Nikola Tesla

(W) Giovanni Scarduelli (A) Giovanni Scarduelli

Another unique book in Mad Cave’s series of English print releases from Italian publisher Becco Giallo and Comixology Originals. Nikola Tesla follows two friends and collaborators making a film about the famous inventor’s life–and debating, between themselves, the very merits of that reputation. Sardonic and honest, this graphic novel is a refreshing reflection on the extraordinary changes to modern culture since Tesla’s era, as well as a fascinating insight into the turbulent life of the “mad genius.”

Who was Nikola Tesla? A brilliant inventor or a visionary uncoupled from his time? In this fictionalized exploration of his life, two filmmakers set out to settle the debate. Growing up in poverty in the mid-19th century under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Tesla studied and became an engineer on his own strength. He emigrated to America, where he was employed in the laboratory of the famous Thomas Edison, the inventor of the phonograph and the light bulb. But corruption and competition among Tesla’s colleagues–chief among them Edison himself–led to the “War of Currents,” a heated race for control of the world electricity market. Tesla came out on top of that race, but a strange and tragic confluence of events and prejudices led to his public downfall. With more than two hundred different patents and inventions over his lifetime, including the remote control and fluorescent lighting, Tesla is remembered today as one of the most important innovators in modern history. Sergio Rossi and Giovanni Scarduelli’s funny, heartfelt retelling speaks not only to the inventor’s legacy, but to our relationship with technology and the very concept of “genius.”