Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

Dante and the Wizard of Oz

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Comic book: Canto, Vol 1: If I Only Had a Heart by David Booher, Drew Zucker, Vittorio Astone, Deron Bennett (2020)

“Canto, IDW’s dark fantasy tale, is a combination of The Wizard of Oz and Dante’s Inferno, in more ways than one. … Canto is very much like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Canto, the titular tin-man of the story, comes from a race of tin-men, all small and without hearts, who are enslaved and expected to work until they stop. Their hearts have been replaced with clocks, but allegedly, their hearts still exist somewhere, beating and alive. He sets out on a journey to find his beloved’s before the time on her clock runs out, knowing that the quest may be futile. Eventually, he learns he must find the Shrouded Man of the City of Dis, who resides in an Emerald Tower. To reach his destination, Canto follows a yellow brick road. […]    —CBR.com   See also this and this.

“Dante’s Inferno as Limericks and Comics”

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“Circle I (the unbaptised)

Underway with the underworld herewith,
and I’m with – no, you’re with – fine, we’re with
the dwellers of Hades
born BCs, not ADs –
not all, but the ones you’d have beer with.

[. . .]

Circle VII

‘By these treestumps, my Master, what’s signified?’
‘These souls are eternally lignified.
We saw others scream
in an ichorous stream:
for the violent, no ending is dignified.’

Circle VIII

The fraudsters inhabit these cum-pits,
the forgers and classical strumpets.
And going down levels
we stumble on devils
whose derrières double as trumpets”    –Harry Cochrane and Leonardo Cardini, The Florentine, February 26, 2020

 

Calcabrina – Wolverine and the X-Men

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“A witch that harvests souls for Azazel. Became a temporary ally to Frankenstein’s Monster, using her magic to brainwash some of the faculty of the Jean Grey School into believing they were members of the Murder Circus.

[. . .]

First Appearance: Wolverine and the X-Men #19 (December, 2012)”    –“Calcabrina (Earth-616),” Marvel Database Wiki, March 30,2018

 

Kid Eternity (2006)

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“Comics visionary Grant Morrison reimagines the unique character of Kid Eternity, a young man who died before his true time and returns to Earth as a ghostly spirit, along with his guardian Mister Keeper. In this 144-page trade paperback, illustrated by Duncan Fegredo, Kid Eternity follows the terrifying night of aspiring stand-up comedian Jerry Sullivan as he joins Kid Eternity on a quest to free his Keeper from Hell.”    —Goodreads

Photo courtesy of Bob Mitchell.

How to Cite

Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.

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