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The Complete Crepax #4
The Complete Crepax Vol. 4: Private Life
Collecting the work of an international icon in the fields of comics, advertising, and erotica! Most of the comics in this volume, spanning 1965 to 1985, have never before been published in English. Crepax’s first foray into comics magazines― “The Curve of Lesmo”―introduces our proto-feminist heroine, Valentina, the globe-trotting Milanese photographer. In other stories, she becomes a mother, outwits a gang of jewel thieves, flashes back to her childhood and adolescence, encounters a mysterious cello, and much more! Black & white illustrations with some color.
424 pages, Hardcover
First published March 12, 2019
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About the author
Guido Crepax
417 books83 followersGuido Crepax (born Crepas, 1933-2003) was an Italian illustrator and comics author, considered one of the most influential cartoonists of the second half of the 20th century. He is notably remembered for his sophisticated black and white art, as well as his dreamlike storylines, often involving a significative dose of erotism.
Crepax was born and raised in Milan, the son of famed cellist Gilberto Crepas. He graduated in Architecture in 1958, then started a successful career in illustration, mostly for advertisement and record covers.
Crepax began making comics in the middle of the 60's, particularly for the Italian magazine 'Linus'. He is best known for the Valentina series of stories. Originally introduced as a side character in the sci-fi story The Curve of Lesmo (1965), Valentina is a fictional photographer from Milan. She is a cultured strong woman, with sophisticated art and fashion tastes, left-wing political ideals and a marked sexual curiosity. Valentina quickly became a staple of European counterculture of the late 60s and early 70s. The series run for thirty years, until 1995, with the titular character aging in real time.
Over the decades Crepax created other female characters, such as Belinda, Anita, Bianca, Giulietta, usually used as protagonists of erotic comics. His other works include a number of comic book adaptations of erotic novels, like Emmanuelle, Justine, Venus in Furs, Story of O, as well as horror classics Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Crepax was born and raised in Milan, the son of famed cellist Gilberto Crepas. He graduated in Architecture in 1958, then started a successful career in illustration, mostly for advertisement and record covers.
Crepax began making comics in the middle of the 60's, particularly for the Italian magazine 'Linus'. He is best known for the Valentina series of stories. Originally introduced as a side character in the sci-fi story The Curve of Lesmo (1965), Valentina is a fictional photographer from Milan. She is a cultured strong woman, with sophisticated art and fashion tastes, left-wing political ideals and a marked sexual curiosity. Valentina quickly became a staple of European counterculture of the late 60s and early 70s. The series run for thirty years, until 1995, with the titular character aging in real time.
Over the decades Crepax created other female characters, such as Belinda, Anita, Bianca, Giulietta, usually used as protagonists of erotic comics. His other works include a number of comic book adaptations of erotic novels, like Emmanuelle, Justine, Venus in Furs, Story of O, as well as horror classics Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 22, 2019
Another beautifully produced volume in the series, this one less concerned with matters fantastic than the preceding three and this one entirely devoted to Valentina. The material here includes the first Valentina story and later episodes about childbirth and motherhood, entwined with Crepax's own autobiography. I especially enjoyed the episodes set in Venice, Crepax's depictions vivid and accurate enough to be recognizable even by a present-day visitor, though I suppose beautiful decay is a timeless thing. I also liked the Fleischerian inkwell sequences and the intermittent riffs on Valentina's resemblance to Louise Brooks, all told in dreams, fantasies, and fetishistic reverie. As usual, the supporting material is excellent. The only problem with these books is the frequency of their publication. I would be perfectly happy to buy two or three a year.
February 17, 2024
Compared to the frivolities and sexual liberation of the previous volumes, this volume of Guido Crepax's "Valentina" stories is aptly entitled as "Private Life" due to the much more subdued and intimate tone. Some of the stories here still maintain the genre bending aspects, such as the opening story, "The Lesmo Curve", but the focus is primarily on quieter moments between Valentina and her romantic partner, Phillip Rembrandt.
With "The Lesmo Curve", Crepax blends influences from American mainstream comics, primarily that of Jim Steranko's Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. comics which were famous for their implementation of tight panel layouts and vertical perspectives to emphasize scale. "The Lesmo Curve" is Crepax's own go at a superhero comic where he shifts away from the more fluid designs from his other Valentina comics in favor of a much more rigidly structured style of sequential storytelling. But with the emphasis on the stronger line comes a great degree of kinetic action that works perfectly for the genre. The story itself is action packed from the jump; it opens to a thrilling bank robbery which then spirals into a tense tale filled with high speed chases, betrayal and sex.
Following this story are "Ciao, Valentina" and "Funny Valentine", loosely tied together by a shared group of antagonists for Valentina to endure. Playing more of a passive role in "The Lesmo Curve", here Valentina is a bit more in the thick of it especially as the story gets more politicized in "Funny Valentine". Valentina, seen as a radical leftist, serves as a useful tool for the reactionary villains who represent the somewhat tumultuous political landscape of Italy in the '60s. Other great stories in here include "The Manuscript Found in a Stroller", a story that blends aspects of Crepax's own experiences and the anti-establishment attitudes he held into a Valentina tale. She picks up a copy of The Manifesto, an outlet for communist writings that seems to have a surreptitious origin. The mystery behind the manuscript drives towards some of the left leaning sentiments of the time that were often suppressed by the mainstream media of the time.
But the most memorable story here has to be "Private Life", the story that lends towards the title of this volume. This is a Valentina story a decade into Crepax's tenure making comics and serves as an interlude of sorts to catch up potential new readers on the past decade of Valentina's life. Crepax breaks the fourth wall early into the story to interact with Valentina himself, which adds a fun and textured element to this "recap episode" of sorts. The conceit of creator interacting with his own characters is hardly new, but Crepax lends a potent sense of absurdism that makes this a thrilling read.
It seems weird to say this, but this easily could be a great introduction volume for new readers looking to get into the works of Guido Crepax. The stories here are much less out there than the ones contained in Vol. 1-3 of the "Complete Crepax" series, and the titular "Private Life" works fairly well as a first time Valentina story. Given the lengthy span of stories collected here, there's a good mix of varying art styles from Crepax as well.
With "The Lesmo Curve", Crepax blends influences from American mainstream comics, primarily that of Jim Steranko's Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. comics which were famous for their implementation of tight panel layouts and vertical perspectives to emphasize scale. "The Lesmo Curve" is Crepax's own go at a superhero comic where he shifts away from the more fluid designs from his other Valentina comics in favor of a much more rigidly structured style of sequential storytelling. But with the emphasis on the stronger line comes a great degree of kinetic action that works perfectly for the genre. The story itself is action packed from the jump; it opens to a thrilling bank robbery which then spirals into a tense tale filled with high speed chases, betrayal and sex.
Following this story are "Ciao, Valentina" and "Funny Valentine", loosely tied together by a shared group of antagonists for Valentina to endure. Playing more of a passive role in "The Lesmo Curve", here Valentina is a bit more in the thick of it especially as the story gets more politicized in "Funny Valentine". Valentina, seen as a radical leftist, serves as a useful tool for the reactionary villains who represent the somewhat tumultuous political landscape of Italy in the '60s. Other great stories in here include "The Manuscript Found in a Stroller", a story that blends aspects of Crepax's own experiences and the anti-establishment attitudes he held into a Valentina tale. She picks up a copy of The Manifesto, an outlet for communist writings that seems to have a surreptitious origin. The mystery behind the manuscript drives towards some of the left leaning sentiments of the time that were often suppressed by the mainstream media of the time.
But the most memorable story here has to be "Private Life", the story that lends towards the title of this volume. This is a Valentina story a decade into Crepax's tenure making comics and serves as an interlude of sorts to catch up potential new readers on the past decade of Valentina's life. Crepax breaks the fourth wall early into the story to interact with Valentina himself, which adds a fun and textured element to this "recap episode" of sorts. The conceit of creator interacting with his own characters is hardly new, but Crepax lends a potent sense of absurdism that makes this a thrilling read.
It seems weird to say this, but this easily could be a great introduction volume for new readers looking to get into the works of Guido Crepax. The stories here are much less out there than the ones contained in Vol. 1-3 of the "Complete Crepax" series, and the titular "Private Life" works fairly well as a first time Valentina story. Given the lengthy span of stories collected here, there's a good mix of varying art styles from Crepax as well.
December 28, 2021
001: Prologue to the Lesmo Curve
009: The Lesmo Curve
055: Ciao, Valentina
091: Funny Valentine
111: Fearless Paper Doll Valentina
123: Filippo and Valentina
129: Valentina the Fearless
167: Valentina's Baby
213: The Manuscript Found in a Stroller
222: Fallen Angels
265: The Empress's New Clothes
273: Le Zattere, Venice
287: Pietro Giacomo Rogeri
325: Anthropology
387: Private Life*
435: Twenty Years Later
439-468: five interesting and informative extras
* Contains a recap of all of Valentina's stories up until that point (1985) where, for 1-2 pages each, she narrates what happened beside the reprinted art and some new drawings.
009: The Lesmo Curve
055: Ciao, Valentina
091: Funny Valentine
111: Fearless Paper Doll Valentina
123: Filippo and Valentina
129: Valentina the Fearless
167: Valentina's Baby
213: The Manuscript Found in a Stroller
222: Fallen Angels
265: The Empress's New Clothes
273: Le Zattere, Venice
287: Pietro Giacomo Rogeri
325: Anthropology
387: Private Life*
435: Twenty Years Later
439-468: five interesting and informative extras
* Contains a recap of all of Valentina's stories up until that point (1985) where, for 1-2 pages each, she narrates what happened beside the reprinted art and some new drawings.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews