Andrea Camilleri’s “The Devil’s Smell” adapted into comics

By John Freeman on October 29, 2020

Andrea Camilleri - The Devil's Smell - Comic Adaptation

If you’re a fan of Inspector Montalbano, created by the late Andrea Camilleri, then you may want to take a look at a terrific comic adaptation of one of his short stories, L’odore del diavolo (The Devil’s Smell”), the work of an international panel of talented young comic artists and graphic novelists, including Jon McNaught and Posy Simmonds.

The project – available to read online as a PDF, and also in print for Montalbano fans living in England and Wales – is the work of Italian Cultural Institute London curated by London-based Italian comics artist Massimo Fenati, produced as part of the 20th Italian Language Week in the World earlier this month, celebrating the Italian language in graffiti, illustrations and comics.

Andrea Camilleri - The Devil's Smell - Comic Adaptation - art by Paolo Bacillieri — Art by Paolo Bacillieri

The imagination and creativity of the contributing creators breathes new life into the textual genius of the “father” of Inspector Montalbano, while at the same time promoting the global vitality of the Italian language today.

In all, 15 creators came together to illustrate the short story, among them some of the most important new generation Italian artists, together with some very renowned British creators: Sergio Algozzino, Paolo Bacillieri, Alessandro Baronciani, Lorena Canottiere, Thomas Campi, Daniel Cuello, Matthew Dooley (winner of the 2020 Bollinger Everyman Prize for Comic Fiction), Massimo Fenati, Gulio Macaione, Federico Manzone, Jon McNaught (celebrated graphic novelist and regular contributor to The London Review of Books and The New Yorker), Andrea Serio, Posy Simmonds, Alessandro Tota and Lucas Varela (the Argentinian-born columnist of the FT Weekend Magazine).

Andrea Camilleri - The Devil's Smell - Comic Adaptation - art by Gulio Macaione — Art by Gulio Macaione

Accompanying the launch of the comic, the London-based Italian Cultural Institute – one of many partners of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival – hosted a webinar dedicated to the ambitious project, with project leader Massimo Fenati and contributor Matthew Dooley, Katia Pizzi, Director, ICI London, and journalist and author Paul Gravett discussed the project, which is online here.

• Check out L’odore del diavolo (The Devil’s Smell”) here on the web site of the Italian Institute – the link to the PDF is on the right hand side of the page

• You can also write to ICI London to request a free printed copy, which they will send by post to recipients in England and Wales. They are currently looking into ways of making the printed booklet available in areas outside England and Wales, but this is not possible at the moment. Contact: giulia.maione.iic@esteri.it

Webinar: Andrea Camilleri’s The Devil Smell adapted into comics from ICI London on Vimeo.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.