Nathan Never #63
Nathan Never #63 — 'Il mare della desolazione' — is a chapter within the ambitious mid-series Macrotech/Atlantis arc that defined the series' science-fiction scope in its fifth year of publication. The issue extends the series' habit of using near-future space travel as both setting and social metaphor, placing Nathan on a hijacked lunar shuttle alongside the Gruppo di Liberazione dei Mutati, one of the recurring political factions that gave the series its unusually layered world-building. Its position directly before issue #64 makes it a narrative on-ramp to a pivotal confrontation involving the robotic Martin Mystère construct — a crossover character whose introduction in 1996 marked the first sustained inter-series continuity experiment in Sergio Bonelli Editore's history. As part of the sequence that grew out of the 1996 crossover special 'Prigioniero del futuro,' the issue belongs to a moment when Bonelli editors were actively testing how far shared-universe storytelling could stretch across otherwise self-contained monthly titles.
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The issue was scripted by Stefano Vietti and drawn by Giancarlo Olivares, published in August 1996 as part of the regular monthly Nathan Never line at Sergio Bonelli Editore. It arrives in the immediate wake of the landmark crossover supplement bundled with Nathan Never #58 (March 1996) — 'Martin Mystère & Nathan Never: Prigioniero del futuro' — written by Antonio Serra with art by Gino Vercelli, which introduced the robotic Martin Mystère concept created by Alfredo Castelli. The series itself was conceived by the trio of Michele Medda, Antonio Serra, and Bepi Vigna, who launched Nathan Never in 1991, and by 1996 the title had built a large enough regular cast and multi-issue storylines to sustain the kind of arc-within-arc structure that issues #62–#65 represent.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Title: 'Il mare della desolazione' (The Sea of Desolation); Nathan Never #63, Sergio Bonelli Editore, August 1996.
- Script by Stefano Vietti; interior art by Giancarlo Olivares.
- Plot centers on a Moon-bound shuttle hijacked by the Gruppo di Liberazione dei Mutati (Mutant Liberation Group), while Macrotech Corporation's orbital antennae generate electromagnetic interference; Nathan neutralizes the terrorists but the shuttle is forced into an emergency crash-landing on the lunar surface.
- The issue forms part of the Macrotech/Atlantis story arc running through the mid-60s issues of the series, directly preceding #64 ('L'isola nel cielo'), which continues the confrontation on the lunar antennae.
- The robotic Martin Mystère — a body housing the consciousness of Martin Mystère, created by Alfredo Castelli for the 1996 crossover with Nathan Never — is a recurring presence in this arc and is confirmed among the cast of the immediately following issue #64.
- Branko, the mutant-born former terrorist turned Alfa agent who entered Nathan Never continuity during the Saga di Atlantide, is indexed as appearing in this issue; his arc across the series sees him ultimately become Nathan's primary partner and marry fellow agent May Frayn.
- Janine Spengler, the Agenzia Alfa secretary who carries an unrequited romantic attachment to Nathan throughout much of the series, is also indexed as appearing here in her long-running supporting role.
- The 1996 Martin Mystère crossover that frames this arc was the first of three Nathan Never/Martin Mystère crossover events, with follow-ups in 2001 and a major multi-issue saga in 2024–2025 written by Adriano Barone.
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