Renzo Barbieri

Renzo Barbieri
Born (1940-03-10)10 March 1940
Milan, Italy
Died 23 September 2007(2007-09-23) (aged 67)
Nationality Italian
Area(s) Cartoonist
Notable works
Awards List of awards

Renzo Barbieri (March 10, 1940 – September 23, 2007) was an author and editor of Italian comics and the founder of the publishing house Edifumetto. He was born in Milan, Italy. He wrote Manual for Playboys in 1967, a manual that describes where European playboys live, the cars they drive, and other such information.

History

The Beginning

In the mid-sixties, Barbieri developed the pocket comic, also known as a digest. In this period spawned the black comics (Diabolik before and Kriminal and Satanik a few years later), paperback books, strictly for adults, portraying scenes of graphic violence and semi-dressed women. In 1966 he created Publishing 66, inspired by film and literary subjects of the time (such as Angelica and James Bond) and begins to develop the plots of his first two books: Isabella and Grendizer (illustrated by the talented and prolific Sandro Angiolini).

These volumes were slightly erotic until the first half of the seventies, when they became progressively more pornographic leading into the 1980s. This escalation went hand in hand with a sexual revolution occurring in Italy at the time, in the sense of an increasing permissiveness in the press and in the cinema. Images like a naked breast which in the mid-sixties appeared scandalous a few years later would be seen as almost chaste and innocent.

Barbieri, who had already been writing comics for years (he had also worked for Editoriale Dardo and Editoriale Alpe) and was also a journalist for The Night, decided after reading a violent White Cartoon French edition to open a publishing house in Milan.

Erregi

Barbieri started out publishing a few series himself and then expanded production by partnering with Giorgio Cavedon, with whom they founded ErreGi.

Adding to Barbieri's Isabella, Goldrake, they launch Jacula, Lucrezia, Messalina, Hessa, De Sade, Lucifera, Jolanda, Vartan, Walalla, Yra, Jungle, Bonnie, and many other sexy-heroines. But in 1972, as a result of differences and the need to reinvest the capital to cope with the rising competition in erotic comics, the two entrepreneurs split to form their own companies.

Cavedon retains all the highly popular existing titles and changes Erregi to Ediperiodici. Barbieri formed Edifumetto.

Edifumetto

Under the new banner of Edifumetto, Barbieri created some of the most notable titles of the genre including Zora la Vampira, Rolando del Fico, Cimiteria, Vampiro, Scheletro, Sukia Belzeba, Playcolt, Mafia, Poppea, Necron, and dozens of other characters. Their success was due in large part to the splendid covers, an unmistakable style of painting, made by classically trained masters such as Alessandro Biffignandi, Emanuele Taglietti, Roberto Molino, Pino D'angelico, Enzo Sciotti, and Carlo Jacono. Within a few years Edifumetto was publishing a new edition almost every day (and doubled in the summer with supplements).

Other publishing brands by Renzo Barbieri were Edizioni GEIS, SEGI, Il Vascello, Centroedizioni, Squalo Comics, Renzo Barbieri Editore, and finally Edifumetto 3000, which folded in the early 2000s.

Bibliography

Series dedicated to vampirism :

Sources

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