The initiative was organized again this year by the diaboliko Vladimiro Garofalo, the backbone of the Apulian fan group, with the patronage of the Municipality of Taranto. Enthusiasts and collectors from all over Italy will take part in Taranto Diabolik days 3 and will not miss the opportunity to see original works by the magazine’s greatest designers in a single location. For this edition the event will propose an exhibition with the display of 120 original covers of Diabolik, among the most representative of the first 304 published by the Astorina Publishing House. Furthermore, a copy-signing meeting with guest authors Riccardo Nunziati and Antonio Muscatiello is planned. Free entry and free gadgets for visitors.
A weekend absolutely not to be missed for diabolical friends, the organizer of the event Vladimiro Garofalo talks about it in more detail.
Vladimiro, how did the idea of Taranto Diabolik Days come about?
I have always been a collector and frequent social dinners. During one of these, organized by Lorenzo Altariva’s fan club, in which I was also able to meet the legendary Enzo Facciolo, I realized that there was no event dedicated to Diabolik in Naples and I told the friends of the club present that I would like to organize something in my city and they were all very willing to follow me in this adventure. The time needed to frame the period and the location and the Taranto Diabolik Days was born. We are now in the third edition, every year the exhibition has a theme, a common thread: the first year it took place on the history of Diabolik, original drawings from the years 1963/1964 were exhibited, to reconstruct the story of the Giussani sisters and why they invented the comic; last year, however, original drawings by all the cartoonists who drew for Diabolik were exhibited.
What does the theme of this third edition involve?
The third edition is specifically aimed at artists and album covers. With the patronage of the Municipality of Taranto, the “Kover Kollection” exhibition will be inaugurated on Saturday 15 June at 9.30 am, with the participation of the Councilor for Culture, Events and Youth Policies Angelica Lussoso. In the rooms of the Municipal Gallery of the Aragonese Castle, the 120 most representative covers of the first 304 issues will be exhibited, together with brief notes of presentation of the artists who represented them. Guests of honor will be Antonio Muscatiello and Riccardo Nunziati who will be available to sign copies of the latest albums created on both days.
Those from the early years are, in my opinion, perhaps the covers most loved by fans, linked to books with important and much loved stories, I’m thinking for example of “Two Roses for Eva”, or “Anguish”, where it appears for the first time Bettina. I’m curious to know… which is your favorite?
You should know that I launched a survey in the fan group on the 120 covers that will be exhibited at Taranto Diabolik Days 3, I divided them into ten votes and in the end the book “The shadows of the past” won. During the voting I preferred not to expose my tastes to avoid influencing them.
But your favorite? Now you can tell me…
My favorite does not coincide with the one chosen by the group, it is the one from the “The Last Refuge” book.
Do you remember the first issue of Diabolik you read?
I remember very well. You should know that my father was a reader of Diabolik, since the first books, unfortunately I no longer have them, however he had the habit of reading the magazine before going to sleep and then throwing them on the wardrobe in front of the bed. I was a child at the time and I was forbidden to read Diabolik, obviously I was very curious about it and so I climbed into the wardrobe and took the comic. It was love at first sight. It was the book “The House of Fear”, pencils and inks by the great Enzo Facciolo, subject and screenplay by the Giussani sisters.
