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DieGo to publish top, award winning Italian comic character in the UK

By John Freeman on February 22, 2014 • ( 1 )

DieGo Comic Publishing, the independent London-based publishing house founded by Giuseppe and Marcella Pennestri, has added another Italian comic book to the public: Desdemona, by authors Giuseppe Di Bernardo and Andrea J. Polidori.

The series is scheduled for presentation next July at the 2014 London Film and Comic Con, and in April 2014.

Published as L’Insonne (The Watcher) in Italy since 1994, but which really took off in 2005 when the series was taken up by publishing house Free Books, the series is an esoteric thriller that features Desdemona “Desdy” Metus, a young DJ of Radio Witch, a small private radio station in Florence. Desdemona is suffering from a form of unexplained insomnia, probably of traumatic origin, which seems to allow her to perceive aspects of reality normally hidden to ordinary people.

Thanks to her night-time radio show, Desdemona comes into contact with some amazing and mysterious listeners, and often investigates real mysteries such as the Voynich Manuscript , the Alchemical Door of Rome, but also other more “real world” events, such as crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan.

14 episodes of L’Insonne have been published to date, drawn by various artists – including Marco Checchetto, Giuseppe Palumbo, Alessandro Vitti, Andrea Fattori and Emanuela Lupacchino – many of whom work for important international publishers. L’Insonne has also been a real radio show (for two seasons between 2007 and 2009) and a novel has also been written by Di Bernardo. In 2013, the series revived in audio form through Spreaker, which features all 28 audio fumetti dedicated to The Watcher , the shows starring Isabella Mancini as Desdemona.

Hugely popular in Italy, L’Insonne won the Comicus prize in 2006 as “Best Italian series”, while in 2007 two of the story’s characters, Desdemona and Cronide won the Ayaaak prize as, respectively, “Best female protagonist” and “Best antagonist”. In 2009 , Giuseppe Di Bernardo, a designer, writer, editor and teacher at the International School of Comics in Florence, won the Ayaaak prize “Scure d’Oro” for his work on the series.

Pages from an episode of L’Insonne.

“We will be launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the new project.” says DieGo’s CEO Giuseppe Pennestri.

“We’re not sure if we will publish the full series, or only the first episode,” he adds. “Everything depends upon the public response when we launch the Kickstarter. We are working to present this amazing character at its best, as it deserves, working closely with the author, Di Bernardo, who is preparing to celebrate his 20 years of activity in the Italian comic book scene.

“We aim to enlist renowned illustrators to create contemporary covers for the series, to maximise the effect of Desdemona on an international audience.”

• The Desdemona Kickstarter project will be launched April 2014. For more information visit DieGo’s website: www.diegopublishing.co.uk

• Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DieGoPublishing Twitter: @DieGoPublishing

• Sign into the newsletter: www.facebook.com/KingFantasy/app_100265896690345

• The official Desdemona (L’Insonne) website in Italian is at: www.desdymetus.com and their blog is here (also in Italian)

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.