Collection, Artpix :: Vintage European Comic Book Art

Playpeople Predators Partnerup ('L'Atroce Beffa' pp.11,23,29)

Artist: Bruno Marraffa (All)

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Playpeople Predators Partnerup ('L'Atroce Beffa' pp.11,23,29) Comic Art

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'L'Atroce Beffa' title page

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Artwork Details

Title:	Playpeople Predators Partnerup ('L'Atroce Beffa' pp.11,23,29)
Artist:	Bruno Marraffa (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:
Views:	177
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	2/4/2023
Comic Art Archive:

Description

A good example of powerful storytelling in its most elementary graphic form. The 1970s Italian comic book, 'L'Atroce Beffa' ('Bad Joke'), displays art that is highly expressive yet inked in very simple lines. The text too is minimal, raw and equally powerful as a narrative tool. This tale of immoral predatory gain has a simple but convincing narrative that is both chilling and profound - the success of smart, uninhibited lying, cheating and murder: continuing an Italian cultural speciality as comic book fare.

A conniving middle-aged playboy recruits a demoralised blonde callgirl on a beach in St.Tropez and they start their predatory journey. Two of a kind, they introduce each other, quickly bond in and out of bed and don't have to search far for their first victim. They haunt resorts where rich young widows are recovering from previous dramas and play a nice brother and sister pair who are adjusting to their own problems - him as generous carer, she as depressive victim. He courts the victims with feigned kindness and sympathy, marries them and dispatches them as soon as possible in the most natural way available, after sorting the usual legal details of wills etc. Conveniently for them this first young wife has a reputation for sleepwalking and, on a rainy night, it is the easiest thing to send her over the edge to her doom as can be seen in these strong graphics. The bubble text translates as, 'Here is the golden opportunity! It rains too! What luck!'

An additional images shows the result after the newly wed sleepwalker is pushed over the edge and another the contrast of the carefree beach scene title page, again masterly in its economy of line by Marraffa

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Last Login:	September 2025
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