Comics That Should Be Translated: Rebecca

Recently, I decided to re-read an old comic which had been gathering dust on my bookshelf ever since I last read it, many years ago. Upon reading it, I was struck almost from the page what a great read it was and so, I decided to make it the subject for the second post in my Comics That Should Be Translated series. The comic in question is Rebecca (but of course, you already knew that, having read the title of the post) by Anna Brandoli (art) and Renato Queirolo (script).

Rebecca takes place in Italy at the end of the 15th Century,  the story begins with the street-singer Mercutio fleeing through the snow, he's being pursued by two city-guards who took offence to one of his songs. Mercutio soon happens upon a cave, where he meets the comic's eponymous character; the gypsy-woman Rebecca. After she has helped Mercutio to get rid of the guards (I won't tell you how), Rebecca enlists the singer as her partner-in-crime (so to speak): She has found a hidden stash of weapons which she aims to sell in the city of Como. Once there, the duo soon finds themselves involved in a conspiracy cooked up by the local inquisitor to have a Jewish moneylender accused of witchcraft so that the church can confiscate his fortune.

One of Rebecca's chief strength is the very believable portrayal of Italy during the Renaissance.  Brandoli and Queirolo does not shy away from showing the injustices of the time, from the corruption to the religious oppression. The protagonists are hardly perfect, but they do come of as saints (or almost) when compared to the villains. Another thing the comic has going for it is it's cast of memorable characters. Aside from our two leads, Rebecca and Mercutio, this also includes (among others) the orally-gifted and intellectual miller Mennochio, who becomes one of the duo's allies as well as Filippo da Cesena; a leper who roams the countryside telling the tale of the crimes he committed when he was in the service of a generous but naive nobleman.

Incidentally, Filippo's story is perhaps my favorite segment of the comic. Covering only ten pages, it paints a fascinating portrait of a man who doesn't shrink from the blackest deeds in order to fulfill his thirst for wealth and power.

The comic is helped immensely by Anna Brandoli's artwork, which really sets the mood. Brandoli is another artist who has clearly mastered the use of black-and-white, much like her fellow countryman and colleague, the great Hugo Pratt.

There is a sequel to Rebecca called I Testamenti di Sant' Ambrogio (The Testament of St. Ambrogio), in color. I've read the first part of it in French and enjoyed it well-enough. However, the original Rebecca still stands out as one of the finest examples of its genre and a comic that definitely deserves to be translated.