Dark Horse Comics has helped bring a significant and wide array of comics to the masses, and Mafiosa is expected to soon join them. The comic, which became a hit when it was launched on Kickstarter in 2019, will be released as a 128-page graphic novel by the publisher, and it’s already developed a bit of a cult following. Ahead of Mafiosa‘s debut in comic shops and bookstores later this fall, ComicBook.com can debut an exclusive look at what the story has in store, with a five-page preview of the series’ interiors, which you can check out below.
In Mafiosa, at the height of the roaring twenties, the daughter of a mafia boss is determined to rise to prominence in her family’s business. The youngest in a Sicilian-American family, Nicoletta has aspirations to join her brothers in the family business–an organized crime syndicate running the streets of Manhattan. But when Nicoletta confronts her father and announces her desire to join the family business a crisis ensues. Refusing to take no for an answer, Nicoletta takes it upon herself to prove she has what it takes, moving steadfastly into a world of brutality with her own ideas to capitalize on the cocaine drug trade.
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What transpires is not just a tale of a woman’s rise within the Marchesi crime family but a genre-busting look at how the players in this mafia story are transformed when Nicoletta proves better at the deadly game than her male coworkers. New York has a new player in town, and they ain’t seen nothing yet! Combining the romanticism of the roaring twenties and Nicoletta’s journey into the brazen violence of mafia-dominated New York, Mafiosa sets the status quo ablaze—with style, class, and a smoking barrel.
Mafiosa is developed from an original story by Thomas Brooke of Portland’s Rainwerks Studio, and is written by Sunshine Barbito, illustrated by Alessia Alfano and Debora Carita, lettered by Clem Robins, and colored by Ronda Pattison and Mariacristina Federico.
“What draws me into the world of organized crime is the juxtaposition of tradition, loyalty, hyper-morality, and what boils down to murderous greed,” Barbito said in a statement when the series was announced. “We wanted to take this familiar and popular storytelling genre; set in the roaring twenties, but show you this world from a different perspective in order to create a dialogue. For me, this story is about desire and how it affects people once it takes over completely.”
Mafiosa is set to arrive in comic shops on October 13th, followed by bookstores on October 26th.
