Goldenbird

Page 4a. I only seem to manage half a page at a time now, but you get to see bigger images instead. Yay!
Anachronism: The “Arditi del Popolo” were really formed in 1921 as a response to the growing Fascist power. But since the origins of this leftist militia were to be found among the Arditi in Fiume, the main inspiration for the Goldenbird world, I thought it would be nice to include a reference. Remember, this is happening just before Mussolini came to power, and all of Italy – including the areas along the Yugoslavian coast that were claimed by Italians – were in a state of great confusion.
In other news, I visited Dalmatia a few weeks ago (some photos here). It was fun to see typical Goldenbird landscapes in reality. I have been to Trieste and Venice before, but Croatia was a new experience. It was very inspiring to hear the language, see the traces of history in street names, castles, churches and graveyards, and studying local physiognomies (not to mention the wonderful Adriatic cuisine). The most serendipitous discovery was probably Father Grgur himself, or a very similar-looking statue of Saint Gregory of Nin, who apparently had a lot in common with my grumpy hermit – fiercely independent-minded and not afraid to take on Rome in his fight for Croatian self-determination.