‘The Magnificent Adventure: The Perils of Giuseppe Bergman’ TPB (review)

Written and Illustrated by Milo Manara
Translated by Kim Thompson
Published by Fantagraphics

Milo Manara is considered to be one of the best comic book illustrators that ever was. He is not as well known to American audiences as he should be.

A few years ago, it was announced that he was working on a new Sin City book with Frank Miller. Then, we really heard nothing about that or him. His work that I remember had a lot of eroticism to it and that usually trumped a lot of the stories in what he was telling.

That’s all fine and good but I could never get past that a reader.

I wasn’t sure how this book here would rank up against the previous work that I had read of his.

Maybe I didn’t give him a fair shot years ago, or maybe I passed over his more important works, but this time out I found him to be an interesting artist and an even more brilliant satirist. Again, it could just be that I was reading a certain type of book from him but this story is absolutely fascinating and immensely smart and enjoyable. I found myself smiling and having a good time, wherever Manara wanted to take us in this book. And we go to some pretty intriguing and exciting places throughout.

The book’s main character is called Giuseppe Bergman. He is a well developed character and you can see that right from the get go. Manara obviously knew what type of character he wanted to explore the story with and Bergman just is placed perfectly into this setting.

Giuseppe is a young man who is being weighed down by the boredom and banality of every day living. He is starting to think that this is all life had to offer him and he is very sad at that prospect. He is hoping that something more interesting will come into his world to change things from what they are. Something, or anything really will do. But will it actually happen for him?

So Giuseppe is living his life as best he can. But then he comes across something that he wasn’t expecting. He comes across an ad that is pretty much promising him adventure. He is unsure of it at first, but he eventually decides to go through with what the ad is promising. This puts him on a path of adventure, the kind that he never thought he would see. This immediately takes the story into some wild directions that you never would expect it to.

Now, a lot of this becomes convoluted in a way that you won’t see coming. A lot of doesn’t make immediate sense or even any sense at times. Usually that sort of thing just annoys me and I tune out. Manara has such an interesting perspective that I wanted to see more. The story quickly becomes a parody of adventure comics of all things. It also becomes a bit of a parody of reality television. It is funny, fast paced and very interesting to say the very least.

All of Giuseppe’s various adventures come at the will of the very mysterious H.P. Not a lot is known about this H.P. character though he does provide a thrust for a lot of the events in the book. H.P. takes the plot forward and you can clearly see Manara having fun with this character. The way he uses H.P. deepens the points that he is trying to make throughout and it is very entertaining. I enjoyed the various interactions between H.P. and Giuseppe and it is all very fun.

There is a bigger point that Manara wants to make and he eventually gets there. It all leads to an ending that promises more to see in this world. I would happily read more adventure of these characters in this world.

Milo Manara has created an in depth world that is like a gift that keeps on giving. Every panel holds a new delight, or a something unique to engage the reader. His writing is pretty sharp but let’s face it, the artwork is the reason that I loved this book. I had a great time with this, and I enjoyed every second reading this.

This was a very fun book to read indeed. Well done.

RATING: A