Italy’s velvet Strangehaven

Following the short translated excerpt from issue 1 which appeared on the Italian/English language site Ultrazine, the independent Italian publisher Black Velvet has licensed the full rights to publish Strangehaven in Italy. The first Italian issue has already been released (June 2003) in the US “prestige” format, with each subsequent volume intended to contain two issues of the original series per book.

The first Black Velvet volume, “I figli del giaguaro” is beautifully produced, containing the first two issues worth of material, plus an interview reproduced from the Ultrazine site, a biography of creator Millidge, photographs, rare art and even thumbnail sketches of the first pages from the artist’s archive.

The series is planned to run on a quarterly schedule until the Italian version catches up with Millidge’s inventory. It’s translated by smoky man, Millidge’s co-editor of the Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman book and edited by Omar Martini. The first, expanded 64 page issue costs 6 euros with subsequent 48 pagers costing 5 euros.