On the closing day of Lucca Comics and Games (@luccacomicsandgames) 2024, Leonardo Ortolani (@ortolanileo) spoke in a panel from the San Romano Auditorium about his latest project in collaboration with Sara D’Imporzano, called “Zodiaco” produced by Feltrinelli Comics:
“Astrology was born in the time of the Sumerians; since then, civilizations think that the stars and the moon influence our lives and all those born in a certain period are made that way because of their zodiac sign. Obviously, it is not like that but it is nice to believe it.”
After having made two volumes with tarot cards (Musa and Tarocchi, ed.), we went back to making comics; it is more fun this way to tell each sign with the characteristics that are attributed to it.
Research on the origin of the signs? Just look around, get information, and consult texts that tell the signs from a mythological point of view. I didn’t know whether to rely on Wikipedia or on the texts I had available.
It is always a pleasure to collaborate with Sara, and the same goes for this project. You tell stories but always with your style; I like to understand the fascination about these topics.
Esoteric trilogy? Not at the moment; there will be a stop for next year. Magic will have to wait.
The next one will be a particular volume with a difficult topic to deal with and I am anxious to write it but also a little worried. There will be “a lot of mud and rock”.
Realization of the models and colors? It is not always easy. There is difficulty in everything. Sometimes there is also the block period. The fish and the one that amused me the most; the easiest was the bull.
Was I fascinated by the iconography of the tarot and the horoscope? Yes, absolutely; for the latter I made a mix of tarot and muses.
Ghosts fascinate me; even from here I think that there are things that science does not know how to answer.”
