This series begins with Diabolik, the greatest criminal of Italian comics or fumetti as they are called because of the "clouds of smoke" (speech bubbles) present in comic strips. Fumo means "smoke." In this segment, various personalities describe the character Diabolik, both the good and the bad.

Diabolik drives a Jaguar, but not an ordinary Jaguar. He is able to transform the car in order to facilitate escaping when the need arises. In a way, both Diabolik and his car wear masks and assume different identities.

The creators of Diabolik had commuters in mind. They wanted to create something engaging that one could read in the time of a commute, and which was pocket-sized. We also discover why the name Diabolik ends with a K.

At the beginning, the Giussani sisters decided to hide their identities as women. Even so, it was not easy finding distribution. And there were other mysteries, as well, surrounding the early days of the iconic comic book, Diabolik.

Over time, Diabolik's outfit and facemask are transformed. His nemesis is a police inspector with sound morals, an interesting past, and a fascinating love interest.

The artists talk about the process of designing the comics, and how the characters evolved in terms of design, over time, from designer to designer.

Diabolik isn't the work of one person, but rather the result of a group effort. Each contributor has a distinct role but they all have to come together, mindful of keeping the continuity from one episode to the next.

Some of the stories in Diabolik come from the outside, notably from readers. A few of them are recounted here. They often related to controversial topics in the news and in some cases, charges were pressed and copies of the comic book were seized and destroyed.

Over time, Diabolik gained new status. It became cool. Nowadays, whether you read comic books or not, you know who Diabolik is.

This segment is about the film that was made of the Diabolik story. Not everyone was satisfied, including the Giussani sisters, but in those days, certain international standards had to be respected.

This documentary is about 2 brothers — the Taviani brothers — who are famous for having made many award-winning Italian movies. The short clips from their films will surely entice us to see the complete movies in the original Italian. Perhaps the most famous one is La Notte di San Lorenzo from 1982, whose English language release had the title: The Night of the Shooting Stars.

The Taviani brothers lived through the war, so they had a good feel for the terror people felt. But as kids they were also very much affected by the movies offered at the time.

The Taviani brothers talk about how, as young movie lovers, they would grab their bikes and go to whatever movie theater in the area was showing their favorite films. Then they had to go to the big city, Rome, to pitch their first documentary. They learned a valuable lesson.

San Miniato is where the Taviani brothers were born, but it was also the birthplace of their careers in filmmaking. Their first was a documentary and right away they had some problems with censorship.

Actor Giulio Brogi talks about how his role in The Subversives mirrored his character at the time. The Taviani brothers describe how they found another actor in that film, young Lucio Dalla, the famous (and now deceased) singer-songwriter.