Manuale Dei Fumetti (which translates to The Comic Book Manual / Handbook of Comic Books) is a book published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore SpA in Milan, Italy in October 1976. The hardcover reference book is written by Benito Palmiro Boschesi, serving as an illustrative encyclopedia and guide to the world’s most famous comic strip and comic book characters up until the mid-1970s.
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore was founded in Italy in 1907 by a young printer named Arnoldo Mondadori in the small village of Ostiglia, the company began as a humble editorial effort fueled by a passion for journalism. Early success arrived through educational series like La Lampada, designed to promote literacy among youth in rural Italy. By the 1920s, Mondadori relocated its headquarters to Milan and began to reshape the Italian literary landscape with defining innovations, such as introducing the giallo (detective thriller genre) and specialized series like Medusa that introduced contemporary foreign literature to Italian readers. A landmark agreement signed in 1935 to publish Walt Disney’s work including the iconic Topolino comic magazine, solidified the company’s reputation for visionary licensing and mainstream appeal.
World War II temporarily halted this trajectory when the publisher’s Verona printing facilities were confiscated and its Milan offices suffered severe bomb damage. While in exile in Switzerland, Arnoldo and his son Alberto utilized their international connections to acquire post-war translation rights for major American authors like Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. Bolstered by Marshall Plan funding, Mondadori rebuilt a massively expanded, state-of-the-art plant in Verona, pushing heavily into illustrated weekly news magazines like Epoca and Panorama. In 1965, the company permanently democratized reading in Italy by introducing the Oscar Mondadori series, which brought classic and modern literature to the general public in affordable, low-cost paperbacks sold at newsstands.
Today, the Mondadori Group stands as Italy’s largest and most dominant publishing house, maintaining a massive market share across trade books and school textbooks. Headquartered in a landmark building designed by Oscar Niemeyer in Segrate, near Milan, the company went public on the Milan Stock Exchange in 1982. Over the decades, it has expanded through major corporate shifts, including eras under the ownership of the Berlusconi family and strategic acquisitions of rival general publishers like Rizzoli and comic publishers like Star Comics. Spanning over 25 distinct brands, a vast digital footprint, and a retail network of over 500 brick-and-mortar bookstores across Italy, Mondadori continues to dictate the country’s cultural, literary, and mass media landscape.
Manuale Dei Fumetti is a hardcover book containing 180 black and white and color pages measuring 12.8cm x 19.2cm printed with Italian text. The front and back covers feature a mix of comic book characters including the Phantom, Signor Bonaventura, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Tex Willer, Tarzan, Fred Flintstone, Asterix and Dagwood Bumstead with Blondie. The front and back covers can be seen below.
This book serves as an illustrative encyclopedia and guide to the world’s most famous comic strip and comic book characters up until the mid-1970s. The table of contents breaks the history and genres down into themed sections:
- Il fumetto: un’avventura lunga come la storia (Comics: An adventure as long as history) – p. 9
- I campioni della comicità (The champions of comedy) – p. 25
- Uno zoo con tanta fantasia (A zoo with plenty of imagination / Anthropomorphic characters) – p. 41
- I ragazzi terribili (The terrible kids / Mischievous youth strips) – p. 55
- Risate in famiglia e in ufficio (Laughter in the family and at the office / Domestic comedies) – p. 65
- I secoli si divertono (The centuries amuse themselves / Historical parodies/settings) – p. 71
- Nel mondo dell’avventura (In the world of adventure) – p. 81
- A tu per tu con la natura (Face to face with nature / Jungle & wilderness) – p. 98
- Gli eroi mascherati (Masked heroes) – p. 104
- Poliziotti e investigatori (Police and investigators / Crime fiction) – p. 112
- Gli agenti segretissimi (Top-secret agents / Spy fiction) – p. 127
- Le donne del fumetto (Women of the comics) – p. 133
- Il fumetto a cavallo (Comics on horseback / Westerns) – p. 140
- Gli eroi con i super-poteri (Heroes with superpowers / Superheroes) – p. 155
- La fantascienza (Science fiction) – p. 168
- Indice dei personaggi (Index of characters) – p. 180
The copyright disclaimer page also notes licensed properties from giants like Marvel Comics Group, Walt Disney Productions, King Features Syndicate, Dargaud Editeur, and various historic Italian publishers (Astorina, Bonelli/Araldo, etc.), highlighting how comprehensive this manual was for Italian comic fans in 1976.
Comprehensive information regarding the Phantoms publication in Italy is featured in the “Gli eroi mascherati” (Masked heroes) chapter commencing from page 104, seen below.
The chapter commences by exploring the enduring appeal of characters who hide their faces to pursue justice. It notes how comic creators frequently rely on this archetype because of its proven success, allowing characters to achieve a legendary, immortal status. The text highlights classic international examples across different settings, such as The Lone Ranger in the Wild West, The Spirit tackling urban crime in a large city, and Zorro as the ultimate swordsman defending the poor in California. It also mentions Italian contributions to the genre, specifically highlighting Asso di Picche operating in San Francisco and Amok fighting for justice in the Asian jungle.
“L’Uomo Mascherato” (The Phantom) is the first comic book character to feature in this chapter, describing him as one of the definitive symbols of the Golden Age of comics, tied to the adventurous dreams of multiple generations. It outlines his origins, starting in 1530 when a lone survivor of a pirate attack washed ashore in the Gulf of Bengal. This survivor, Walker, swore a solemn oath on the skull of his father’s killer to dedicate his life, and the lives of his descendants to destroying piracy and cruelty. The profile details his iconic costume, including his famous skin-tight suit which is purple globally but historically rendered as red in Italy.
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