Alessandro Bilotta (born 17 August 1977) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

author of short fiction, comic books,

graphic novels A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and ...

and films. His works include the

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

Futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

-influenced graphic novel '' La Dottrina'', and the comic book series ''

Mercurio Loi Mercurio may refer to: People * Mercurio Martinez (born 1937), Texas politician; see Laredo College * Angelo Mercurio (1936–2006), Italian-American mobster * Gus Mercurio (1928–2010), American-born Australian character actor * Jed Mercurio (b ...

''. Besides authoring many issues for ''

Dylan Dog ''Dylan Dog'' is an Italian horror comics series created by Tiziano Sclavi and published by Sergio Bonelli Editore since 1986. The series features the eponymous character, a paranormal investigator who takes on cases involving supernatural el ...

'', he created his own spin-off series, '' Il Pianeta dei Morti''. In 2021 Bilotta wrote ''Ianus'', a

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

story set in Rome, for ''Batman: The World'', an anthology of ''Batman'' stories by international comic-book artists. Each of which will take place in their home countries.

Career

Comics

Since the 90s Bilotta has created a plethora of comic-book series in Italy and in France. His twenty-year-old partnership with DC and

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

artist

Carmine Di Giandomenico Carmine Di Giandomenico (born 1973 in Teramo, Italy) is an Italian comics artist. In 1995 he drew the Limited series (comics), limited series Examen for publishers Phoenix. Then he drew an issue of ''Conan the Barbarian (comics), Conan the Barbar ...

led him to create the Italian steampunk comic book '' Le strabilianti vicende di Giulio Maraviglia'', followed by ''Romano'', published by 'Vents d'Ouest', and '' La Dottrina'', republished in 2019 in a deluxe edition by Feltrinelli. He is currently one of the main writers of ''Dylan Dog'', the best-selling award-winning horror comic-book series, for which he created the ''Il Pianeta dei Morti'' spin-off. His first independent series, Valter Buio, about a shrink for ghosts who operates in the very heart of Rome, was followed by ''

'', a professor flâneur who solves all sorts of crimes apparently just by getting lost in Rome's alleys. ''Mercurio Loi'' is the most award-winning Italian one-year run comic-book series ever. In a single run of just sixteen issues Mercurio Loi collected all the awards in the comic-book field: ''U Giancu'', ''Micheluzzi'', ''ANAFI'', ''Boscarato'', ''Gran Guinigi'' and the ''Golden Romics''. ''Mercurio Loi'' is a brilliant history professor, a Roman gentleman, and a

flâneur () is a type of urban male "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", or "loafer". This French term was popularized in the 19th century and has some nuanced additional meanings (including as a loanword into various languages, including English). ...

, a dandy who wanders idly through the alleyways of 19th century Rome. Reminiscent of the spirit of G.K. Chesterton's

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective. He is featured in 53 short stories by English author G. K. Chesterton, published between 1910 and 1936. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuition and ...

, Professor Loi ends up being involved in mysterious events, diabolical machinations and secret societies, whose convoluted charades he unravels with good-humoured acumen.

Film and screenwriting

Bilotta worked as a screenwriter and story editor for the ''

Winx Club ''Winx Club'' is an animated television series co-produced by Rainbow S.p.A., Rainbow and, later, Nickelodeon. It was created and directed by Italian animator Iginio Straffi. It premiered on 28January 2004, becoming a ratings success in Ita ...

'' franchise, co-writing (uncredited) such films as '' The Secret of the Lost Kingdom'' (

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

2007) besides story editing and writing for the fourth season of ''Winx'' and ''

PopPixie ''PopPixie'' is an Italian animated television miniseries created by Iginio Straffi. Its only season aired on Rai 2 for just over two months, from 10 January to 22 March 2011. The show features a group of pixies, who were first introduced as seco ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilotta, Alessandro Italian comics Italian comics writers 1977 births Living people