Manara adapts Eco’s “the name of the rose” into graphic novel
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Italian artist Milo Manara created a two-volume graphic novel adaptation of Umberto Eco’s acclaimed 1980 novel, The Name of the Rose, with the express approval of Eco’s family.
Eco, who died in 2016, had told Manara he wished for him alone to adapt the historical thriller into comics. The first volume appeared in Europe in 2023 and quickly became popular. The second volume, released in Argentina in August 2026, features a scene with explicit content.
Manara’s version explicitly honors Eco by including a caricature of the author in the first pages, where Eco recounts the inspiration for the novel, a search for a lost manuscript. The artist took creative liberties, notably portraying the character of William of Baskerville as Marlon Brando rather than Sean Connery, who played the role in the 1986 film adaptation. Manara aimed to distinguish his work from the film and better reflect Eco’s description of the character.
European critics praised Manara’s work for illuminating the novel and revealing previously unseen details. Eco himself was a fan of comics and considered them a valid art form, which influenced his family’s decision to commission Manara. Each volume of the graphic novel costs around $45,000 in Argentina, depending on the cover type.
