Romics 27th edition from 2nd to 5th April 2020
Marco Gervasio, the historic Disney author who works on the famous Fantomius and Papertotti and on the unforgettable stories of the Topolino (Mickey Mouse) comic, is to receive one of the Golden Romics of the XXIV edition.
Born with a passion for comics, he drew as a child, experimenting with paper and pencils. His beginnings as a reader were with the pages of Mickey Mouse, Asterix and Alan Ford, which gave him a taste for humorous comics, before moving on the stories published by Bonelli and Marvel. After graduating in Economics and Commerce, Gervasio attended the Scuola Romana dei Fumetti (Rome School of Comics) where he is currently a teacher.
After being noticed by Giovan Battista Carpi, he enrolled in the Accademia Disney, from which he graduated in 1997 and began publishing in the weekly Topolino comic. From that moment on, the artist collaborated assiduously with the Walt Disney Company as an illustrator and writer for Topolino (Mickey Mouse) and other Disney titles such as PKNA, PK2 and Pikappa. Gervasio made his debut as sole author in 2002 with Paperinik, illustrating also the covers for Paperinik Cult and Tesori Disney.
In 2008 he created the first cover with Papertotti, the duck alter ego of Francesco Totti, the captain of AS Roma of whom the author is a great fan. The character born and raised through the stories of Riccardo Secchi, passes naturally from the hand of Stefano Turconi to the one of Marco Gervasio. Later on, the Roman author draws three stories and related covers with this character, on the subject written by Riccardo Secchi. The last one in 2017 celebrates the 40 years of the famous football player. In 2012, he did the texts and illustrations for the new series Le strabilianti imprese di Fantomius, ladro gentiluomo (The Amazing Feats of Fantomius, Gentleman Thief) in which he tells the story of the adventures of the villain Paperinik, together with his girlfriend Dolly Paprika and his inventor friend Copernico Pitagorico. Fantomius was the fruit of a love for the original Paperinik and is inspired by gentlemen thieves, from Robin Hood to Arsenio Lupin, Diabolik and Fantomas. In 2014, the first volume dedicated to the character is released: Fantomius Definitive Collection.
In June 2013, he wrote and illustrated for Topolino The Top Ranger, the parody of the Disney movie The Lone Ranger which was released in July of that year, with Pippo in the Johnny Depp role. Since 2013, he has worked as a writer and illustrator for the Finnish company Rovio Entertainment on the Angry Birds Comics series. Since 2015, he has worked with IDW Publishing, designing numerous covers for the Disney USA comic books. From 2017, he worked with Random House, for whom he illustrated the volume Mickey and the Roadster Racers(Disney Junior).
Romics honours Marco Gervasio with an extensive exhibition that will include some of the author’s original works: the original storyboards of two entire stories dedicated to Mickey Mouse, who reappears in 2018, 90 years after his birth. The stories in the exhibition will be: The Top Ranger, written and illustrated by Marco Gervasio (published in Topolino No. 3005,) and Topolino and Gambadilegno (Mickey Mouse and Pete) in La Grande Fuga, written by Tito Faraci and illustrated by Marco Gervasio (published in Topolino No. 2992). The exhibition will be made up of several sections dedicated to Gervasio’s most beloved characters, with covers, sketches and drafts. An unmissable journey into the artistry of the author.