Stefano Tamburini

Italian graphic artist (1955–1986)

Stefano Tamburini
Born	(1955-08-18)18 August 1955 Rome, Italy
Died	1986 (aged 30–31) Italy
Nationality	Italian
Area(s)	Cartoonist, Writer, Artist, Publisher, Letterer
Notable works	RanXerox, Snake Agent
Collaborators	Tanino Liberatore

Stefano Tamburini (18 August 1955 – April 1986) was an Italian graphic artist, comics author and magazine publisher.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] Tamburini is primarily known as co-creator of the comic book character RanXerox, with Tanino Liberatore. Along with Andrea Pazienza, he is considered one of the most brilliant Italian comics authors from his generation.

Biography

Born in Rome, Tamburini started writing in 1974. From 1975 to 1977 he worked for Stampa Alternativa, an independent publishing venture, designing books and leaflets. He also co-founded the magazines Combinazioni (1974), Cannibale (1977) and Frigidaire (1980).^[7]^[8]

Tamburini's first comics character, Fuzzy Rat, was published in Combinazioni. In 1978 Tamburini, together with artist Tanino Liberatore, created the comic book character RanXerox, a mechanical creature made from Xerox photocopier parts. Initially serialized in Frigidaire, RanXerox was eventually published as a graphic novel. Hailed as a highly innovative character embodying the spirit of the 1980s, RanXerox was eventually translated in English in 1983.

In 1983 Tamburini married the art gallerist Emi Fontana. He died in Rome in 1986 of a heroin overdose.^[9]

References

^ Michele Mordente e Giuseppe Marano (a cura di), Una matita a serramanico, Millelire, Viterbo, Stampa Alternativa, 1997
^ Stefano Peppoloni e Michele Mordente (a cura di), Stefano Tamburini, Flit n.5, Perugia, Edizioni Art Core, 1998
^ Michele Mordente (a cura di), Stefano Tamburini: Ranxerox – le sceneggiature originali, Viterbo, Stampa Alternativa, 2002
^ Filippo Scòzzari, Prima pagare poi ricordare. Da «Cannibale» a «Frigidaire». Storia di un manipolo di ragazzi geniali, Roma, Coniglio Editore, 2004. ISBN 88-88833-13-7
^ Michele Mordente (a cura di), Banana Meccanica, Coniglio Editore. 2006. ISBN 978-88-6063-010-0
^ Vincenzo Sparagna, FRIGIDAIRE. L'incredibile storia e le sorprendenti avventure della più rivoluzionaria rivista d'arte del mondo. Rizzoli, 2008
^ Federico Pagello (December 2012). "Cannibale, Frigidaire and the multitude: Post-1977 italian comics through radical theory". Studies in Comics. 3 (2). doi:10.1386/stic.3.2.231_1.
^ Simone Castaldi (2010). Drawn and Dangerous: Italian Comics of the 1970s and 1980s. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-60473-777-6.
^ "Spending the Day in the Republic of Frigolandia, the Last Refuge of Italian Satire". Vice. Retrieved 18 September 2017.