issue #2 online magazine
Produced by Anonima Fumetti in collaboration with Scuola Cottolengo and Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti Editing
Nico Vassallo and Bonsignori Fr Andrea Cover
Arash Eftekhari Optimization, Graphic Design, Editing
Studio ParlapĂ - Davide G.G. Caci Artistic Advice
Gianfranco Costagliola e Pierpaolo Rovero Web Editing
Gianfranco Goria English Translation
Fiorenzo Delle Rupi
Online magazine produced by:
5 Scrum at Cottolengo! Second arc: Tigers
Nico Vassallo Initial Idea Alberto Arato Story Andrea Dotta Art & Colors Studio ParlapĂ Lettering & Editing 15 Bike Ride Jacopo Maria Vassallo Research and Interviews Alberto Arato Story Alice Nicoletti Art, Colors & Lettering 19 T-Shirts Jacopo Maria Vassallo Research and Interviews Alberto Arato Story Cristina Carnino Art, Colors & Lettering
THE HIDDEN CITY We’re back! It has already been a month, and, most important of all, we’re still there. In spite of the exhaustion, the difficulties and the countless daily clues that may inspire us to write a strip or a story, we have reached this second issue. Honestly, we could not imagine that our first virtual issue would obtain the unexpected number of over 27.000 contacts (and we mean contacts, i. e. different connected computers, not just “clicks”). Anyway, here we are! A long time ago, in a warm summer evening, a gentleman sipping a glass of white wine told me in a slight Milanese accent how, in the last days of war, he and his friends had recovered some boxes from a freight train, and they had waited the opportune moment to open them and see what prized treasure they might contain. When one late night they opened those boxes, they were quite disappointed to see that they were just filled of German toothpaste... and not even a mint-flavored version! Yet, as long as their contents had remained a mystery, those boxes had been considered the chest of a fictional treasure, a race car, a drum, and the source of many other intriguing games. And I sat there, looking at that man with a dreaming gaze. That man looked so tall, so strong, and yet I had to ask him why they were so happy in spite of such disappointment. It was toothpaste, not even candies...! He looked back at me with a joyful gaze, and he answered: “Because even during the war, those boxes allowed us to keep playing... at least for a moment, the war wasn’t there, and the world was beautiful and fantastic”. There, this is the idea I want to convey in our second issue, as we wonder whether, with all the issues and the “cuts” in our current society, making a comic book is still worth the effort. It is always good to remember heroic or funny moments from a world that actually exists, although sometimes it remains hidden from us. Your dreams on a field of play are important, whether you are playing rugby, soccer or any other sport. And it is important to see players running, rejoicing, and laboring in the name of a pure ideal, where the only smell is that of the locker room, and not of dirty bets and spoiled boys who stopped pursuing a dream and gave in to the lure of gambling. No, we will keep dreaming and drawing the finest reality. For if one day we will meet again that gentleman, we will be able to tell him: “We have never stopped playing either, and that wonderful world, if we truly wish it... is already here!”
To Galdino! Bonsignori Fr Andrea
arc 2: TIGERS
Is it? At last it’s out
There it is. It’s here!
The match schedule...
Our first match will be versus the SkassBall Tigers.
Oh, nooooo!
?
Last year, by the end of the match, the opponents were so tired that only two of them were left standing!
Whoa, come on, boys... take it easy... it’s just a team like all others...
Come on!
Where’s your dignity?
Three ambulances are needed, when you play against them!
These are the only teeth you are left with, when you clash against their prop...
Dignity will not be enough to beat them this time.
That’s what I always say. We need dignity. And hard work. Unyielding willpower leading to our sporting rise. An outstanding goal reached through efforts and sacrifice. Indeed, blah, blah, blah, blah...
We will follow a hard training schedule. If they soar, we will learn to soar as well! And blah, blah, blah h! eh e
Tigers don’t play... they soar!
Umph. We can hope to soar with girls, at best.
Oh, shut up!
Oh, yeah? You have nothing to teach me.
Take this and learn to have fun.
To lose your dignity in a match, you should first have one...
Oh, and do you?
What is competition? Me no understand. All talk about dignity, competition... Come with me!
You didn’t pass me the ball!
How can I score a try if nobody is passing me the ball?
How can we avoid COMPLETELY sucking in this damned match against the Tigers if nobody is playing decently?
Ehi! You suck. How many tries did you score in the last match?
Sorry... I...
I said I’m sorry...
How can I lead yout team to victory if you prevent me from marking a try?
Cut it out, everybody.
That’s what I told him.
WHAT DID YOU TELL ME?
If we don’t want to look like losers, we need to train, not to QUARREL.
ENOOOOUGH!
Me not like competition.
And now, let’s try a scrum.
And you, Claw... show me a little more spirit. Come on, come on, let’s go!
You, Bacon, try to run. Come on! You mustn’t wait for the ball. Go there and catch it!
Ethel... opponents must be tackled, not crushed.
The action is about to begin. Here goes the scrum to win the ball...
Claw has tackled an opponent...
He’s doing it,
HE’S DOING IT... He slips away, he’s free...
You snooze, you lose!
If you can’t pass the ball, step aside and make way for those who can!
I feel there’s something wrong, isn’t there?
Oh, no... It’s just that we have to face the SkassBall Tigers...
So?
They are... how can I put it?... The most competitive team of all...
The boys are afraid to come out of it poorly... you know... the team’s dignity... Again... so?
Heeeeeeeelp! h! Booohhh
Dignity, you were saying, Wrinkle?
assBall I am a Sk Tiger!
Er... well...
Had I been a true Tiger, you would be already dead!
Do you plan on taking a nap on the field of play against the Tigers?
Come on, Fatso! Otherwise we wouldn’t hear the end of it!
Play your damn match and let me be!
That’s it, I’ve had en oug
h!
What about just having fun...?
Oh, no, it isn’t. There’s no room for shame in sport. Either you win, or you lose with dignity. Bacon is right. That’s enough!
That’s the way I want them! Determined. Aggressive. Energic. Eager to challenge the opponent!
Oh my! It’s like having garlic and jam in the same sandwich!
I have a few doubts...
Can we begin?
You will begin only when I say so. Is that clear?
Nice shot!
P f f f f f f f f fF!
Maybe they were just a little disoriented.
Too bad! They were so motivated...
Actually, they looked quite angry to me...
But the sporting dignity...
There is not just one dignity. Everyone’s entitled to their own personal dignity.
So much for competition! And
good riddance!
CLAW My introduction: They call me Claw Name: Simone Family Name: Furgoni Main Features: Red curls, round glasses Girlfriend: Honey (Sara), but she doesn’t know it yet Best Friends: Jaromir, Bacon Occasional Enemies: Thick, Acid Sworn Enemies: None (so far) Wishes: When my dad brings me to training sessions with his van, I wish he would drop me out of the main gate. No, wait, a little farther would be better. Thoughts: My father wants me to play rugby so that I can grow strong and sturdy. I don’t care about becoming what he wants me to be. At first I didn’t want to play rugby, as I thought I would be beaten over and over. Then I found out that: a) there are girls b) sometimes you get beaten, but you can also beat them! c) in the and, we are all still good friends So, I thought I would give it a try, and I did not regret it. I hope I will make it to the end of the league in one piece!
The Hidden City is a project of: Scuola Cottolengo
In collaboration with:
Anonima Fumetti association of professional of comics, with the task of enhancing the art of comics also as a chance to read for young people.
Associazione Sportiva GiuCo (Sports Association GiuCo) association that uses Sport as a way of integration. For several years now it play “normal” championships with all disadvantaged people according to the principles of St. Joseph Cottolengo.
Movimento Cristiano Lavoratori (‘Christian Workers Movement’) It is an order of a social nature, solidarity and voluntary non-profit organization. M.C.L. wants to promote the affirmation of Christian principles in life, in culture, in the legal, legislation. It works for a renewed social order in which are guaranted, according to justice, the recognition of rights and the satisfaction of the spiritual and material needs of workers.
This work has been supported by:
For info on The Hidden City, contact us. segreteria@anonimafumetti.org