Julia-le avventure di una criminologa (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Julia, adventures of a criminologist''), known simply as Julia, is an Italian comic book series created by

Giancarlo Berardi Giancarlo Berardi (born 15 November 1949) is an Italian comic book writer. Born in Genoa, he is most famous as creator of comics '' Ken Parker'' (1977) and ''Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of th ...

and edited by

Sergio Bonelli Editore Sergio Bonelli Editore (formerly CEPIM and other names) is a publishing house of Italian comics founded in 1940 by Gian Luigi Bonelli (1908–2001). It takes its name from its former president, comic book writer Sergio Bonelli (1932–2011), son of ...

. The protagonist, Julia Kendall, is a criminologist, and the stories are usually in the

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

genre.

Creation

The comic series was created in 1998 by Berardi (already author of Ken Parker) and it was born of Sergio Bonelli Editore's wish for a purely detective series, as well as by request of Ken Parker's fans, after its end, for a new comic. Berardi has attended criminology classes at

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

's Istituto di Medicina Legale (''Institute of Legal Medicine'') to better prepare the new series. He also read various texts about psychology, sociology, psychiatry, criminology, ballistics, crime news articles, as well as crime novels, films and documentaries. Julia Kendall's character is physically inspired by

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...

, one of Berardi's favorite actresses. Choosing a female protagonist -an ordinary, easily relatable woman- had the series have a large following of woman readers, unusual for a crime fiction comic. Issues of ''Julia'' have 128 pages instead of the usual 96 pages of Sergio Bonelli's comic series. Berardi has justified it saying that a bigger number of pages is better to develop the characters and manage the narrative's pace. The first album in the series, titled ''Gli occhi del abisso'' (The Eyes of the Abyss) was published in October 1998. On January 3, 2007, Julia reached the 100th issue with a fully colored album.)

Plot

The series tell the stories of Julia Kendall, a young criminologist from the fictional Garden City in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. She works as a professor at Hollyhock University and as a freelance consultant to the local police, helping them to solve crimes. The cases Julia deals with put her in extremely dangerous situations, as her skills in psychology and her relations with Garden City Police Department lead her on the trail of vicious serial killers (above all the ruthless Myrna Harrod, a recurring character in the series) and unscrupulous criminals. Other cases involve her in classic whodunnit scenarios. Alongside her in their investigations are the surly lieutenant Alan Webb and the friendly sergeant "Big" Ben Irving, as well as his friend and private investigator Leo Baxter. Characteristic of the series is the extensive use of Julia's diary, where the protagonist writes her thoughts and impressions about the cases, working as a first-person narration. In some albums, the storytelling is done by other characters in the series (like Myrna Harrod or sergeant Irving).

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site (in Italian and English)
Italian comics titles Crime comics Comics adapted into video games