Sometimes you wish you would like something even before you see it…(but then you don’t).
When we heard about the new comic miniseries Volto Nascosto, set in Eritrea/Ethiopia during Italian colonialism, we were so excited, the next day we ran to Madda’s to take a look at past issues. Well, summarizing: it’s really an (old) old-school comic, (yawn).
The first number came out past October and it will continue for another 14 chapters/months, following the idea of a graphic novel. The story is a choral composition of various characters with intertwined stories: Matilde, a rich young Italian woman in love with Vittorio, a courageous soldier, who has a loyal friend called Ugo and of course Volto Nascosto, the mysterious resistance fighter whose identity remains unknown to the reader.
Apart from King Menelik, his wife Taitu and Ras Makonnen, which are historical figures, Volto Nascosto is the only Abesha character which receives more than a superficial treatment. So while the Italians have families, lives left behind and a past, Volto Nascosto is a man hiding behind a mask, someone who remains a stranger to the reader. We do not seem to be any nearer to the anti-colonial resistance than any colonialist account.
The comic engages in a detailed description of the historical events between 1889 and 1896, figuring the Italian defeats of Amba Alagi, Macallé and, still to come, the Battle of Adwa. The choice of illustrating these defeats gives the Italian colonial army a tragic, heroic stature. Every comic also includes a short note by the author of the series, Gianfranco Manfredi, on a distinct aspect of life in the 1800 like the tragic of literary heroines or some Italian general like Giuseppe Galliano whose courage has survived critics of historians (and his name has become a drink).
Although the detailed setting of the story is praised as the uniqueness of the comic and Manfredi himself evokes films like Lawrence of Arabia and 19th century literature as having influenced the graphic novel, the reader cannot get over the déjà vu feeling.
It’s cowboys and Indians all over, although the Indians are dressed very strangely indeed. Sometimes they look as if out of some Moroccan cliché, sometimes they carry a Turkish fez, sometimes they are nearly naked ethnic Africans, sometimes they wear feathers. None of them looks like this. The problem seems to be that the author in particular and Italy in general, still don’t know who Volto Nascosto is, (but please do not take it as a spoiler!).
