For Dragonero, 2024 opens where 2023 closed, under the sign of “comebacks”! After Gmor, Sera, Myrva, and Aura, we only had to witness the return of the “elder statesman” of our series, Alben the Luresind, who had been absent (with a good reason: a little spoiler!) since the tragic events that ended the Rebellion. What happened to Alben in the meanwhile will be told by the writer who loves this character the most, Stefano Vietti, who presents us with two great adventures starring the venerable wizard: in January, “La prima cerca” (with art by the increasingly great Fabrizio Galliccia), and the monographic bookstore volume “Dragonero. Gli Eroi - Alben” (with art by Simone Garizio).

There’s a “comeback” in February, too, not only as far as characters go but also in the location. The story, with a script by the series editor, Luca Barbieri, is set in the Great Lakes Enclave and shows us the unusual way the people of those faraway lands used to repel the Abominations. The album reprises the storyline started on issue n.25 of Dragonero Il Ribelle, “In cammino verso il nulla”; our readers will find back in action the characters of the poet-warrior, Okami, his niece Yun, and the bohoja of the Southern Shores, Sheda. The exceptional art is by Francesco Gaston, who is incomparable when it comes to recreating Oriental-flavored settings.

In March, we’ll take a short break from the Abominations macro-thread with an album divided into two stories: the first and main one (Vietti/Riccardi) tells a melancholy tale of revenge from the past (there will be another return of a character we already met... but we’ll keep the secret about his identity, for now!). The second, shorter story (Enoch/Nuti) will take us to the world of the natural magic practiced by those who follow the “Wood Way,” i.e., the Erondár’s witches.

The Wood Way (“La via dei boschi”) is also the title we chose for our usual yearly softcover “whale,” which you’ll find at the bookstores starting in late January. It collects four stories with the Erondár’s witches, already published in the monthly series and now offered again in our anthological series.

In April, orchestrated by the well-oiled couple Enoch/Platano, we’ll have another “return”— the Trahecarde, the mystical and utterly dangerous “cards of destiny” that we already saw spreading death and destruction on the “L’orrore di Teoan” album (a story not by chance comprised in the quartet included in the softcover book we mentioned above).

In late Spring, we’ll move closer to the heart of our macro-storyline about the invasion of the Abominations. It is only the starting point (a reminder for the most absent-minded) of the “Mondo Oscuro” season! This season will have surprises galore in store... wait and see!

Anyway, we’ll find out something more about these creatures and their intents from May on, thanks to stories with art by Fabrizio De Fabritiis, Fabiano Ambu, and Luca Bonessi (to name a few), up to our scorching-hot Summer with its Speciale albums. In July, the Old Man Ian storyline will continue, still firmly helmed by Luca Enoch. Stefano Vietti and Fabio Babich will lay the foundation “stone” (not a word chosen haphazardly) to build a new, intriguing subplot. Our Summer Speciale, with art by the promising Luca Bulgheroni, will offer another exceptional “comeback”... a cruel villain that I hope you haven’t forgotten!

Autumn and the road to Lucca Comics & Games will be peppered by the usual gift volume (just one hint about the long story chosen for this full-color issue: Riccardo Crosa!), the Senzanima volume (later, we will talk separately about this series), and by two other hardcover volume of the “Eroi” series, respectively centered on Sera (for the Summer issue) and... somebody you literally cannot guess at all! The year will end with fireworks, with a full-color Speciale we will keep under wraps a little bit longer. Adventures featuring art by Alex Massacci, Fabrizio Galliccia, and Diego Bonesso will pave the way for a really... apocalyptic 2025!

We will talk about that in the future. Right now, since a promise is a promise, I want to highlight the two 2024 appointments with the Senzanima series. Both written by Stefano Vietti, the albums will see two real “aces of the ink” in action: on the June volume, none other than (drumroll…) the cover artist of the monthly series, Gianluca Pagliarani! In November, you’ll meet a “certain” Lorenzo Nuti again, the splendid author of our recent Dragonero and Conan team-up! We hope all that will satisfy your hunger!

By Luca Barbieri