Kaiju, Green Lanterns and space adventures

Welcome back to another weekly instalment of Decoder, the column in "Il Foglio" edited by Gianluca De Angelis to guide you through the ever-expanding world of pop culture. A guide to provide you, week after week, with some points of reference in what is a veritable universe where it is increasingly easy to get lost amongst comics, films, TV series, anime, trading cards, video games, board games and much more. So, every week, here are three recommendations, three gateways, three points of reference to help you grasp some key concepts and noteworthy works – to discover or rediscover on your own or with friends and family (including the little ones, so you can even hold a conversation with your grandchild).

For the world of comics, this week we recommend a trilogy: “Godzilla: Hic Sunt Dracones”, published by Saldapress. Three works that explore different aspects of Godzilla, the king of the kaiju (the ‘monsters’ of Japanese cinema), whilst following the thread of the spirit of adventure and discovery, interweaving it with different stages of human civilisation. A very interesting narrative device for telling a story that goes far beyond Godzilla, whilst linking the realm of the imagination, the inexplicable and the world’s great mysteries to this creature and to the big questions that humankind has always asked itself.

In the world of television, there’s talk of the TV series “Lanterns”, a new series from the DC Studios cinematic universe now available on HBO Max. Here, the protagonists are the Green Lanterns from the DC Comics universe, but as you’ve never seen them before: down-to-earth, dark, in what is a crime drama set in the American heartland that gives a huge nod to "True Detective", without losing its own identity and managing to bring out even its most superhero-like aspects. A must-watch.

Finally, a tip from the world of gaming: the expansion for the Star Wars-themed board game “The Mandalorian Adventures”, titled “Sworn to the Creed”. This expansion provides players with new missions and characters, bringing the narrative – which worked so well in its television counterpart – to life in an interactive format that is sure to delight Star Wars fans, whilst also managing to engage and entertain newcomers to this now vast and branching universe.

Three works to help you find your way through a world of entertainment and pop culture made up of imagination, nostalgia and collective desires. Decoder is here to try and decode the present, including through its new popular myths, piecing together, week after week and episode after episode, a vast map that can chart, more than ever before, the infinite nuances and directions of our present. See you next week for another trio of unmissable titles.