Zoran Smiljanić, also known as Vittorio de la Croce, is a Slovenian comic book artist, illustrator, cartoonist, designer, screenwriter, cinephile and publicist. He began publishing his comics in the Slovenian and Yugoslavian press in the 1980s. He is a member of the so-called third generation of Slovenian comic artists, who were the first to publish their work in the magazine Mladina. Smiljanić is the author of the cult comic book Hardfuckers and created the five-part comic saga Meksikajnarji (Mexicanos) with writer Marijan Pušavec. His comic book Spomini in sanje Kristine B., Ljubljana 1941-1945 (Dreams and Memories of Kristina B., Ljubljana 1941-1945), a collaboration with historian Dr Blaž Vurnik, also deals with historical themes. Smiljanić and Vurnik also collaborated on the award-winning Ivan Cankar: Images from Life, a comic biography of the greatest literary figure of Slovenian modernism, published in 2018 and declared Book of the Year at the 34th Slovenian Book Fair.
