Oltretomba #28

Oltretomba was a long-running Italian horror comic series published by Edizioni ErreGì starting in the early 1970s, emerging during a golden age of 'fumetti neri' that explored darker, supernatural, and often provocative themes. Issue 28 fits into this pocket-sized, black-and-white format, which was designed to be easily portable and affordable for the casual reader of the era. The series leaned heavily into tropes of gothic horror, suspense, and the uncanny, reflecting a broader cultural fascination with pulp aesthetics and stylized illustration.

The visual identity of Oltretomba relied on the work of various anonymous or pseudonymous artists common to the Italian comic industry at the time, focusing on atmospheric compositions and dramatic chiaroscuro. The series was designed to provide quick, sensationalist thrills, catering to a market hungry for transgressive narratives that challenged the conservatism of the period. While these comics were often dismissed by contemporary critics as disposable pulp, they have since been reevaluated by historians for their influence on Italian genre illustration and their role in the evolution of adult-oriented comic storytelling.