Marghera Blues is short story that incorporates fantasy elements while addressing two significant contemporary issues: environmental concerns and public health. The narrative is inspired by the Porto Marghera chemical plant, located near Venice, and reflects on the ongoing global health crisis.
Marghera Blues is an important comic for me because it, along with a five-page early version of Forehead Blues, marks the beginning of the Earth Blues series—a collection of stories that explore life on Earth after various human disasters. In 2022, I was interviewed by Broken Frontier about the inspiration behind these stories. You can read the full interview HERE, but to summarize, my inspiration came from the Porto Marghera chemical plant located in the Venice lagoon. My research into the environmental issues caused by the plant revealed that in the 1970s, severe air pollution led to serious health problems for locals, and even the sculptures and architecture of Venice were affected by contamination. This made me imagine how mermaids and underwater life might exist in such an environment, leading to the idea that if mermaids inhabited those waters, they might be wearing gas masks!
Behind the scenes:
Below, you can see a selection of photos showcasing character designs, as well as pencil and inked pages. I created the initial drawings using a blue mechanical pencil on A3 paper and then inked them by hand with thin brushes. To preserve the original blue sketches, I made copies of the drawings and inked over a light blue print. You’ll see below the progression from the initial sketch to the blue drawing and finally the inked page. After inking, I scanned the pages and colored them in Photoshop, starting with flat colors, followed by cel shading and highlights.
