Vincenzo Filosa on Cosma & Mito: A Nippo-Calabrian Manga Series

Vincenzo Filosa (Crotone, 1980) releases his latest book, Cosma & Mito (Coconino Press), a fantasy series blending manga aesthetics with Calabrian folklore. The story follows two protagonists, Cosma and Mito, in a world that mirrors Calabria's borders, inhabited by humans and rival races: the 'pruppi' (anthropomorphic octopuses) and the 'lupiminari' (Calabrian werewolves). The series originated from an illustration for friends at the Belleville comic shop in Turin and was developed with writer Nicola Zurlo, who co-created the world. Filosa cites influences from Shigeru Mizuki's Kitaro of the Graveyard and aims to revive local myths and legends for all ages. The first volume leans toward fairy-tale tones but maintains an anthropological catalog of regional oddities. Autobiographical elements are minimal, with only minor color notes like the 'Strega delle conserve' drawn from Filosa's brief stay in a convent-run kindergarten. Filosa's manga influences include Tsuge Tadao (considered the greatest sequential realist), Tatsumi Yoshihiro (godfather of gekiga), Tsuge Yoshiharu, and Katsumata Susumu. He notes a favorable moment for manga-style authors in Italy, citing LRNZ, Accardi, and Dall'Oglio as examples. Cosma & Mito is the first of four planned volumes, with the next expected between February and March 2020, aiming for semestral releases thereafter.