Danger Diabolik, Paperback by Hunt, Leon, ISBN 0231182813, ISBN-13 9780231182812, Like New Used, Free shipping in the US

<i>Danger: Diabolik</i> (1968) was adapted from a comic that has been a social phenomenon in Italy for over fifty years, featuring a masked master criminal—part Fantômas, part James Bond—and his elegant companion Eva Kant. The film partially reinvents the character as a countercultural prankster, subverting public officials and the national economy, and places him in a luxurious and futuristic underground hideout and Eva in a series of unforgettable outfits. A commercial disappointment on its original release, <i>Danger: Diabolik</i>'s reputation has grown along with that of its director, Mario Bava, the quintessential cult auteur, while the pop-art glamour of its costumes and sets have caught the imagination of such people as Roman Coppola and the Beastie Boys.<br><br>This study examines its status as a comic-book movie, including its relation both to the original <i>fumetto </i>and to its sister-film, <i>Barbarella</i>. It traces its production and initial reception in Italy, France, the ., and the UK, and its cult afterlife as both a pop-art classic and campy "bad film" featured in the final episode of <i>Mystery Science Theatre 3000</i>.