Comic strip by Aldo Barrese about Pope Francis.
Aldo Barrese is an Italian caricaturist, political cartoonist and comic artist, who sometimes signs with "Vampyre". As an illustrator for Edizioni Master (Master New Media), he is most notable for his Catholic educational comics, including his graphic novel biography of the saint San Francesco di Paola and his work for the comic magazine based on Pope Francis (Papa Francesco A Fumetti, 2013).
Early life
Aldo Barrese was born in 1974 in the southern Italian city of Cosenza, Calabria. He loved drawing from a young age. At age five, he participated in a drawing contest where he had to draw Pinocchio. Contrary to other participants, he added a cartoon to his illustration, which in his own words, "impressed the jury". He was declared the winner and received pencils, crayons and a big Easter egg as a present. Barrese loved Disney comics and often drew Peyo's 'The Smurfs', based on the Hanna-Barbera animated TV series. Among his main graphic influences are the Italian Disney artists Giorgio Cavazzano, Massimo De Vita, Corrado Mastantuono and Stefano Intini. While Barrese originally studied Law, he dropped out to become a cartoonist and advertising artist.
'Il Conte Shorck'.
Early comics
In 1996, Aldo Barrese published his first comic, 'Il Conte Shorck' ("Count Shorck"), about a vampire who isn't very successful in hunting for victims. Among Barrese's other series are 'Dumb Brains', about two simple-minded men, and 'Elvira Sweet Vampire', starring a young female vampire and her feisty grandmother. He also made 'Rosita in the Jungle Town', about a pink giraffe, and the superhero parody 'I Super Alcolici'. Between December 2003 and 2004, Barrese worked as inker for Disney Italia, the Italian Disney comics department in Milan, led by Roberto Santillo. He inked stories starring Mickey Mouse ('Topolino') and Donald Duck ('Paperino').
Since October 2012, Barrese has worked as an illustrator for Edizioni Master (Master New Media). For this company, he made several educational children's comics, among them about the saint San Francesco di Paola (2021). It was a lifelong dream of Barrese to adapt the saint's life story into a graphic novel.
Pope Francis Comics
Barrese is best-known for his comic about Pope Francis. On 13 March 2013, the Argentinean Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as pope. He took the name "Francis". Pope Francis was a surprising choice, since up to then, all popes had been Europeans. The new church leader quickly became popular, even outside the Catholic community. Nine months after his election, Time Magazine already named him their "Person of the Year" (2013). On 13 September 2013, the American cartoonist Patrick J. Marrin launched 'Francis', a gag comic about Pope Francis. Two months later, Edizioni Master launched a complete children's comic magazine based on the pope, Papa Francesco A Fumetti ("Pope Francis Comics"). The publication was made in cooperation with the Italian public TV channel RAI and was a bestseller right from its very first issue, printed on 28 November 2013.
English-language version of Aldo Barrese's 'Pope Francis' comic.
Aldo Barrese was the main artist behind the Pope Francis comic magazine. Revealing his background in Disney comics, Barrese draws the pope with big eyes. The magazine adapts the papal messages in comic strip format, specifically rewritten to be understandable to children. Apart from gag comics and a biographical comic for older children, it also features coloring games. On 10 February 2014, Edizioni Master also brought a Pope Francis-themed app on the market, also in co-production with the RAI. The artist has taken great pride in the fact that the real-life Pope Francis was photographed reading his comic.
Another comic about Pope Francis is the biographical comic 'Faith Series: the Life of Pope Francis' (Storm Comics/Bluewater, 2016), written by Michael Frizell and drawn by Vincenzo Sansone. A second cover design was drawn by Pablo Martinena. Another notable cartoonist who made comics about Pope Francis is U.S. editorial cartoonist Ted Rall, in his graphic novel 'Francis. The People's Pope'.
Graphic contributions
On 29 April 2009, Barrese was one of several graphic artists to draw a tribute to the late singer Fabrizio De André, organized by the Palazzo della Provincia in Cosenza. He also illustrated Anna Laura Cittadino's children's book 'Fiabe Appese All'Albero del Mondo' (Prima, 2021). In 2022, he made a special caricature in celebration of the 71st birthday of actor Christian De Sica.
Recognition
In 2014, Aldo Barrese received the Cassiodoro Award for "Best Cartoonist'" A year later, the Italian Senate gave him an award for his entire graphic career.
Coloring page starring Pope Francis.