By: Loranzo Mattotti & Caludio Piersanti
Language: English (Italian)
193 pages, b&w, hardcover
Published: Fantagraphics, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-60699-409-2
I’ve been around so long that I can assess the development of the art of comics and safely say that we are right now living in a “Golden Age”. I base this on the fact that really good graphic novels seem to come out with increasing speed. Due to the time it takes to create a graphic novel, not the least of which is the time it takes to become proficient enough to actually create something of artistic and/or literary value, combined with the inherent problems of actually making money out of this process, means that each artist can only contribute with so many graphic novels during his or her lifetime. Still we are slowly but surely building a collection of really great graphic novels, and Stigmata by Italians Mattotti and Piersanti is one of the latest additions to this ever growing international library.
Stigmata has been correctly described by British comics expert Paul Gravett on the back cover, as a “modern morality play”. It follows an uneducated drunkard, a man who works at a bar and sees no real purpose for his existence, getting two wounds in the palms of his hands, wounds that will not heal. These wounds, far from being a blessing, force him away from his safe existence and out on a journey that ends with him, after having had everything he loved taken away from him in a great flood, ending up a cloister where he becomes the gardener of the cemetery.
If the story sounds rather basic, it is because seems to be based on the old tradition of morality plays, allegorical stories where the protagonist were exposed to personification of various moral and immoral traits. This does not in any way imply that Stigmata is an easy going, unassuming and “simple” story, as it is intricately and beautifully told, only that the basic premises of the story is evident all through the narrative.
Piersant, the author, is not someone whose work I’m acquainted with, but Mattotti is one of the masters of modern comics, with real gems like Fires, Murmur and Doctor Jekyl and Mr. Hyde of course residing in my library. In Stigmata, Mattotti uses a toned down style compared to the other books, where he has been more lavish in the use of colours etc. Still, his use of loose, expressive drawings and effective use of the contrasts between black and white makes for a stunning visual read.
