Everything in these thirteen short stories by Vittorio Giardino reminds us of other times, but close by. A time without low cost flights, with trips to exotic places only within the reach of the bourgeois class, and with mature but by no means young winners.
A time when comics were first published in magazines and later gathered in albums. The Italian cartoonist published them between 1986 and 2000 in the Comic Art and Corto Maltese magazines and in the supplements of some Italian newspapers, and then they were collected in three albums: Fatal holidays, restless travels y Dream trips.
The stories take place in privileged settings during holiday periods: Morocco, Bangkok, Tanzania, the Greek islands, the Mediterranean Sea and numerous points of Italian geography such as Capri, the Ligurian coast, Venice, Urbino, or Arezzo. The outcomes are usually surprise and there are many that have a tragic component. Adultery often appears as the great engine of action. Lies, deceit, forgery and betrayal are also regular guests in these stories. The eroticism of the female body also appears recurrently, as was typical at a time when reading comics seemed restricted to the male audience. So many stories, made over such a long time and for different headlines mean that the whole does not have a thematic unit beyond the trip. There is a tribute to Corto Maltese and the spirit of adventure, an adaptation of a story by Dino Buzzati, another that pays homage to Philip Roth and his book The Visit to the Master, or a tribute to the paintings of Piero della Francesca. The set is somewhat scattered, but very satisfying.
Giardino is a cartoonist who has been associated with the clear line led by Hergé. He is a meticulous drawing craftsman; It looks gorgeous on every page. His stories are direct and without narrative fanfare, and he employs a very realistic drawing of few lines. Giardino’s drawings have magic. His characters are “frozen” just before moving and the reader contemplates them as if they were endowed with a soul that drives them.
This edition finally contains an impressive portfolio of illustrations of beautiful and young women located in some places… of dreams. Although the true pearl of the compilation is in each of the long introductions that Giardino writes, explaining the paths that led him to each story. He does it with a mixture of confession and a magician who discovers his magic tricks and we readers feel privileged to be able to access these secrets that are usually silenced by artists.
