unaistoria
A book I’d like you to read. A film I’d like you to watch. It’s more literature than literature. It’s more cinema than cinema. Gipi’s latest comic, Unastoria, is bloody amazing.
Whenever Gianni Paccinoti, Gipi, brings out a comic, the world becomes a little livelier. Ok, many people will think I’m going too far. I’m exaggerating. Alright, but I really do believe it. There are just a few creators who amaze us and affect us with their talent. People who have a special ability to connect with life. They bring readers’ and watchers’ memories and experiences together. Gipi is one of them.
This Italian comic writer is incredibly good at reflecting everyday life. And all the wonder and defects in the everyday. Gipi loves his characters. But he doesn’t protect them by lying. He doesn’t judge them or reward them, nor does he offer them forgiveness. In Gipi’s work pain causes pain and happiness leads to happiness. As simple as it is hard. Incredible credibility. His great grandfather fought in the First World War and, when he came across his letters, he decided to combine his life with that of writer Silvano Landi. That´s Unaistoria. Gipi is a master draughtsman. He has different styles, and they are all Gipi. And he leaves the mistakes he makes on the paper to show the doubts he has as a creator. We could go on to explain how he moves the camera around inside his comics, or how he writes his commas. But we won’t. There would be no point. You have to read comics and look at them. You can’t tell a comic. How can you explain to somebody that streams and rivers chisel the land in the same way tears run along our wrinkles? How can you tell somebody that hedgehogs feed off wounded soldiers’ blood in the trenches? How can you explain that daughters don’t love their fathers? How can you tell someone that petrol stations are still places abandoned by humanity? How can you explain that the darkest nights have their own light, fed by fear and hope? How can you tell somebody that all stories hold a single story?
Whenever Gianni Paccinoti, Gipi, brings out a comic, the world becomes a little livelier. Ok, many people will think I’m going too far. I’m exaggerating. Alright, but I really do believe it. There are just a few creators who amaze us and affect us with their talent. People who have a special ability to connect with life. They bring readers’ and watchers’ memories and experiences together. Gipi is one of them.
This Italian comic writer is incredibly good at reflecting everyday life. And all the wonder and defects in the everyday. Gipi loves his characters. But he doesn’t protect them by lying. He doesn’t judge them or reward them, nor does he offer them forgiveness. In Gipi’s work pain causes pain and happiness leads to happiness. As simple as it is hard. Incredible credibility. His great grandfather fought in the First World War and, when he came across his letters, he decided to combine his life with that of writer Silvano Landi. That´s Unaistoria. Gipi is a master draughtsman. He has different styles, and they are all Gipi. And he leaves the mistakes he makes on the paper to show the doubts he has as a creator. We could go on to explain how he moves the camera around inside his comics, or how he writes his commas. But we won’t. There would be no point. You have to read comics and look at them. You can’t tell a comic. How can you explain to somebody that streams and rivers chisel the land in the same way tears run along our wrinkles? How can you tell somebody that hedgehogs feed off wounded soldiers’ blood in the trenches? How can you explain that daughters don’t love their fathers? How can you tell someone that petrol stations are still places abandoned by humanity? How can you explain that the darkest nights have their own light, fed by fear and hope? How can you tell somebody that all stories hold a single story?
