Mon Semblable, Mon Frère: Identity Needs, Imaginary, and Aesthetics in Marco and Antonio Manetti’s Diabolik Trilogy

Abstract

Diabolik has marked a decisive watershed in Italian culture and imagination. Confronting the way it tra- versed sixty years of Italian history allows us to examine the complex plot that links Italian comics to me- dial and socio-cultural changes. This article investigates the relationships between the comics series and the cinematic Diabolik, discussing the mechanisms of adaptation and remediation, the changes in aesthetic forms and symbolic references that have aimed to intercept a vast and heterogeneous audience over several years and different media. We will analyze the evolution that Diabolik’s storyworld has undergone, from the establishment of the comics series to the film adaptations, examining how the franchise has traversed and adapted to the changing imaginaries and spaces (physical and medial) in constant metamorphosis, and considering how it has responded to the identity needs of Italian audiences from the 1960s to the present. Finally –- and, crucially – we will focus on the trilogy recently directed by the Manetti brothers (Diabolik, 2021; Diabolik - Ginko all’attacco!, 2022; and Diabolik - Chi sei?, 2023), considering the relation it bears to the comics series, discussing the semiotic and aesthetic choices through which the filmmakers have adapted the hypotexts and remediated the original material, and highlighting its palimpsestuous character.

Keywords

• comics
• crime movies
• intermedial adaptation
• imaginary
• diabolik