Mary Perkins/on Stage è stata pubblicata per anni in Italia sulle pagine del quotidiano Il Giorno. Forse pochi ricordano che il nome della protagonista – e di conseguenza della strip – fu mutato in Mary Atkins. L’unica spiegazione si può cercare con la paralella presenza della strip Perkins di John Miles pubblicata sulla stessa pagina di comics.
… whoever has read the comics of Mary Atkins (1) published on “Il Giorno,” will note how the drawings are laid out through varied frame solutions with a highly technical assembly (the artist belongs to the great Alex Raymond school) with very unusual and daring angles and perspectives inspired by cinematographic language, contrasts (frame after frame) with views from a distance, from above, to settings in which the “lens” (ideally speaking) focuses on the characters through the gap of another character’s arms, drawn in a foreground close-up etc.
(1) The name of the protagonist – and consequently the strip, was changed to Mary Atkins. The only explanation can be found in the parallel presence of the strip Perkins by John Miles published on the same comics page
Ferragosto is a public holiday celebrated on August 15th in all of Italy. It originates from Feriae Augusti, the festival of emperor Augustus, who made the 1st of August a day of rest after weeks of hard work on the agricultural sector. It became a custom for the workers to wish their employers “buon ferragosto” and receive a monetary bonus in return. This became law during the Renaissance throughout the papal states. As the festivity was created for political reasons, the Catholic Church decided to move the festivity to the 15th of August which is the Assumption of Mary allowing them to include this in the festivity. This festivity was also used by Mussolini to give the lower classes the possibility to visit cultural cities or go to the seaside for one to three days, from the 14th of August to the 16th, by creating “holiday trains” with extremely low cost tickets, for this holiday period. Food and board was not included, which is why even today Italians associate packed lunches and barbecues with this day. By metonymy, it is also the summer vacation period around mid-August, which may be a long weekend (ponte di ferragosto) or most of August. Until 2010, 90% of companies, shops and industries closed; however, because closing an entire country’s economy for an entire month would result in serious financial impacts and workplace backlogs, most companies now close for about two weeks and require all workers to take mandatory vacation, similar to the practice of workplaces closing between the 25th of December and the first of January.
Ricordiamo oggi la nascita di Nino Ferrer (cantante e molto altro) nato a Genova, 15 agosto 1934 e scomparso quasi esattamente 64 anni dopo. Nell’avventura di Corto Maltese “Corte Sconta detta Arcana” Hugo Pratt omaggia l’amico Nino Ferrer e gli fa impersonare uno dei personaggi della storia ovvero l’omonimo ufficiale russo qui chiamato Capitano Nino.
Nel nostro piccolo anche noi abbiamo celebrato il tessiragnatele. SuperGulp! Fumetti in TV è stato un programma televisivo dedicato al mondo dei fumetti trasmesso dalla RAI e creato da Guido De Maria e Giancarlo Governi, con le musiche di Franco Godi nel 1972. Alla ripresa del programma nel 1977 la Mondadori mandò in edicola un settimanale a fumetti con lo stesso titolo SuperGulp che riprendeva (in parte) i personaggi della trasmissione. Furono realizzati episodi dei maggiori supereroi dell’epoca, quali i Fantastici Quattro e L’Uomoragno. Qui uno degli episodi realizzati da Giancarlo Malagutti e Giorgio Montorio.
Ferragosto is a public holiday celebrated on 15 August in all of Italy. It originates from Feriae Augusti, the festival of emperor Augustus, who made the 1st of August a day of rest after weeks of hard work on the agricultural sector. It became a custom for the workers to wish their employers “buon ferragosto” and receive a monetary bonus in return. This became law during the Renaissance throughout the papal states. As the festivity was created for political reasons, the Catholic Church decided to move the festivity to the 15th of August which is the Assumption of Mary allowing them to include this in the festivity. Food and board was not included, this is why even today Italians associate packed lunches and barbecues with this day. By metonymy, it is also the summer vacation period around mid-August, which may be a long weekend (ponte di ferragosto) or most of August. Up until 2010, 90% of companies, shops and industries closed but, with the growing influence from other non-Catholic countries, and the fact that closing an entire country’s industry for a whole month meant an incredible loss of money and backlog of work, most companies now close for about two weeks, forcing all workers to take imposed vacation, similarly to the 25th of December.
History
The Feriae Augusti (“Festivals [Holidays] of the Emperor Augustus”) were introduced by the emperor Augustus in 18 BCE. This was an addition to earlier ancient Roman festivals which fell in the same month, such as the Vinalia rustica or the Consualia, which celebrated the harvest and the end of a long period of intense agricultural labor. The Feriae Augusti, in addition to its propaganda function, linked the various August festivals to provide a longer period of rest, called Augustali, which was felt necessary after the hard labour of the previous weeks.
During these celebrations, horse races were organised across the Empire, and beasts of burden (including oxen, donkeys and mules), were released from their work duties and decorated with flowers. Such ancient traditions are still alive today, virtually unchanged in their form and level of participation during the Palio dell’Assunta which takes place on 16 August in Siena. Indeed, the name “Palio” comes from the pallium, a piece of precious fabric which was the usual prize given to winners of the horse races in ancient Rome.
During the festival, workers greeted their masters, who in return would give them a tip. The custom became so strongly rooted that in the Renaissance it was made compulsory in the Papal States.
The modern Italian name of the holiday comes directly from the Latin name.
According to Richard Overy, author of A History of War in 100 Battles, the Ferragosto Holiday was introduced by C. Caesar Octavian, the future Augustus, after his victory over Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium on 2 September, 31 BCE.
I remember that, at the age of 7 or 8 years old, we were living in a friend’s house in Burbank. I can still recall the nice house on a hill with a park just down the road. Dad, who noticed how easily I got bored would bring me along to visit the spots in the district, in search of a location for the strips he was preparing. We would often stop for breakfast at his friend H’s place, who also had a huge collection of original comics and strips. It was during one of these visits that I met Prince Valiant of Harold Foster. Dad’s friend did not have – strange to say – a fetishistic rapport with his collections. He did keep the originals in transparent envelopes, (acid-free for sure) but allowed me to take a look, leaf through them without manifesting any anxiety. I recall those tables, that were just my height. Sprawled on the carpet of the study and with the pages strewn all over the place, I would practically immerse myself in those gigantic pages.
Little Nemo et le petit Lucien. La planche ci-dessus est l’une des premières de l’« Imagerie artistique » publiées par la maison Quantin. « Un rêve agité » est la onzième de la première série de cette collection de planches pour enfants, et fut publiée en 1886. Elle n’est pas signée, mais son attribution au dessinateur Job laisse peu de doute.
De son vrai nom Jacques-Marie Gaston Onfray de Bréville, Job (1858-1931) est issu d’une famille appartenant à la vieille noblesse. Après le lycée, son père refusant qu’il entre à l’École des beaux-arts, il s’engage dans l’armée pour cinq ans. Puis, entre 1882 et 1885, il intègre les Beaux-Arts et se forme dans les ateliers des peintres Carolus Duran et Evariste Luminais. Il expose alors régulièrement au Salon des artistes français, principalement des scènes militaires. Ses premières années d’artiste sont également marquées pas la caricature politique et de moeurs. Il collabore un temps à des journaux comme Le Monde Parisienou La Nouvelle Lune.
Job fait partie de cette jeune génération qui pratique l’histoire en images. Il en donne ainsi régulièrement à La Caricature, journal crée par Albert Robida, dès 1883. Souhaitant renouveler l’imagerie enfantine, Albert Quantin fait naturellement appel à lui, avec Caran d’Ache, Steinlen ou Christophe, pour revivifier la formule spinalienne vieillissante. Ce sera le début de sa carrière d’illustrateur pour la littérature enfantine. Job nous reste aujourd’hui en mémoire pour ses beaux ouvrages illustrés pour les jeunes lecteurs retraçant, non sans patriotisme, des histoires militaires et les légendes napoléoniennes dont les textes furent souvent signés par Georges Montorgueil.
Un rêve raconté en images
Que raconte cette planche de l’imagerie Quantin ? Dans son lit, le jeune Lucien s’endort avec à ses côtés Sultan, le cheval de bois qu’on vient de lui offrir. L’enfant rêve alors qu’il est un élégant cavalier qui monte son jouet devenu vivant. Il parade crânement devant ses camarades de pension et son professeur M. Plume-d’oie. Voulant épater son assistance, Lucien augmente la cadence et passe au trot. Mais soudain, sa monture s’emporte et le cavalier ne la maîtrise plus. Elle accélère jusqu’à ce que les passants, effrayés, ne distinguent même plus le cavalier et son cheval ! Arrivé sur les quais, l’animal s’arrête net et Lucien passe par-dessus bord. Mais le garçon se réveille, tombant de son lit. Ce n’était qu’un rêve.
