Nathan Never Maxi #16 (2018) ‘Underground Mission’

Since 1990, this futuristic science fiction series has followed the Alfa Agency, a quasi-governmental security corporation. Agent Nathan Never looks rather like Brad Pitt as Blade Runner. Some of these stories are sprawling political tales cutting back and forth between various factions. This one is linear and claustrophobic, as befits its underground setting. It also cuts Nathan off from his usual cast of supporting characters, making it a good introduction to his world. This is also the saddest Nathan Never story I've read so far. Its theme recalls the films “The Island” (2005) and “Moon” (2009), but I won’t spoil it by commenting further in case you haven't seen those.

The Italian industry has its own terminology and publication patterns. Apart from the monthly 86-94 page books (each of which is an "album" made of "plates") for their various ongoing fumetti series, Bonelli publishes various annual issues for many of them. A "Maxi" issue contains three separate 94 page stories, a good way to clear inventory stories, of which they apparently commission a large number. A "Speciale" is a single story of around 180 pages. A "Gigante" issue is larger in both page size (11.75"x8.25") and page number (224 story pages) compared to typical fumetti. The actual title of this book is "Maxi Nathan Never," but I have put the “Maxi” last here, so that this gallery sorts along with the other Nathan Never ones. This story did not provide the cover image for this issue, and it has no separate cover page in the interior.