Milo Manara's famously inept adventurer returns in two engagingly absurdist adventures that absolutely attest to the existence of free will — or do they?
Is life a stage, and do we just follow a script? Can we rewrite our roles, or must we play along according to the instructions of others? The two stories in this volume, An Author in Search of Six Characters and Days of Wrath, take place in Africa, which author/artist Milo Manara views as the bearer of insight and hope for the rest of the world.
Turning Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author" on its head, Manara sets our favorite inept, globe-trotting hero-naif, Giuseppe Bergman (Manara's comics alter ego), off on another quest for adventure. An off-panel director hands out scripts and then disappears. (Are we watching a play or are we in it?) Dedicated to playing his role, Giuseppe is confused when others assert themselves and send the entire scenario spinning out of control. His sexy co-star, Lulu, cast as a bimbo, rewrites herself as the hero, leading us to ponder deeper matters, such as whether we possess true free will or we just think we do. (But watch out! Just when you think the answer is in sight, Manara flips the script once again.)