Milo Manara’s art brings the Borgias to life on the page their characters captured in moments of horror and glory. It is a family’s rise to power and descent into madness, a cautionary fable that reminds the reader of Lord Acton’s admonition that “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

His children-Cesare, Lucrezia, Giovanni, and Gioffre-will join their father’s drive for power until their depravity equals or surpasses his own. The newly anointed Pope Alexander VI quickly begins a new quest: one to destroy those who oppose him and to unite Italy under the Borgia banner. The holy men of the Church are easily swayed to his position, some by bribes financial or carnal, others by violence or threats of violence, but the more power gained, the more enemies gained as well. Jodorowsky weaves the tale of Rodrigo’s quest, his merciless pursuit of his goal from his rise to the papacy until his brutal death at the hands of a rival. Pope Innocent VIII lies dying in the papal palace, and his death will be Rodrigo’s chance at the power of the Holy See, if he can convince his fellow cardinals to support his ascension to the papal throne. The Borgias is a fictionalized interpretation of the people, the place, and the politics of Borgia Italy in a way that subtly reminds the astute reader of more contemporary people and politics.Ĭardinal Rodrigo Borgia is ruthless and ambitious, a man poised to seize power in a time when lawlessness and chaos seems to rule the Italian city states. Now, in brilliant graphic form, two creative legends, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Milo Manara, offer a new look at this infamous story. A tangled web of power, religion, sex, and violence, the Borgias have been considered by many to be the first true Mafia family, and certainly the legends of their depravity have kept their memory flourishing for centuries. Borgia: the name is nearly synonymous with deceit and debauchery, a family whose infamy, deserved or not, has become entrenched in Western cultural memory for over 500 years.

Los Borgia by Alejandro Jodorowsky