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The Mad Genius Reconsidered: A Sharp, Unexpected Look at Nikola Tesla. Coming this August from Sergio Rossi, Giovanni Scarduelli, Giulia Gabrielli, and Mad Cave Studios

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Tesla has become cultural shorthand for genius… but the shortest version rarely tells the whole story. This summer, Mad Cave Studios’ comixology Originals line presents Nikola Tesla, a witty and unexpectedly human graphic novel from writer Sergio Rossi, artist Giovanni Scarduelli, letterer Giulia Gabrielli, and translator Lucy Lenzi that looks past the mythology surrounding one of history’s most iconic inventors.

Framed through the conversations of two collaborators attempting to make sense of Tesla’s life, the book blends fictionalized biography with cultural reflection, examining innovation, ambition, authorship, and the narratives history leaves behind.

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.”

Rossi, whose background spans physics, science communication, publishing, and comics history, brings both technical insight and narrative nuance to the story, while Scarduelli—known for his visually rich biographical work—renders a dynamic portrait of a figure whose life was as volatile as the inventions that helped reshape the modern world.

Part of Mad Cave’s growing slate of English-language releases in collaboration with Italian publisher Becco Giallo, Nikola Tesla moves beyond traditional biography, blending historical portraiture with cultural interrogation in a smart, emotionally grounded examination of invention, ambition, and the uneasy mythology of genius.

Nikola Tesla goes on sale August 11, 2026, in paperback (ISBN: 9781545827659 | $19.99) format.

Nikola Tesla

Van Goh is an Emotional Exploration of the Life and Death of one of the most Famously Tormented Painters in Human History

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Mad Cave Studios has announced Van Gogh, a comiXology Original by acclaimed Italian journalist, essayist, and comics writer Francesco Barilli and artist Sakka, with letters by Lucy Lenzi. This 128-page graphic biography is coming to print in English for the very first time in February 2026.

A gorgeously rendered, emotional exploration of the life and death of one of the most famously tormented painters in human history.

Through an emotional dialogue between Vincent and his own madness, the artist revisits the most significant loves and losses of his short life. From his tender and tumultuous relationship with his brother Theo, to the famous quarrel with Gauguin that resulted in the self-mutilation of his ear, to the extreme act of self-harm that led to his death, Vincent Van Gogh channeled an extraordinary light as bright today as it was upon his death in 1890. Now in print for the first time in English, Van Gogh: Sadness is Forever casts its own light onto the darkest shadows of the painter’s life and inspirations.

Van Gogh drops on February 24, 2026.

Van Gogh

Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream Brings the Feminist Icon to the Comic Page

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Mad Cave Studios has announced the print edition of comixology Original, Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream—a stirring new edition, arriving in English for the first time. This expressively illustrated fictional account follows the life of Mary Shelley, the groundbreaking writer whose imagination birthed one of literature’s most enduring figures: Frankenstein’s monster, with cameos from Romantic-era artists and writers woven throughout.

Written by Naples native Alessandro Di Virgilio and illustrated by Manuela Santoni, with translation by Lucy Lenzi and editing by Stefano A. Cresti and Sarah Brunstad, Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream blends biography and fiction in a haunting narrative told through the eyes of Shelley’s infamous creation.

The extraordinary life of the woman who created one of fiction’s most enduring characters: Frankenstein’s monster. Born at the turn of the 19th century to the famous philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft (forerunner of the feminist movement) and William Godwin (novelist and radical politician), Mary Shelley lived a life in constant flight from social conformity. Her struggle birthed a pop culture phenomenon. Now in print for the first time in English, Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream chronicles Shelley’s relationships with other important artists and writers, including her eventual husband Percy Shelley, and the “butterfly effect” of love, hardship, tragedy, and inspiration that led to the creation of the infamous monster.

Perfect for fans of literary history, feminist icons, and gothic storytelling, Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream stands alongside illustrated works like Fun Home, Jane, and The Brontë Sisters. With its unique narrative voice and evocative art, this edition invites readers to see not only the facts of Shelley’s life, but the very heart whose scars brought Frankenstein’s monster to life.

Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream will be available wherever books are sold on January 13, 2026, and at local comic shops on January 14, 2026. Final Order Cutoff is on December 1, 2025.

Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream

Preview: Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream

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Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream

Written by Alessandro Di Virgilio with art by Manuela Santoni
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
Purchase

The life of writer Mary Shelley, daughter of the famous philosopher, Mary Wollstonecraft, forerunner of the feminist movement, and William Godwin, novelist and radical politician is a constant escape from 19th century conformity, filled with acquaintances with important artists and writers.

When she was 17, she eloped with her future husband, the romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, to then visit Europe with her step-sister Claire and her lover, the famous Lord Byron.

In 1816, the year without a summer, the four of them stayed in Geneva at Villa Diodati, along with the doctor and writer, John Polidori. In order to combat boredom during rainy days, they created a challenge to write a story which would evoke “true terror.” Mary created one of the most beloved monsters in world literature, Frankenstein, also known as the modern Prometheus, the incarnation of man’s ancient fear towards diversity and the unknown.

Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream

Preview: Socrates

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Socrates

Written by Francesco Barilli with art and cover by Alessandro Ranghiasci.
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
With an introduction by Journalist Stefano Cardini
Purchase

Socrates was not only one of the best known and most influential philosophers in the history of humanity–he was also the first martyr for his own ideas. His trial tells the tale of how the greatest democracy of all time could have sentenced one of its best citizens to death.

Athens, 399 BC. In what may be remembered as the first trial for crimes of opinion, Socrates is sentenced to death. Accused of corrupting youth with atheist doctrines, the philosopher’s defensive line is uncompromising and provocative. He is thus condemned to drink hemlock by an even larger majority of the jurors. Once in prison, awaiting execution, he refuses to flee in order not to violate those laws to which he has always been devoted.

Socrates

Preview: Nikola Tesla

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Nikola Tesla

Written by Sergio Rossi with black and white art by Giovanni Scarduelli
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
Purchase

Who was Nikola Tesla? A brilliant inventor or a visionary uncoupled from his time?

Growing up in poverty in the mid-19th century under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Tesla managed to study and become an engineer on his own. He emigrated in search of fortune, first in France and then in America, where he was hired to work in the laboratory of Thomas Edison, the renowned inventor of the phonograph and light bulb.

He suffered, endured, and then overcame his envious colleagues, first and foremost Edison himself, which culminated with the so-called War of Currents, a competition for the control of electric energy on the world market. He had a grand public comeback before his resounding and definitive downfall.

With over two hundred different patents, some of which spread the alternate current and the radio throughout the world, and thanks to his intuition about the remote control and wi-fi, Tesla is now remembered as one of the most important innovators in modern history.

Nikola Tesla

Preview: Vincent Van Gogh: Sadness Will Last Forever

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Vincent Van Gogh: Sadness Will Last Forever

Written by Francesco Barilli with art by Sakka (aka Roberta Sacchi)
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
Purchase

Van Gogh is, even today, one of the most renowned artists in the world. His short life was full of mysterious episodes and fascinating peculiarities: from his relationship with his brother Theo–his major benefactor, to the famous argument with Gauguin–which resulted in the partial self-mutilation of his ear, to the extreme act of self-harm which led to his death. Van Gogh led a tormented and fascinating existence. In the end, Theo’s wife Johanna became the first promoter of his work.

The book showcases his life through an intense and uninterrupted dialogue between Vincent Van Gogh and his madness.

Vincent Van Gogh: Sadness Will Last Forever

Preview: Virginia Woolf

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Virginia Woolf

Written and drawn by Liuba Gabriele
Translated from Italian by Lucy Lenzi
Lettering and layout by Giulia Gabrielli
Edited by Stefano A. Cresti
Purchase

England, March 1941. Virginia Woolf walks along the banks of the river Ouse. She picks up a stone from the ground, weighs it in her hand, and watches the water flow. She thinks about the fierce war happening in the world and within herself. All that accompanied her up to that shore still lives in radiant images which represent the extreme strength of her emotions, such as the passion for her lover, Vita Sackville-West, the fondness for her fundamental husband, Leonard, and her grief for the tremendous family bereavements. Feelings poured into her writing, which revolutionized literature, and solidified her place in history as one of the world’s most important authors.

Virginia Woolf