New graphic novel chronicles Lino Banfi's early years

A new graphic novel titled 'Lino Banfi. La commedia di una vita' will be released on May 8, 2026, by Italian publisher Tunué. The book focuses on the early career of beloved Italian actor Lino Banfi (born Pasquale Zagaria in Andria, 1936), deliberately omitting his major successes from the 1980s onward. Written by Marco Sonseri with art by Roberto Lauciello and Andrea Piccardo, the comic covers Banfi's adolescence in post-war poverty, his struggles in Milanese variety theatre under the pseudonym Lino Zaga (changed on the advice of Totò), and his breakthrough in 1970 when Dino De Laurentiis offered him a two-year contract. The narrative is interspersed with letters written by Banfi himself. The volume arrives just weeks before the actor's 90th birthday.