EXTRACTS: British War Comics Illustrators Special © 2018 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

88 figurative paintings (and a much needed rest), though now and then he would do some painting commissions, usually reproducing covers from his Edifumetto days for fans. Sadly Biffignandi never got back the paintings he did for Edifumetto, as the publisher claimed they were ’lost’, although they appeared sometimes in various auctions in the internet, and usually sold at hefty prices. Through an artist friend he also did covers of the Phantom strip for a Swedish publisher, where the series is still very popular. Throughout his career, Biffignandi had the chance to meet many other artists he admired, such asWalterMolino and Giorgio De Gaspari in Corriere della Sera . De Gaspari would eventually be a fellow war library artist during the British years. Both became neighbours for a while, and Biffignandi considered De Gaspari to be the best draughtsman he’d ever met. Among the modern comic book artists he admired were the French Bilal, and the Italian Manara, and his favourite all-time artist had always been Chevalier Fortunino Matania. Sadly, Alessandro Biffignandi passed away on January 3, 2017. ● ● Special thanks to Roy Felmang not only for his invaluable information on the artist but for the non-war images as well. ABOVE: Actress Claudia Cardinale with the Maestro himself. BELOW: Unpublished cover for Lanciostory .