What is the Morbus Gravis about? I know it is a Graphic Novel from Eleuteri Serpieri but what's the plot?

Question

What is the Morbus Gravis about? I know it is a Graphic Novel from Eleuteri Serpieri but what's the plot?

Answer 1

Italian artist Serpieri's series about Druuna, his voluptuous protagonist, so far consists of Morbus Gravis 1 (1985), Morbus Gravis 2, Creatura, Carnivora, Mandragore, and Aphrodisia (1997).

     The story is about a woman who tries to survive in a hostile future society. It is a world haunted by a mysterious disease, the Morbus Gravis (it translates to "serious disease"). The disease causes serious mutation in the inflicted, they lose their human characteristics, both in form and behaviour. It seems that an ecological terror has been loosened on the world, and questions of where it came from, who is responsible, and when it happened, are never explored. Even though the disease can be held at bay through medication, the overall impression is that its origin is a mystery.

The plot of the story unfolds as the woman, Druuna, works her way through this darwinistic nightmare. Serpieri does not attempt to create a complicated story. It is generally a mixture of dreamlike sequences and isolated confrontations with danger. However, in the first volume, Morbus Gravis 1, the story does develop towards a conclusion. The idea is that the world described, called The City, turns out to be a gigantic spacecraft tumbling through space, out of control. It is what is left of earth's human civilisation, a last attempt, we understand, at avoiding the disease back on earth. The underlying conclusion is obviously very pessimistic: earth has died, and the disease is still haunting the survivors.

     The story of the fist volume is interesting not only because it efficiently exploits some basic fears: the decay of the body, the loss of intellect, and to fall prey to one's instincts. It also tells us that we have to fear ourselves, not just a clearly defined outside menace. Serpieri painfully represents a human species all too willing to corrupt itself for the survival of the individual. It is seen through the violence in people hunting for medicine, the way officials exploit their position, and in the protagonist's increasing willingness to prostitute herself.

     The artist becomes very vague in his plot after volume one. He recycles a number of sequences. From describing the decay of society, Serpieri turns his full attention to Druuna's sexual encounters and comes to indulge massively in rape fantasies. He does it to such an extent that the plot has come to a grinding halt already in volume two, even though it at present takes up six volumes.

     Serpieri's original idea of man as a dying species fighting both a disease and itself, as put forward in the first volume, is quite thrilling. As a future dystopia it is one of the most convincing there is in the world of comics.