PKNA

PKNA - Paperinik New Adventures
PKNA #0: Evroniani Art by Marco Ghiglione
Publication information
Publisher	Disney Italy
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing
Genre	science fiction, action, adventure, dramedy, thriller
Publication date	March 1996 - January 2001
Number of issues	52
Main character(s)	Paperinik
Creative team
Creator(s)	Alessandro Sisti Ezio Sisto Claudio Sciarrone Massimiliano "Max" Monteduro

PKNA - Paperinik New Adventures is an Italian comic, published by Disney Italy from 14 March 1996 to 20 December 2000, about the new adventures of Paperinik, the superhero created in 1969 by Guido Martina, Elisa Penna and Giovan Battista Carpi, which served as Donald Duck's secret identity.

The first issue of the series was called Evroniani, and featured Paperinik's new alien enemies, the Evroniani (Evronians). Introduced in the same issue were Paperinik's two new allies, the A.I. Uno (One), who resides in the skyscraper Ducklair Tower, and Lyla Lay, a journalist and robot utilized by a time police organization based in the 23rd century.

The series was extremely well received at the beginning of its run, and saluted as an unexpectedly innovative project for Disney. In 2016, IDW Publishing announced plans to start publishing an official English translation of the series written by Jonathan Gray under the title "Duck Avenger".

The PKNA writers developed more adult themes than the classical Disney stories published in the Italian magazine Topolino. Throughout the series' run, they used themes such as: the relationship between man and robot; the struggle between what is right and what is logical; the essence of true love; the difference between mankind and other alien races; the essence of being a superhero; the relationship between knowledge and power; the importance of History and past historical events.

Among the writers of the Pk Team, were many talented and generally young authors: Francesco Artibani, Davide Catenacci, Gianfranco Cordara, Bruno Enna, Tito Faraci, Augusto Macchetto, Alessandro Sisti, Simone Stenti, Ezio Sisto. The PK project was seen as a testbed for a generation of new authors, who were given ample freedom to innovate, leaving behind many of the typical storytelling conventions of the company and creating a blend of the "classical" Disney comics and the American superhero comic books, which were a primary and acknowledged source of inspiration. Despite this, both the company and the public were deeply used to Disney characters being used for kid-friendly stories, so that a slow transition towards edgier storytelling and graphic depictions was required.