First works and the creation of Rat-Man In 1989 joined
publishing house Comic Art to work on two stories: the tragic and the other comic. Publisher Rinaldo Traini published the comic story on the second
Spot (supplement of
Eternauta dedicated to beginners), marking the Birth of Rat-Man.
The shocking origins of Rat-Man earned Ortolani an award for best newcomer by
Lucca Comics of 1990. With this visibility, Leo began to collaborate with
magazines and independent
fanzines. For the fanzine
Made in USA he created two more stories starring Rat-Man (
Topin! The Wonder Mouse! And
From the Future) and several parodies of
superheroes (including
X-Men,
Fantastic Four and
Superman). The most important works of this cycle are his four parodies of the Fantastic Four. Kirby stopped drawing
Fantastic Four at issue #102. Ortolani wrote numbers 103-106, completely upsetting the group. Called to military service in the
Air Force, Ortolani drew inspiration from life in the barracks, gathering his experiences in a detailed diary that became the starting point for
The last rookie, a strip on military life (the same as the protagonist Ortolani) which were published as an appendix to
Storm Trooper. During this period, Ortolani also collaborated on the
Starcomìx humor magazine directed by Luca Boschi and published by
Star Comics in
Totem Comic and
Totem Extra, where he made
The impervious,
Clan,
The wonder of nature and
The wonders of technology. In this period he also stripped the series
Those of Parma, published in the
Gazzetta di Parma, speaking of the city of Parma and its inhabitants, a selection of which was collected in the volume
Editions Bands Dessinée. The short stories of the series of
Wonderland were taken years later, collected in three volumes by
Panini Comics.
Popularity and the contract with Marvel Italia In 1995 Leo Ortolani published
Venerdì 12 as a series of the comic magazine
L'isola che non c'è. That same year, Ortolani chose to
self-publish the
comic book series
Rat-Man alongside his primary job as a
geologist; however, in 1997 Leo signed a contract with
Marvel Italia, today a brand owned by
Panini Comics (and, at the time, a branch of
Marvel Comics itself), to publish the comic under the Marvel brand, which allowed Leonardo to become a full-time comics author. The contract also allowed him to use popular Marvel characters like
Spider-Man,
Captain America,
Wolverine,
Doctor Doom and
Elektra in Rat-Man stories; however,
copyright problems have since prohibited such use of characters in the Rat-Man world.
Successful parodies Ortolani created several popular parodies of famous works of fiction and
blockbusters in his Rat-Man stories. In 1999 Leo Ortolani created
Star Rats, a parody of
Star Wars. In 2004 he created
Il Signore dei Ratti, a parody of
The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In 2005 Ortolani published
Star Rats - Episodio I, a parody of
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which was the best selling
Panini Comics book in the release month. In 2007 Ortolani created
299+1, a parody of
300 and one of his best works. In 2009 he created
Ratto, a parody of
Rambo films. In 2010 he published
Avarat, a parody of
Avatar. In 2011 Leo Ortolani created
La Quadrilogia dei Sacrificabili, a parody of
The Expendables series, that won the award "Fede a strisce 2011" at RiminiComix. In 2012 he created
Il Grande Magazzi, a parody of
Harry Potter and
Twilight series. That same year he published also
Allen, a parody of
Alien. In 2014 Leo Ortolani published
Star Rats - Episodio II, a parody of
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, and then soon after in 2015 he published also
Star Rats - Episodio III, a parody of
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
The end of the series Rat-Man In 2016 Ortolani stated his intention to close the series
Rat-Man with issue #122, which was published around September 2017. ==Main works==