MANARA LIBRARY Volume 6

In this final volume of The Manara Library, the Maestro's unmatched draftsmanship and versatility are on full display, with stories spanning science fiction, westerns, war, creature features, and more! And much of this is new to us! Featuring the sexy political space opera Escape from Piranesi; the provocative illustrated history of the human race "The Story of Humanity"; Manara and Castelli's classic tale of spiritual discovery, The Snowman; and "Chris Lean" and "Reality Comics," among others; all newly translated.

The works in this collection bookend Manara's career. The 1974-75 "Reality Comics" was a very early effort done for an Italian periodical, with serious stories that range from battle-torn Mexico and the jungles of Venezuela, to World War I and London, Miami, New York and Chicago in the 1970s. "Chris Lean" is also a G-rated work, but with broad hints of the erotica to come, starring a James Dean lookalike and a bevy of beautiful ladies. "Bolero" and "Revolution" from 2000 move into his formative years, mixing social commentary and eroticism.

"Escape from Piranesi" is a rare science fiction tale with a cast of sexy ladies, aliens, and well-drawn spaceships. It's a story about state control of DNA. "Forty Six," from 2006, was a creative dalliance while Manara was doing the Borgia series, with dynamic coloring that, for once, is not by Manara himself. It is the fantasy life of an Italian racing star, with an encounter with Jim Morrison of The Doors.

Any Manara fan will find a LOT here that we've not seen before, and we've handled just about all his work previously collected in English. Excellent introduction by Charles Brownstein, the Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.