More than two centuries after the publication of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley's powerful prose still resonates with readers and helped lay the foundation for science fiction as we know it, making her the perfect subject for one of the five historical fiction biographies being released digitally in English for the first time from Comixology Originals and Italian publisher Becco Giallo.
Titled Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream, the graphic novel is written by Alessandro Di Virgilio and features artwork by Manuela Santoni, and ahead of its March 28th release, we've been provided with exclusive preview pages to share with Daily Dead readers!
Below, you can check out our exclusive preview from Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream, as well as the official press release with additional details on all five historical fiction biographies coming out digitally as part of Amazon's Comixology Originals. To learn more about Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream, keep an eye on Comixology Originals!
Press Release: March 15, 2023—New York, NY—Comixology Originals and Italian Publisher Becco Giallo join forces to bring five historical fiction biographies in comic book form to English readers for the first time. Written and drawn by different creative teams, and translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi, these graphic novels span the lives of literary icons, a famous inventor, artist, and a philosopher. Mary Shelley, Socrates, Nikola Tesla, Vincent Van Gogh, and Virginia Woolf will be available simultaneously on March 28, 2023 from Amazon’s Comixology Originals exclusive digital content line.
MARY SHELLEY: The Eternal Dream
Written by Alessandro Di Virgilio with art by Manuela Santoni
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
- The life of writer Mary Shelley, daughter of the famous philosopher, Mary Wollstonecraft, forerunner of the feminist movement, and William Godwin, novelist and radical politician is a constant escape from 19th century conformity, filled with acquaintances with important artists and writers.
- When she was 17, she eloped with her future husband, the romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, to then visit Europe with her step-sister Claire and her lover, the famous Lord Byron.
- In 1816, the year without a summer, the four of them stayed in Geneva at Villa Diodati, along with the doctor and writer, John Polidori. In order to combat boredom during rainy days, they created a challenge to write a story which would evoke “true terror.” Mary created one of the most beloved monsters in world literature, Frankenstein, also known as the modern Prometheus, the incarnation of man’s ancient fear towards diversity and the unknown.
SOCRATES
Written by Francesco Barilli with art and cover by Alessandro Ranghiasci.
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
With an introduction by Journalist Stefano Cardini
- Socrates was not only one of the best known and most influential philosophers in the history of humanity–he was also the first martyr for his own ideas. His trial tells the tale of how the greatest democracy of all time could have sentenced one of its best citizens to death.
- Athens, 399 BC. In what may be remembered as the first trial for crimes of opinion, Socrates is sentenced to death. Accused of corrupting youth with atheist doctrines, the philosopher’s defensive line is uncompromising and provocative. He is thus condemned to drink hemlock by an even larger majority of the jurors. Once in prison, awaiting execution, he refuses to flee in order not to violate those laws to which he has always been devoted.
NIKOLA TESLA
Written by Sergio Rossi with black and white art by Giovanni Scarduelli
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
- Who was Nikola Tesla? A brilliant inventor or a visionary uncoupled from his time?
- Growing up in poverty in the mid-19th century under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Tesla managed to study and become an engineer on his own. He emigrated in search of fortune, first in France and then in America, where he was hired to work in the laboratory of Thomas Edison, the renowned inventor of the phonograph and light bulb.
- He suffered, endured, and then overcame his envious colleagues, first and foremost Edison himself, which culminated with the so-called War of Currents, a competition for the control of electric energy on the world market. He had a grand public comeback before his resounding and definitive downfall.
- With over two hundred different patents, some of which spread the alternate current and the radio throughout the world, and thanks to his intuition about the remote control and wi-fi, Tesla is now remembered as one of the most important innovators in modern history.
VINCENT VAN GOGH: Sadness Will Last Forever
Written by Francesco Barilli with art by Sakka (aka Roberta Sacchi)
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
- Van Gogh is, even today, one of the most renowned artists in the world. His short life was full of mysterious episodes and fascinating peculiarities: from his relationship with his brother Theo–his major benefactor, to the famous argument with Gauguin–which resulted in the partial self-mutilation of his ear, to the extreme act of self-harm which led to his death. Van Gogh led a tormented and fascinating existence. In the end, Theo's wife Johanna became the first promoter of his work.
- The book showcases his life through an intense and uninterrupted dialogue between Vincent Van Gogh and his madness.
VIRGINIA WOOLF
Written and drawn by Liuba Gabriele
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
- England, March 1941. Virginia Woolf walks along the banks of the river Ouse. She picks up a stone from the ground, weighs it in her hand, and watches the water flow. She thinks about the fierce war happening in the world and within herself. All that accompanied her up to that shore still lives in radiant images which represent the extreme strength of her emotions, such as the passion for her lover, Vita Sackville-West, the fondness for her fundamental husband, Leonard, and her grief for the tremendous family bereavements. Feelings poured into her writing, which revolutionized literature, and solidified her place in history as one of the world's most important authors.
About Comixology Originals:
Amazon’s Comixology Originals exclusive digital content line is available at no additional cost for members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, and Comixology Unlimited, and for purchase atamazon.com/comixology. Prime Reading offers all Amazon Prime members a rotating selection of more than 3,000 digital books, magazines, comics, and more – all at no additional cost to their Prime membership. Kindle Unlimited gives customers access to more than 3 million digital titles, including thousands of audio books and comics, plus current magazines for just $9.99 a month with a free trial period atamazon.com/kindleunlimited. Comixology Unlimited offers over 45,000 comics, graphic novels and manga for just $5.99 a month with a free trial at amazon.com/comixologyunlimited.
About Becco Giallo:
Becco Giallo is an Italian publishing house specializing in the production and publication of comic books.
Born in 2005 in the province of Treviso, today it is active in Padua. Its name is a tribute to the courageous editorial experience of the anti-fascist satirical sheet "Il Becco Giallo," which in the 1920s used drawing - together with the written journalistic investigation - to criticize and press power. Its symbol was a blackbird, with its beak always open to shout the truths that they wanted to deny at the time.
With its publications dedicated to the most painful Italian news events, the journalistic reconstruction of events that have shaken public opinion, and forever marked the history of the country, and the investigations linked to the most recent national history, the publishing house earned the award for Best Editorial Initiative of the Year at Lucca Comics & Games 2007 "for the commitment, consistency and courage demonstrated in a political and social context where it has become too easy to forget.”
Today Becco Giallo publishes about 45 titles a year, distributed in its various series, from Graphic Journalism, to books designed for children, from biographies to fiction, up to the new world of Webcomics. Since 2017, Becco Giallo has been part of a larger publishing group, the Fandango group, which also includes the publishing brands of Coconino Press, Fandango, Playground, and Alet Edizioni, as well as Fandango Film, dedicated to the production of films and TV series.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
