From Linus to the crisis of newsstands.
Comics magazines in Italy (1965–2000)
Quaderni D’Italianistica
Échéance des propositions : 1 May 2026
Edited by Manuela Di Franco, Giorgio Busi Rizzi and Dario Boemia
Call for paper
Periodicals of various types and formats—daily newspapers, weekly magazines, specialized journals, Sunday supplements, and special inserts—have long played a crucial role in the crossmedial circulation of news and imaginaries. From their very emergence, comics have found a privileged space within periodicals, shaping reading habits and literacy, particularly within the middle class.
From the 1960s onward, comics magazines were instrumental in defining the cultural and artistic landscape of the medium, particularly in key Western traditions such as the US, Franco-Belgian, and Italian contexts. In Europe, publications like Linus (Italy) and Charlie Mensuel (France) broadened the scope of comics, positioning them beyond children’s entertainment and into the realms of adult readership, political satire, and artistic experimentation. In the wake of the late 1960s protest movements, comics magazines in France and Italy became integral to subcultural and countercultural avant-gardes. Titles aimed at educated audiences proliferated, engaging with more mature, ambitious, and often controversial content, characterized by experimentalism and hybridization with other media.
The transnational and transmedial circulation of authors, stories, and ideas across magazines, countries, and media platforms facilitated the emergence of alternative cultural networks. These magazines became a space for debates on major social conflicts of the time, including struggles over abortion, divorce, anti-racism, LGBTQ+ rights, sexual liberation, and pornography. This period also witnessed the emergence of graphic journalism—a form of illustrated journalism often infused with satire—that positioned itself as an alternative to photography-based reportage. By the 1980s, cartoonists documented major political events, from party congresses to state funerals and international summits. The vitality of this landscape would then undergo a downturn in the mid to late 1990s, marked by the simultaneous occurrence of three (only partially connected) events: the crisis of newsstands that particularly impacted the comics sector; the arrival in Italy and the subsequent, rapid rise of the graphic novel format; and the spread of the Internet, which shortly thereafter would radically change the contemporary mediascape in Italy.
Despite their significance, comics periodicals have remained an understudied subject, particularly in Italy. Studying periodicals not merely as print culture objects but as dynamic and relational nodes within broader socio-economic, legal, and ideological frameworks offers valuable insights into media history (Ernst & Scheiding, 2022). Comics magazines, in particular, are multifaceted platforms incorporating not only comics but also editorial columns, letters pages, articles, and advertisements that reflect or shape their ideological stance (Barker, 1989; McAllister, Sewell, & Gordon, 2001; Magnussen, La Cour, & Platz Cortsen, 2015). The collaborative nature of their production—encompassing authors, editors, designers, typographers, and illustrators—resonates with Emmanuel Souchier’s concept of editorial enunciation, wherein texts emerge from collective efforts.
This special issue aims to analyze the role of periodicals newspapers, magazines, and dedicated comics journals—in the publication and dissemination of comics. We focus on the thirtyfive-year period between 1965 and 2000, from the launch of Linus, which reshaped perceptions of comics in Italy, to the decline of newsstand distribution, the rise of the graphic novel format, and the spread of the internet, which transformed the Italian mediascape.
We welcome contributions that explore:
- The impact of serialization on storytelling and narrative structures in comics
- The intersections between comics and journalism in periodicals
- Editorial policies, content selection, and their implications for comics publication
- The cultural, political, and economic factors influencing comics periodicals
- Comparative studies across European comics periodicals, with particular attention to the French comics landscape
We encourage interdisciplinary and transnational perspectives that shed light on the role of comics periodicals in shaping both the comics medium and the broader cultural landscape.
Articles can be in English, Italian, and French, and should be between 6,000-8,000 words (Times New Roman 12, double spaced, works cited included). Please send an abstract of max 300 words and a short bio (100 words) by May 1, 2026 to rivisteafumetti@gmail.com.
Final articles will have to be submitted for peer review by November 30, 2026.
Bibliography
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OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Olivier Stucky (19 février 2026). Call for paper – From Linus to the crisis of the newstands. Comics magazine in Italy (1965-2000). LPCM. Consulté le 15 mai 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/15qj8