Milo Manara

Milo Manara (b. 12/9/1945, Italy) is one of the few comic artists who manages to make erotic comics and still succeed in keeping a reputation as a genuine artist. This is especially true of his serial, 'Giuseppe Bergman', which is a combination of experimental narrative and explicit sex. Manara is known to be interested in painting in general and the classical painters like Rafael in specific. Born in Luson (Bolzano), Maurilio Manaro initially earned a living by assisting sculptors. He became interested in comix in the late sixties. His first work appeared in the 'Genius' pocket books by publisher Furio Vanio in 1969, and in magazines like Terror, Telerompo, and the French magazines Alter-Linus and Charlie Mensuel. Other early work include the sexy pirate 'Jolanda' with scriptwriter Francesco Rubino for publisher Erregi (1971-73).In the years that followed, Manara produced erotic works like 'Le Parfum de l'Invisible' (two volumes, 1986 and 1995), 'Candide Camera' (1988), 'Kama Sutra' (1997), 'Le Piège' (1998), 'Révolution' (2000) and 'Piranèse, la Planète Prison' (2002), as well as new stories with 'Giuseppe Bergman'. However, Manara also kept on working in other genres. With Hugo Pratt, for whom Manara has great respect, he worked on 'L'Été Indien' (in Corto Maltese) and 'El Gaucho' (in Il Grifo). Manara also worked with one of his other heroes, Federico Fellini, on 'Voyage à Tulum' (Corriere della Serra, 1986) and 'Le Voyage de G. Mastorna dit Fernet' (Il Grifo, 1992). With Enzo Biagi he participated in Mondadori's series about 'Christophe Colomb' in 1992.In 1995, Manara made 'Gulliveriana' for Les Humanoïdes Associés, loosely based on the oeuvre of Jonathan Swift. He worked with Neil Gaiman on 'The Sandman: Endless Nights' for DC/Vertigo in 2003 and relaunched 'Giuseppe Bergman' in Bo Doï in 2004. Besides comics, Manara has produced a great variety of portfolios and illustrations for collections like Glamour Books.