He taught at the School of Comics in
Palermo and in
Messina.[15] He specialised both in
graphic journalism, for which he was awarded in many public occasions, and
pop comics, for which Bonaccorso can boasts collaborations with publishing houses as
Marvel and
Disney.[16][17]
Biography
Lelio Bonaccorso was born in Messina (
Sicily),[9] where he attended the local art school. He continued his studies at the School of Comics in Palermo, where he met the screenwriter Marco Rizzo, with which he began a long and successful collaboration started with the publication, in 2009, of the comic "Peppino Impastato un giullare contro la mafia" (BeccoGiallo), which won the Satire Prize in
Forte dei Marmi, the Giancarlo Siani Prize in
Naples and the Boscarato Prize for best
screenplay.[9]
Their collaboration continues with the publishing of other comics as “Gli ultimi giorni di
Marco Pantani" (
Rizzoli Lizard), "Que Viva el
Che Guevara" (BeccoGiallo), "Jan Karski. L’uomo che scoprì l’
olocausto" (Rizzoli Lizard), "Gli Arancini di
Montalbano" (La Gazzetta dello Sport), “La
mafia spiegata ai bambini" and “L’immigrazione spiegata ai bambini” (Beccogiallo) "Salvezza" and "A casa nostra...cronaca da
Riace" (Feltrinelli), the latter also published in France for Futuropolis.[9][18]
In 2012 Bonaccorso started to collaborate with
Marvel and
DC Comics/
Vertigo. Moreover, this collaboration with the Italian
Panini Comics lead him to the realisation of a series of illustrations of the
X-Men (Panini/Marvel), of a monthly cover of the
Justice League (Panini/DC Comics) and of a poster for
Warner Bros and Panini/Dcomics.[19]
Between 2013 and 2021 he published: "Á bord de l'Aquarius" and "Chez nous" with Marco Rizzo (Futuropolis); "Vendetta", "Le Pére Turc" and "Le Sarde" (
Glénat) with the screenwriter
Loulou Dédola; "Caravaggio e la ragazza" based on a
script by
Nadia Terranova (
Feltrinelli); ”The Passenger" (Tunué) and "Sinai, la terra illuminata dal sole" (BeccoGiallo, Futuropolis).[20]
He edited the illustrations of the books: "Il leggendario
Federico II" by Valentina Certo (Giambra),[21] "Capi, colleghi, carriere. Questi sconosciuti" by Marco Morelli (Gribaudo),[22] “Ho visto un re”, by Simone Giorgi (Gribaudo).[23]
In collaboration with the Sicilian director Antonello Piccione, Bonaccorso created several animated shorts films, among them was "U Piscispada".[24] and "To the stars", [25] which was awarded with various national and international prizes.[26][27][28][29]
Furthermore, he took part in the group exhibition promoted by the
Arezzo Wave festival, whose works of art were auctioned off by
Sotheby's Milan for charity.[30]
Finally, he realised storyboards for
commercials, including "Tuscanini" and “The Italian good style" for Caruso, by
Giancarlo Giannini, winner of the Bokeh Fashion Film Festival in
South Africa.[31]
In December 2021 Bonaccorso organised and the exhibition “Illustrazioni e fumetti al MuMe", in partnership with the Management of the
Regional Museum of Messina (MuMe), in which he exhibited his works together with those of the artists Michela De Domenico and Fabio Franchi.[32]
He holds training courses, seminars and meetings in various universities, schools and associations, e.g. the Chile Institute of Italian Culture.[33]
Works
Resistenze, BeccoGiallo, 2007
13, Alien Press
Avatar, Cronache di Topolinia
Mono, Tunuè
Zero tolleranza, BeccoGiallo, 2008
Peppino Impastato. Un giullare contro la mafia, BeccoGiallo, 2009
Gli ultimi giorni di Marco Pantani,
Rizzoli Lizard, 2011
Sinai, la terre qu'illumine la lune, Futuropolis, 2021
Vendetta, Steinkis, 2021
DC Super Challenge poster, Panini/ DCcomics, 2021
Vento di libertà, Tunué, 2022
Pour que le crime ne paie plus, La Revue dessiné, 2022
Awards
Bonaccorso at the Premio Stromboli award ceremony
2009:
Giancarlo Siani award for the best comics book (Peppino Impastato, un giullare contro la mafia, ex aequo with Don Peppe Diana, per amore del mio popolo, Round Robin)[34]
Satira award for the best
graphic novel (Peppino Impastato, un giullare contro la mafia)[35]
Carlo Boscarato award for the best Italian screenwriter (Peppino Impastato, un giullare contro la mafia).[9]
2015: Cezam award (Jan Karski, l'homme qui a decouvert l'Holocauste)[36]
2018:
Etnacomics award for the best graphic journalism comics book (Salvezza)[37]