Sword Book 1 is the first half of Milo Manara's two-volume epic biography of the hot-tempered Italian master painter. It depicts Caravaggio's early years in Rome as he struggles to capture truth on canvas, only to have his art condemned to be burned by the Church. He then is forced to flee the city when he kills a man in righteous fury over the death of a prostitute.

The two volumes of Caravaggio mark the return of Manara to U.S. readers and the debut of Fantagraphics' new series, The Milo Manara Signature Edition, featuring affordable paperbacks of maestro Manara's internationally acclaimed work. (Book 2 will follow in Spring 2025.) Discover the bawdy, swashbuckling life of one of the greatest painters in history through Manara's passionate, personal tribute to his artistic idol, Michelangelo Merisi, whom the world would come to know as Caravaggio.