Fumetti

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This article is about the photocomics, known as "fumetti". For Italian comics, see the page with that name.

Fumetti or photo novels are a form of comics illustrated with photographs rather than drawings. This kind of graphic storytelling has experienced the most popularity in Italy. Italian weeklies such as “Grand Hotel” and “Bolero Film” sold millions of copies in the 1940s and continue to sell well today. A fictitious fumetto plays a central role in Federico Fellini's film Lo Sceicco Bianco (The White Sheik).

In the Italian language, fumetti are all comics, not just photo novels (fumetti literally means "little clouds of smoke", in reference to speech balloons). Instead, Italians call photo-illustrated comics fotoromanzi. Fumetti are also popular in Spain and Latin America, where they are called fotonovelas, and in France. Fumetti have never been widely appreciated in the United States. They did appear in the U.S. for a short time in the late 1970s. They were adaptions of current films. They included adaptions of Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Buck Rogers, and many more. The adaptions were usually abridged and were composed of stills from the motion pictures. With the advent of Home Video, these adaptions no longer had a market and they disappeared by the early 1980s.

In more recent times, web-comics have brought fumetti to life for more Americans. Unfortunately, the majority of these works are merely the efforts of those without the skill and/or energy to draw the comics they wish to write. Other creators have taken fumetti as their own and used it to better express what they wish to express, utilizing photography as the fully-formed art medium that it is.

They can currently be placed into one of three categories:

1. Comic Strip Form

Usually made up of grainy, blurred photographs, these works frequently make use of public domain images and repeated photographs. Poetry and simple statements make up what is usually a depressing bit of self-expression. However, from the beginning comics such as A Softer World have mocked the genre, subtly parodying its already cliched conventions.

2. Continuous Comic Form

The continuous comics are usually page long stories updated regularly with a definite punchline for each page. They are primarily made up of autobiographical work featuring the creator and/or anthropomorphized objects from the creator's apartment. Some popular examples include Reprographics, Fluff in Brooklyn, and Michael's exciting life.

3. Short Story Form

These are typically put up as complete stories all at once though some choose to serialize their stories. Some feature recurring characters, such as The Anomalies, Caution Man, and Transparent Life.

[edit] Toys in Web Fumetti

Many fumetti artists have discovered the versatility of toys and action figures in their webcomics. Instead of photographing people in the real world, such artists place and pose toys for their "actors". The most commonly used toys are usually action figures such as Stikfas, Godzilla, Lego, GI Joe, Bionicle, and so on.

Toy fumetti artists have developed three different styles to address the worlds in which the toys exist: toy dioramas, toys as toys, and toys personified.

Toy Dioramas. The toys exist in their own world, do not usually know they are toys, and do not interact with real people. The toys are a substitute for real people – although sometimes they might make tongue-in-cheek jokes about their status as toys.

The artist creates miniature sets, props, and furnishings to create the world. These are usually scratchbuilt from clay, paper mache, and other craft supplies. Manufactured toy or doll pieces might also be used. The dioramas range from abstract battlefields (such as that used in Stuck), to simple apartments and locales (Depth-of-Field), to extensive dungeons, caverns and wilderness (Perils of the Bold). Some comics (Paradise Bar & Grill) include pre-made dioramas and scale playsets alongside custom built environments. Not all toy fumetti artists create practical dioramas. Some use digital environments (Ask Dr. Eldritch).

Toys As Toys. Many webcomics follow the adventures of toys in the real world. The toys know they are toys, and interact with real-world props and furnishings (but only infrequently with real people). Such comics are usually set in the artist's living room or workplace, occasionally venturing out on field trips to parks and other outside environments. Notable examples of this style include Nukeland Cinema and Misplaced.

Toys Personified. Other webcomics use toys as stand-ins for real people, digitally placing the toys as life-size participants in real-world locations and situations (for example, Alien Loves Predator and Twisted Kaiju Theater).

[edit] Other Examples of Fumetti

occasional pieces in Weirdo magazine
pieces in Help! magazine
The Marvel Fumetti Book
Nickelodeon Magazine's Roughin' It
Leisure Town by Tristan A. Farnon, with photographs of bendable toys digitally added to photographed backgrounds.
Twisted Toyfare Theater, a featured strip in Toyfare Magazine
Dorothy a comic based on the Wizard of Oz