Gianfranco Manfredi

Besides being the creator of the famous comic book character Magico Vento and the author of numerous episodes of Dylan Dog, Tex and Nick Raider for Sergio Bonelli Editore, Gianfranco Manfredi also left his mark as a screenwriter, singer-songwriter, composer, novelist, essayist and actor.

Born in Senigallia in 1948, he graduated in philosophy in Milan, the city that welcomed him for most of his life and where he made his debut as a singer-songwriter in the 1970s. In Milan, he soon came into contact with Italy's counter-cultural scene, taking part in the activities of Il Re Nudo, somewhere between anarchist situationism and rock festivals. After his debut LP, "La crisi" (1972), and a stint as a writer for Donatello, he carved out his own space with the album "Ma non è una malattia" (1976), whose ballads pilloried the language and clichés of the "new left". A particular highlight is the irreverent – and hilarious – "Quarto Oggiaro Story" (included in our playlist "In the shadow of giants"), in which, addressing a supposedly uncommitted friend in the tone of a militant, he pokes fun at proletarian expropriations, cinematic idols and literary must-reads. Along with a track like "Ma chi ha detto che non c'è", it remains his most famous song, cementing his role as chronicler of the struggles and anxieties of the 1970s movement.

Among his best-known LPs are also "Ma non è una malattia" (1976), "Zombie di tutto il mondo unitevi" (1977) and "In paradiso fa troppo caldo" (1993).

Manfredi was able to move across different languages and cultures, from the underground to entertainment, from academia to pop. He collaborated with artists such as Gino Paoli, Mia Martini, Giorgio Gaber and Enzo Jannacci, and also stood out as the author of music essays devoted to Lucio Battisti, Adriano Celentano, Mina, Milva and Ornella Vanoni.

Manfredi then made his debut as a novelist in 1983 with "Magia Rossa", followed by works such as "Cromantica", "Ho freddo", "Tecniche di resurrezione" and "Splendore a Shanghai". In 2022 he published his last novel, "Hollywood o morte".

In the world of comics, he is regarded as one of the finest Italian writers and scriptwriters. From 1997 to 2010 he brought to life the adventures of Magico Vento, a saga later revived in 2023 with the three episodes of "Guerre Apache". He was also the creator of the series "Volto nascosto", "Shanghai Devil", "Adam Wild", and of the ensemble comic "Cani sciolti", an innovative narrative spanning Italian history from 1968 to the 1980s, exploring protest movements, state massacres and organised crime.

In recent years Manfredi had expanded his cultural output with a series of essays, including "C'era una volta il popolo. "History of Popular Culture", "Some Like It Offensive: A History of Literary Provocations (1851-1969)" and "The Collapse of the Bourgeois Conscience". His last work, "Il mito di Tarzan. Tra letteratura, cinema e fumetto", published in 2023, offers an in-depth textual and iconographic analysis of a pop culture icon.

Manfredi died on 24 January 2025, at the age of 76, after a two-year illness.