Greek Motifs as Composition Method in Luciano Vecchio’s comic Sereno

Abstract

Built partly upon the storytelling model of the Sailor Moon manga and partly on the American superhero comic, Sereno by Luciano Vecchio presents itself as an original fiction with multiple interpretations, in which different elements from the classical Greek world find their place. This article aims to analyze the way those elements –being mythical, linguistic or iconic– work as a composition method resulting in a markedly multicultural artwork. The comic series features –overtly or covertly– elements such as Titaness Theia (in the name of the city and as a mythical character), creations such as Fotofobos, Pánico, and Oneres, as well as the “Siren” or “Epic” pinups; which I understand to be a constructive principle of fiction (appearing in chapter titles, characters and storytelling ideas), of the plotlines that Vecchio crafts in order to reinterpret the superheroic genre as a producer of “modern myths”.