''Fumetti neri'' (Italian for "black comics") is a subgenre of

Italian comics Italian comics, also known as ''fumetto'' , plural form ''fumetti'' , are comics that originate in Italy. The most popular Italian comics have been translated into many languages. The term ''fumetto'' (literally ''little puff of smoke'') refers t ...

, born in Italy with the creation of the ''

Diabolik ''Diabolik'' ( or ) is an Italian comic series created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani. One of the most popular series in the history of Italian comics, ''Diabolik'' was created in 1962 and consists of more than 900 volumes, and has led ...

'' character (1962).

Overview

The "Fumetti neri" name comes from "cronaca nera", the Italian name for crime news. Among the inspirations of the genre were the film noir, the French ''

feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art critici ...

'' and Italian horror cinema. In a local market dominated by comics devoted to a young audience, the immediate commercial success of ''Diabolik'' revealed a niche of adult readers interested in adult and sometimes exploitive themes characterized by violence and sex references.Simone Castaldi. ''Drawn and Dangerous: Italian Comics of the 1970s and 1980s''. University Press of Mississippi, 2010. . The heroes of ''fumetti neri'' were more

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform action ...

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character ...

than traditional heroes, and Diabolik himself was very loosely based on the French''

Fantômas Fantômas () is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914). One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appear ...

'' character. The subsequent main characters in these comics were all inspired by Diabolik and often had a K in their names. They included '' Kriminal'' (a more violent version of Diabolik by

Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

and

Max Bunker Max Bunker, pen name of Luciano Massimiliano Secchi (born 24 August 1939), is an Italian comic book writer, and publisher, best known as the co-author of '' Alan Ford''. Bunker's career started in 1960 when he co-founded, together with his brothe ...

), ''

Satanik ''Satanik'' is an Italian noir comic book created in December 1964 by Max Bunker (writer) and Magnus (artist), also the authors of the popular series '' Kriminal'' and '' Alan Ford''. Synopsis Satanik is Marny Bannister, a skilled female chemis ...

'' (a female version of Diabolik by the same authors but with supernatural and horrific elements) and '' Sadik''. The large success of this genre led in 1965 to public campaigns against them, and even to trials and judicial seizures. As a result, from 1966 some comics remarkably reduced violence and erotic situations, and tried to open themselves to a younger and wider audience, while others, the so-called "vietati ai minori" ("prohibited to minors") exploited their status, increasing the levels of sex, and sometimes becoming openly pornographic. Examples of these more explicit comics are Vampirissimo,

Jacula Jacula was an Italian rock band founded in 1969 in Milan as an experiment by Antonio Bartoccetti, Doris Norton, organist Charles Tiring and medium Franz Porthenzy. Jacula's music was considered innovative for the time in progressive circles but ...

, Hessa, Terror,

Messalina Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputatio ...

Maghella Maghella is an Italian comic book erotic character. A young witch with magic powers, she was created by Dino Leonetti with text by Furio Arrasich. She made her first appearance as lead character in the erotic series ''Menelik'' published in 1974 ...

, Oltretomba, Lucifera,

Biancaneve ''Biancaneve'' is an Italian erotic comic book, created in 1972 by Renzo Barbieri and Rubino Ventura (pseudonym of Giuseppe Pederiali) and illustrated by Leone Frollo. The series, published by Edifumetto, was based on ''Snow White and the Seven ...

, Vartan, Sukia, Jolanda de Almaviva, Yra, and

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

. By contrast, the surreally erotic '' Valentina'' series created by

Guido Crepax Guido Crepas (15 July 1933, in Milan – 31 July 2003, in Milan), better known by his pen name Guido Crepax, was an Italian comics artist. He is most famous for his character '' Valentina'', created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of ...

(in 1965), whose transgressively heroine sports an iconic bob hairstyle inspired by the American film actress and dancer

Louise Brooks Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...

, as well as Crepax's own wife Luisa, can be seen as a cerebrally refined relative of the ''fumetti neri'' genre, which held a widespread appeal to

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

s of the time. In

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, these comics were published in

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately , but can also be and , similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes have evolved from the printing ...

editions by the likes of Elvifrance. In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

vast amounts of the erotic comics were published by Schorpioen, Nooitgedacht and Vrijbuiter during the 70s and 80s.

Legacy

It was in the scene set by the ''fumetti neri'' that auteur comics published in magazines such as '' linus''