The shadows of Saturn "From lbro" Shadows of Saturn "Max Crivello, also the inspiration for a comic book miniseries, which is almost mandatory since, in addition to the direct reference to" Saturn against the Earth, "the leading figures of his novel inspired comic imagery that goes directly from the thirties to the sixties "... "A STORY TO READ WELL WITH EYES OPEN" Paul Gallinari President of 'ANAFI. What is a story, and why we feel the need to tell? Have been given many answers to these questions, and it is not just the case that I get bored to death reporting them. But it is good to know that recent research on the functioning of our brains show how the narration of a story induces the release of endorphins, stimulates the pleasure centers of our words. Tell stories or listen to them is therefore part of our small daily pleasures, no matter whether they are true stories, that is the story of real events, handling and processing of real facts mixed with our fantasies, or pure invention distilled from our imagination. A story has the power to keep us trapped in its development, for little or as much clearly depends on the nature, quality, the plots of the story, the style of writing ... if not, we'd all novelists and novelists, scriptwriters theater librettists, or comicbook writers. In this regard, I was very impressed by Alessandro Baricco a sentence, that the matter of his Disney cartoon version of "Twentieth Century", says: "To those who write books I think it is almost impossible to write good comics. There must be capable of a ' innocence that he who writes books has been lost for some time. It 'a kind of touch of grace, which is difficult to recover, if you'd ever had. " And to the question "Literature can learn something from comic books?" answers: "More than comics can learn from literature, I would say." Personally, I always thought that the great storytellers in comics should be, at the same level, more educated of their colleagues who write books or film scripts, must read more, learned more, seen more because to combine text, image (usually designed by others) and the context in order to obtain the desired effect is very difficult, much more than is usually believed. To say nothing of those who are accustomed to call "the authors complete", that can draw, write, and maybe even color your comic story: I confess to nurture a respect for them and a boundless admiration, even regardless of the results achieved, just for having the courage to try. I realize I am a bit 'too much nell'esternare this feeling (not all of those who try achieve quality results, of course), but this is where I start to express my admiration for the work of Massimo Maria Crivello, known as Max, an eclectic artist and dynamic (teacher, painter, illustrator, comic book artist and writer) which engages with words and pictures, certainly not in the simple business of imagining a result of the Zavattinian "Saturn against the Earth" , free and at the same time reworking of the themes dear to the writer Luzzara. Operation to shake the veins wrists to anyone, Crivello faced with great attention to rebuilding themes and tones of another era and then project them into a future unknown to us, but fraught with dark clouds and potential disasters, as well as extraordinary potential and progressive outlook, knowing that the difference between the two scenarios opposites, between the roads that lead to them, may not be so obvious ... From lbro "Shadows of Saturn" Max has also been inspired by a comic book miniseries, which is almost mandatory since, in addition to the direct reference to "Saturn against the Earth," the leading figures of his novel are directly inspired by all ' imaginary comic book that goes from the thirties to the sixties, with reminders not too veiled chloride Pier de 'Lambicchi, Amok, Lightning, Tanks, Atomik, Misterix, here called to life to fight again, the side of Good: almost a new incarnation, all Italian, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The second aspect that makes me sympathize with Crivello, and the staff that supports it, is that his work will be truly mafia in name and in fact (remember the comic book miniseries "The Excellent" designed by his students, dedicated to victims of the Mafia), which is not easy for those living and working in Sicily, where it is easier to let go of that commitment, may suffer health ... In fact, Max had long been absent from his work and his genuine passion for art, from drawing, comics, teaching, due to a serious event that has left him drained of much of his will to fight, as well as physically deprived of the capacity and the ability to pick up the tools of his trade. But because once you learn to ride no more forget how to ride a bicycle, Crivello has returned to his place of combat, one from which he had founded in 1997, the Sicilian School of Comics. In recent years, the School of Comics in Italy have had an exceptional boom members, and were born like mushrooms everywhere, strange entities in between training, business management and passion beyond the professional perspective, it must be said that the School Sicilian Comics in its period of greatest activity has offered a number of talented but disadvantaged young people, free and free mini-courses with the support of the Region of Sicily, many students graduating persons into the profession, to prevent the loss and despair of so many young energy directing them to schooling institutions. Because - and this is another reason to support the initiative of Crivello and his companions - the comics medium has extraordinary potential in terms of social communication, language becomes common practice, shared and understood where other languages R03;R03;are struggling to make their way, fundamental in the simplification of complex concepts and articulated so they can be available to everyone, regardless of level of education, culture or experience, and can also become important for socialization and solidarity, especially for young people and young generations. I would do a disservice to the author and to those who supported him, if not citassi, last but just to highlight the role of the Brotherhood and Solidarity Association onlus of Palermo, and the activity of its President, Patrizia Pantano, which is also publishing through The Lamp Art Edition of the book "Shadows of Saturn" and the subsequent comic book miniseries. Not for me to present the activities of the association, which will certainly be better than anyone else who officially represents, but let me tell you that the social purposes of merit, normally pursued by any organization of solidarity in our country, certainly tend greatly more appreciated when they are held, as in this case, in a social environment degraded by dishonesty, corruption, organized crime. Where a strong commitment to social purposes, in favor of persons deprived and disadvantaged is not a joke nor a trinket dopolavoristico. For this reason, I suggest you read this book, this comic, eyes wide open, to better understand the story, the author, and how he came to tell us about it, but more importantly, to better understand the history behind all this. A history of civilization. Paul Gallinari