On paper, this should be a slam dunk. Individually, both creators have contributed stories to Heavy Metal over the years. Some of the best stories that have ever been published in this magazine, in my opinion. So the two of them teaming up is like announcing the lineup of a supergroup. And the subject matter! The most scandal-ridden papacy on record, which is saying something.

The three panels here set up the context of the story perfectly. The top and bottom panels are obvious symbols of what the crowds saw every day. In the middle of this page, we have Savonarola – the fanatical monk that preached against excess and led his crowds to take over Florence for two years. The locals liked him so much that they placed a giant plaque in the piazza in front of the Palazzo Vechhio showing exactly where he’d been burned at the stake.

(Heavy Metal issue #218, March 2005 – Page 36 Borgia – Blood for the Pope by Manara and Jodorowsky)