Thrilling fumetti of the 1960s - Italian Comics Part II
KRIMINAL, SATANIK AND THE OTHERS

There's more to Italian comics than Diabolik - Luciano Panella gives us the second part of his history of 60s Fumetti.

Like all successful characters, between 1963 and 1966 Diabolik gave way to many imitators, less stylish and more violent than him, all bearing evocative names: the most famous were Kriminal and Satanik. The others, Sadik, Infernal, Demoniak, Makabar, Spettrus had a shorter existence in newsstands.

Diabolik was called il genio del crimine (the genius of crime) and was elegant and stylish; on the contrary Kriminal, was nicknamed il genio del male (the genius of evil - crime was not enough for him) is a melancholy character.



His real name is Anthony Logan, and he became a murderer to revenge his father. He uses black tights and a skull as a mask, to frighten his victims. Kriminal is a lonely character, a kind of rebel without a cause and his traditional enemy is Inspector Milton from Scotland Yard.
Kriminal appeared twice on the screen: in 1967 in "Kriminal", directed by Umberto Lenzi, and in "Il Marchio di Kriminal", directed by Fernando Cerchio in 1968, in both cases interpreted by Glenn Saxon.

Still more complex and cruel is the story of Satanik.

Satanik is a young but terribly ugly scientist, Marny Bannister; she is tired of being considered only a good scientist and to be laughed at by men: with the help of a magic potion, she transforms herself into a very beautiful girl, and she decides to take her revenge against all her past life.

Satanik and Kriminal try to rebel against the violence they suffer in their everyday life; they are not brilliant or elegant: poor Satanik, in particular, is a sad character: she lives in a miserable flat, she has no friends or fiancés, she can only have 'one night stand' lovers who will never know her true personality.

Satanik also appeared on the screen in 1967, interpreted by the beautiful Magda Konopcka; for censorship problems, Satanik's continuous search of sex and violence was much softened in the film, which ends with her death.

All this violence began to bore the public and gradually all Diabolik imitators went out of fashion.

Kriminal and Satanik were published until 1974; but in the early seventies adult comics had turned toward horror or sexy subjects. The new characters were sexy heroines like Lucrezia, a princess, Zora the vampire, Isabella the pirate.

Of course, after 30 years, Isabella and all her colleagues too have been rediscovered and appreciated by trendy readers; but they never really succeeded in becoming popular icons of their time, like Diabolik, Kriminal and all the others 'geniuses of evil'.

What was the reason of their success?

Well, the answers are many. Some critics could say that it was the reaction against post war Italy - considered a moralist country, deeply influenced by the government and by the Church; others might suggest that this was the result of twenty years of fascist censorship, which deprived Italy from the contact with international cultures and everyday life as a subject for books and films.

In my opinion the reason for the success of Diabolik, Kriminal and all the others is that they were something completely new.

They were the first comics meant for adults, the first comics with a negative hero, the first comics with reference to sex and violence.

One more reason of success is the sinister charm they still retain: beautiful Eva sitting next to Diabolik driving his Jaguar, sexy Satanik killing her lovers, or even minor heroes like Infernal or Spettrus, tormenting their victims, seem nowadays even romantic, compared to what we see everyday on TV!

About the author

Luciano is a resident of Trieste, in the north east of Italy, near Venice. He's interested in anything related to the ' 60s culture, from music to films and art.

More info and other articles by this author

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Comments:
COUTARELLI	nov 12 2007 8:39AM
can you send my website to some comics critics? www.fecohellas.gr
Mary Boogaloo-oo	nov 28 2002 5:45AM
Ahhhh, those were the days! Still, you forgot to mention that Diabolik's sultry companion was called Eva Kunt, oops sorry, Kant! Yeah I know, I'm easily amused...
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