Sara Pichelli (born 15 April 1983) is an Italian comics artist best known for co-creating and first illustrating the Miles Morales version of Ultimate Spider-Man. After starting her career in animation, Pichelli entered the comic book industry working for IDW Publishing before joining Marvel Comics in 2008 after getting discovered in an international talent search. After having worked on several Marvel titles, such as Namora, Pichelli was hired as the main artist on the second volume of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, which premiered in September 2011. Pichelli won a 2011 Eagle Award for Favorite Newcomer Artist.

Sara Pichelli
Pichelli at Special Edition NYC
in Manhattan, 2014
Born (1983-04-15) 15 April 1983 (age 41)
Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy
Notable works
Runaways, X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 2011 Eagle Award for Favorite Newcomer Artist

Career

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Pichelli sketching at the New York Comic Con

Pichelli was born in Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy. She began her career in animation, working as a storyboard artist, animator and character designer. She said of this work, "It wasn't really for me. I felt like a tiny cog in a machine."[1] She started working in the comic book industry after meeting comics artist David Messina. Prior to that, she was not particularly interested in comics and preferred animated films and anime.[1] She worked as a layout assistant for Messina and worked on such titles as the Star Trek comic book series produced by IDW Publishing,[2] including such editions as Star Trek: Countdown and Star Trek: Nero.[3] In 2008 she submitted her work to the Chesterquest international talent search and was named one of the finalists by Marvel Comics editor C. B. Cebulski, which led to her working for Marvel. She illustrates for Marvel from her home in Rome.[1]

Pichelli started working for Marvel Comics in 2008[2] with the limited series NYX: No Way Home,[4][5] followed by a brief run on Runaways with writer Kathryn Immonen in 2009.[5][6] She worked with Immonen again on the X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back limited series, released in December 2009, which focused on the X-Men character Pixie.[7] Pichelli provided art for one storyline in the I Am An Avenger anthology series, which ran from 2010 to 2011,[1] then joined the team working on Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man starting with the October 2010 issue #15.[8] After that series ended, Pichelli contributed to the 2011 limited series Ultimate Fallout, where she illustrated the first image of the Spider-Man character as portrayed by Miles Morales in the Ultimate Marvel universe.[5][9] Pichelli took on regular art duties on the relaunched Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man with Morales as the protagonist, starting in September 2011.[10]

In August 2018, Pichelli and writer Dan Slott launched a new Fantastic Four series.[11]

Technique and materials

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Pichelli uses a Cintiq 12wx graphic tablet. When illustrating Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man,[9] she added more screentones to her illustrations to give what she called "a more 'pop' feeling to the book", as she believed it would be more fitting to that series.[12]

In creating the visual look of characters, Pichelli approaches the design by giving thought to the character's personalities, including the background that may have influenced them, and the distinctive traits that the characters exhibit, such as the clothing they wear, their body language and expressions. She followed this approach when creating Miles Morales.[13]

Reception

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There are three or four artists we've got at Marvel who are really starting to pop and sizzle and define a new look and style that's distinctly their own. We look at these people as being the next generation of Marvel superstars, and I think Sara is clearly one of them. Her stuff is bubbly and fun and alive and energetic and exciting. It has all the best traits and qualities of humanity and engagingness [that] I'd want in a Marvel artist.

Tom Brevoort[1]

Pichelli won a 2011 Eagle Award for Favorite Newcomer Artist,[14] over fellow nominees Rafael Albuquerque, Fiona Staples, Sean Murphy and Bryan Lee O'Malley.[15] Marvel Comics senior editor Mark Paniccia said of Pichelli: "Every time I see new pages from Sara she continues to grow as an artist. She's amazing now and I can't imagine where she'll be a year from now."[5] Marvel Comics editor Tom Brevoort called her "a real breakout talent" and "a top talent primed to explode in a major way".[1] David Brothers of ComicsAlliance praised her attention to detail and said he particularly likes the way Pichelli draws hair, facial expressions and body language: "The first two add a lot to the atmosphere of the comics she draws, and the third cranks her storytelling up to another level."[4] IGN writer Jesse Schedeen called Pichelli's art in Ultimate Fallout "energetic, cinematic, and just flamboyant enough to offer a change of pace from the rest of the Ultimate Fallout stories".[16]

Personal life

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Pichelli lives in Rome, Italy.[17]

Bibliography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Quesada, Joe (8 August 2011). "Talk to the Hat: Sara Pichelli's 'Ultimate' Introduction". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  2. ^ a b Sara Pichelli at the Grand Comics Database
  3. ^ Libero, Tempo (6 October 2009). "Appuntamento bis con Star Trek". Il Cittadino di Monza e Brianza (in Italian). Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  4. ^ a b Brothers, David (9 August 2011). "'Ultimate Spider-Man' Artist Sara Pichelli Is A Killer Storyteller". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d "Sara Pichelli: Eagle Award Winner". Marvel Comics. 2 June 2011. Archived from the original on 8 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  6. ^ Thomas, Brandon (4 September 2009). "Ambidextrous 310: Brand New Flavor: Days Missing, F4, More". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  7. ^ Armitage, Hugh (1 September 2009). "Marvel's Pixie strikes back". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  8. ^ Armitage, Hugh (12 October 2010). "Pirchelli joins 'Ultimate Spider-Man'". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 14 October 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  9. ^ a b Cavna, Michael (16 August 2011). "Miles Morales: Check out Sara Pichelli inking the new Ultimate Spider-Man". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  10. ^ Ching, Albert (2 August 2011). "Identity of the New Ultimate Spider-Man Revealed [Spoilers]". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  11. ^ Gustines, George Gene (March 29, 2018). "The Return of the Fantastic Four". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Welcome back, Fantastic Four! A video on Thursday about some of Marvel Entertainment's upcoming comics included a silhouetted image of the Fantastic Four, signaling their return to a monthly series beginning in August. The series will be written by Dan Slott and drawn by Sara Pichelli.
  12. ^ Richards, Ron (August 16, 2011). "Exclusive: Ultimate Spider-Man Interview with Sara Pichelli with Video!". iFanboy. Archived from the original on September 12, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  13. ^ Weiland, Jonah (October 23, 2013). "CBR TV: Sara Pichelli on Designing Miles Morales & Being a Rising Star". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017.
  14. ^ Armitage, Hugh (1 June 2011). "Walking Dead, Grant Morrison win Eagle Awards". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  15. ^ "The Eagle Awards Nominees Announced". MTV. 14 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  16. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (3 August 2011). "Ultimate Comics: Fallout #4 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  17. ^ Paniccia, Mark (w). Ultimate Spider-Man, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 26 (November 2011). Marvel Comics.
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