EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 34 by Book Palace Books * 96 PAGES IN FULL EDITION

67 “journey”…working on the characters, their physiognomy and how to carefully represent the environment the story takes place in. I love working with Pierre, especially since we work the same way: [working on] the psychology of the characters, their interaction with the events, and giving the whole story a credibility to avoid doing cardboard characters. There’s a perfect synergy between us. Pierre gives me a totally free reign on how the characters look, how they dress and the setting where the story takes place. I can change entire sequences without bothering him about it. But finally, we have total respect for each other’s work. Along with your work in France, you also worked in Italy for Bonelli (the largest publisher of comics in Italy), even doing a 240-page volume of Martin Mystère (popular Italian comic book about a scientist of the fantastic) and some books of Magico Vento (amystical Native American character). Both were done in the ’90s, before I did ‘Lumière Froide’, although I did a Dylan Dog (a private investigator of the supernatural) story two years back. To tell you the truth, I prefer working on characters created by me, and not on characters or series created by other people. On top of that, I don’t like working on serials or spending ten or twenty years drawing the same character. Making different and new projects every time is more interesting and stimulating. Besides comics and illustration, you’re also one of the co- founders of La Scuola Sperimentale del Fumetto (Experimental School of Comic Art) in Rome. Another new experience, this time from the other side of the board, giving art lessons to future comic artists. What was that experience like? Teaching has always been fundamental in my professional career. When I created the first Italian school of comic art in 1978, I had also begun a parallel career as an author. Some years later, when I abandoned my teaching career