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Rating: Comics are my comfort zone. I've been reading them since I was in diapers. Comics of every kind. Diabolik, Corto Maltese, Popeye, Julia, Dampyr, Dylan Dog, and so on. I haven't even missed out on the industry magazines (broadly speaking): Corriere dei Ragazzi, Linus, Fumo di China, L’Eternauta, Alter Alter… Not Totem Comics. Or rather, I would leaf through the copy that a friend of mine would buy. Distractedly, with a hint (more than one) of snobbery. Totem Comics has always left me indifferent. Not understanding the reason for such dislike. Until a few years ago, when I decided to buy a copy from a remote suburban stall. Regret! Enlightenment! Damn, what stuff! And what cartoonists! Vuillemin, Edika, Wolinski, and Luca Boschi. Someone who devoted his inkwork to Disney, a screenwriter, a critic, an essayist, a talent scout (he launched Leo Ortolani, for instance), and much more. Someone who took advantage of Totem Comics' pages to unleash his creativity. Moreover, he had plenty of creativity.
In May of last year, the Editoriale Cosmo dedicated a volume to Luca Boschi, titled simply but effectively: “Totem. Boschi”, curated by Pier Luigi Gaspa. One hundred twenty-eight pages to revisit a bulimic artistic career, lived swiftly, in a hurry, without pausing except to take a necessary breath. The book collects only a part of Boschi’s work intended for the pages of Totem Comics (there's also something published in Il Mago, truth be told), but it's quite significant material. Like the stories featured in the section “X Y e C.”, the surreal adventures of Remorenzo Rizzuto, Super Renza, Lupo Nolberto (a parody of Silver's Lupo Alberto), the puzzle games. And much more. Above all, pages assembled in entirely anarchic ways, based on crazy, brilliant, cultured rough drafts. The best that can be coupled with a rich, round, imaginative, almost punk touch.
For Luca Boschi, Totem Comics was a playground, but also a way to express an immense talent. His feats, both human and artistic, are recounted in the beautiful introduction by Luca Raffaeli, which is essential reading to understand the schemes (both artistic and otherwise) of the Tuscan artist. On the back cover, it reads: “This volume (…) represents a tribute to a figure who left a truly unique professional and human legacy.” It's worth quoting.
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