusive for the Lucca Comics and Games -which took place last November- the first printed copies of its original works, together with famous imported works from the Korean market such as Of Machines and Beasts and All of You. After the end of the event, the volumes became available on the website’s online shop and through the main retailers such as Amazon, MangaYo!, starshop.it, POPstore and the circuit of comic book stores and bookshops. Among these we find the first issue of an exquisite adventure comic that brings together the passion for cooking with fantasy setting and creatures.

One of the colored pages
from the first chapter

Squisito! Fantastici Sapori Tradizionali Italiani (Delicious! Fantastic Traditional Italian Flavors), work drawn and written by Gianmarco Bonelli, holds different inspirations and references: its artstyle, with its thin and detailed lineart and very expressive characters, especially in comedic scenes, reminds of manga works such as One Piece; the size of the volume is quite similar to that of the classic tankōbon as well. However, it still has the western way of reading because despite its influences, the author considers it an Italian comic and preferred keeping this direction. An example of work published by Jundo that uses the Japanese reading way instead is Shaman by Shinichi Hotaka and Arisu, created to all intents and purposes to be read like a manga.

This fun culinary comic is set in a version of Italy full of peculiar creatures and incredible, difficult to gather ingredients, which require a particular type of person to pick them. These expert adventurers and seekers of delicacies are called gatherers, the majority of which is reunited in the U.R.C.A. association. In this world that revolves around cooking, cooks and gatherers are important figures and some of them can become legends! It’s clear to Pia, young gatherer and admirer of the most famous duo of the lands of Ausonia: Artemio and Nausicaa, first class gatherer and cook who mysteriously disappeared ten years ago. Entrusted to the care of innkeeper Nerone, Pia earns a living in the village of Piumanera gathering ingredients with her comically big cleaver, still looking for a clue to find the two.

Pia faces the badalischio

During one of her errands on Nerone’s behalf she bumped into a poor stranger poisoned by the most dangerous creature of the area, the badalischio. Pia rescues the boy and gathers the ingredients for the antidote, personally facing the creature. Once healed, the boy presents himself as Leo Greco, a young cook who came to Piumanera exactly to look for Artemio and Nausicaa. Leo and Pia become friends right away, talking about their favorite feats among the thousands of new discovered species and the extraordinary recipes invented by their idols. To return the favor, Leo offers to cook the badalischio meat, showing he is an excellent cook. On the other hand, Pia is more than glad to leave him the burner because she is as good of a gatherer as much as a disastrous cook!

After a joyful dinner (with an adorable scene where Pia explains how cantucci are dunked in vinsanto), Nerone decides to present to Pia a recipe book. The girl doesn’t understand the reason until, in the back cover, Nausicaa's signature stands out, and Leo finds out very quickly that the recipes trace a clear itinerary covering the peninsula. Pia leaves the room in shock, followed by Leo. The girl looked for clues for years without success, and this for her is the confirmation that she is not the right person. Leo understands how she feels and manages to convince her to follow the itinerary together. With Nerone’s blessings, the two leave for an adventure.

Dante the adorable gallonero

In this first chapter the fantasy atmosphere is expressed really well, with a great variety of interesting creatures such as “colombetti”, adorable flying mushrooms, the “gallonero” whose blood fights against venoms, the tasty “star caper” and its huge plant, or the fascinating “imprinting egg”, that can be handled only by the person who picked it until the moment of cooking. One of the perks of the printed volume is the inclusion of a delightful bestiary with the creatures featured in the six chapters. Furthermore, by removing the dust jacket we find a fun surprise: the real cover of the volume is the same as the cover of Nausicaa’s recipe book! These are the small details that show the attention given to the presentation of the comic.

Nausicaa's recipe book

In this first volume we see the progress of the dynamic between Pia and Leo, whose contrasting personalities lead them to risk interrupting the journey at the first stage. Thanks to the sweet couple of shopkeepers who cultivate the star caper, the two manage to make up and establish a relationship of trust. She’s hotheaded and bold, he’s observant and stubborn, Pia and Leo represent well the so called street smarts and book smarts: she knows well the area and the ingredients thanks to her experience on field, while he is not used to travel despite his knowledge; not preparing well his route is exactly how he risked his life with the badalischio! However it’s thanks to these differences that the two are complementary, and this dynamic makes them an interesting protagonist duo. Furthermore, beyond the differences they have in common some insecurity about their own skills. At the first incident during the gathering of the star caper Pia initially wants to go back home, but the discussion with Leo pushes her to try again and succeed. At the second stage of the itinerary we understand why the cook took the matter to heart, when he also has difficulties in picking the imprinting egg: considering his parents’ words, <<After all you’re a cook, honey! Just one call and we’ll come and pick you up, you know?>>, Leo probably wants to demonstrate he can do it on his own, even though it’s hard. Thinking about what Pia would do, the boy finally manages to pick the egg, showing the positive influence they have on each other.

The sixth chapter begins to lay down the first elements of a plot that will develop in the following volumes, with the introduction of four generals chasing the two kids, because their itinerary could lead them to Panacea! An excellent conclusion for the volume that intrigues the reader leaving a question: what is Panacea? And what ties do Artemio and Nausicaa have to what could be a legendary ingredient? We will find out following this fantastic story seeking Italian flavors!

Title: Squisito! Fantastici Sapori Tradizionali Italiani
Publisher: Jundo
Author (script, art and colors): Gianmarco Bonelli
Editing: LVCE1807 Lettering: Gianmarco Bonelli
Supervision: Matteo Vesprini
Digital platform: www.jundo.it and the Jundo app (the first six chapters are available for free)
Printed version: Tankōbon volume 16,5x12, flexible cover with dust jacket, 232 pages
Colors: B/W with the first 12 pages in color in the printed version
ISBN code: 979-12-80408-65-5

Illustration that accompanies chapter 6
(in colors on the website but black and white in the volume)