Internometafisico-WebVariety reports that Italian producer Domenico Procacci’s Fandango has purchased Igort’s Coconino Press.
As you might guess from the name (taken from the setting of the seminal comic strip Krazy Kat) Coconino publishes literary European comics, so a film teaming is kind of like Miramax buying Drawn and Quarterly, if we get our Italo-culture references right. Coconino was also the European packager of most of the Ignatz line of comics, published in the US by Fantagraphics. According to the article, Procacci is active in books and music, but he’s especially hot for…what else: Graphic novels!

As for Italian graphic artists, the idea is to foster a level of local excellence, which Procacci finds “somewhat below par right now in this field, considering Italy’s illustrious past.”

“I want to create a pool of young talents, because I think that there could be some potential filmmakers among the artists making graphic novels today.”

As examples, he cites Gallic comicbook artist Riad Sattouf whose hot teen sex-themed helming bow “The French Kissers” unspooled in Cannes, and also Belgrade-born Gallic illustrator Enki Bilal’s ambitious 2004 English-language sci-fier “Immortal (Ad Vitam).”


According to the piece, Igort’s 5 IS THE PERFECT NUMBER is slated for a movie adapted by Marco Mueller.