Romics in Mostra - A Selfie...in Duckburg. Mickey and the jerky misadventure
Panini Comics presents Mickey and the jerky misadventure, a story that is a relay race of athletes and an orchestra of musicians. Not only the (almost) complete cast of Duckburg and Topolinia, but above all the teamwork of 14 designers working simultaneously on the same script, one board each.
Ivan Bigarella, Giulia La Torre, Federico Maria Cugliari, Federico Franzò, Nico Picone, Libero Ermetti, Simona Capovilla, Mario Ferracina, Stefano Zanchi, Giulia Lomurno, Andrea Malgeri, Mattia Surroz, Federico Butticé and Emmanuele Cinelli. In strict order of appearance. They, some of the newcomers of the last few years in the weekly magazine, have created this choral adventure, born from the narrative inspiration of the celebratory cover version of Mickey 3541 dedicated to the XXXI edition of Romics, designed by Andrea Freccero, a cover equally "crowded" as the art director jokes.
«From 29 characters of the previous 4-ante cover of Mickey Mouse n. 3023 we have gone to 42, except counting errors! It’s inevitable that someone from the Disney Band has stayed out, but readers will enjoy counting, I’m sure. It was not easy to find the right mix of historical characters and characters appeared in the most recent weekly. I think Cornelius Coot and Ray from Area 15 stand out, from behind the mythical Yor of the Ice Sword, Grandma Duck holding Malachi, Newton Pitagorico looking at his uncle Archimedes. Even Mr. Vertigo can be spotted with a keen eye! Doretta Doremì we notice her near Brigitta (sacred love and profane love...): in fact, the two Duckies observe Scrooge. Gastone and the four-leaf clover are a clear tribute to the successful comic book series, but they are also auspicious. In Topolinia you can never be too relaxed, so the hand of Black Spot that emerges is a clue to continue reading the image».
A sort of "graphic wave", as defined by Freccero, that spreads in the 4 doors of this cover that unfolds as the plot of a story. And to govern the development of the story that starts from the cover, to direct this orchestra, we have the screenwriter Marco Nucci: The intuition came suddenly. Observing with the editorial staff the wonderful sketches of Andrea Freccero, we thought it would be fun to elaborate a story that, in some way, embraced the spirit. A divertissement, nothing more, that nevertheless presented to the readers something special».
In this Jerky Misadventure it all starts with a selfie in Duckburg. But as often happens something goes wrong and the many, many characters of the world of Mickey find themselves traveling together in space and time.
«For reasons of space (and common sense), I had to reduce the number of characters compared to the ones on the cover, limiting the cast to the hard core of Banda Disney - tells Nucci. Then, after involving the talented designers who emerged on Mickey Mouse in recent years, our "budding masters", we got to work, me to the story, them to the drawings. The boards, contrary to what happens in the relay, were worked simultaneously and the comic was completed in less than a week. Five days, not a minute more, in the torrid heat of August».
Joining this formidable group of professionals is not only talent, but above all the emotion of creating the stories of Mickey Mouse, those comics read and loved from childhood. A dream come true.