MILO MANARA

Milo Manara (b. 1945) is an Italian erotic cartoonist. His comix depict beautiful, elegant women caught up in unlikely situations. Click, for example, features a woman who becomes overwhelmingly aroused when a button is pushed. His works include Jolanda de Almaviva, The Adventures of Giuseppe Bergman, Butterscotch, and Indian Summer. His most well-known series is probably Lo Scimmiotto (The Ape). He has illustrated a number of erotic literary works, including ones by Jonathan Swift,Pierre Loüys, Apuleius, and the Vatsyayana. Manara has also illustrated a variety of comics, including superheros, westerns, myths and horror. Especially noted are his X-Men: Ragazze in fuga; The Sandman: Endless Nights; and his variant covers for issues of Marvel Comics. As well, the animated characters for the series “City Hunters” were developed by him. He has also designed a motorcycle helmet for the rider Valentino Rossi and drawn record covers for the band Biffy Clyro. While Manara has often both illustrated and written his work, his collaborations with others have included Frederico Fellini, Hugo Pratt, Pedro Almodòvar, Chris Claremont, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Neil Gaiman. He has been honored with a Yellow Kid Prize; a Gran Guinigi Prize; a Harvey Award; and an and has been inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame.

I have always enjoyed Manara’s work. I remember stopping by Virgin Records while wandering around Times Square in New York City, just to leaf through the latest issues of his work in their book section. Though somewhat adolescent in theme, his illustrations are consistently gorgeous.

(Illustration to right is from Click).

September 2017