Sara Pichelli is an Italian comic book artist

Comic book creator

A comic book creator is someone who creates a comic book or graphic novel.The production of a comic book by one of the major comic book companies in the U.S...

 best known for first illustrating the Miles Morales

Spider-Man (Miles Morales)

Miles Morales is a fictional comic book superhero published by Marvel Comics. A teenager of African American and Latino descent, Miles is the second character to go by the name of Spider-Man in Marvel Comics' Ultimate Marvel line of books. First introduced following the death of Peter Parker, the...

 version of Ultimate Spider-Man

Ultimate Spider-Man

Ultimate Spider-Man was a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...

. After starting her career in animation, Pichelli entered the comic book industry working for IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...

 before joining Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 in 2008 after getting discovered in an international talent search. After having worked on several Marvel titles, such as Namora

Namora

Namora is a fictional character, a superhero in the . She is from Atlantis and is the daughter of an Atlantean father and a human mother. She is the cousin of Namor the Sub-Mariner.-Publication history:...

, Pichelli was hired as the main artist on the second volume of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in August 2009 as part of the relaunch of Ultimate Marvel under the new "Ultimate Comics" imprint. It serves as a continuation of Ultimate Spider-Man, as well as an all-new series...

, which premiered in September 2011. Pichelli won a 2011 Eagle Award for Favorite Newcomer Artist.

Career

Sara Pichelli 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." She started working in the comic book industry after meeting comics artist David Messina

David Messina

David Messina is an Italian comics artist.His work has included:*Doyle: Spotlight *"Unacceptable Losses"*The Curse *Old Friends *Star Trek: Countdown...

. Prior to that, she was not particularly interested in comics and preferred animated films and anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

. She worked as a layout assistant for Messina and worked on such titles as the Star Trek

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

comic book series produced by IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...

, including such editions as Star Trek: Countdown

Star Trek: Countdown

Star Trek: Countdown is a four-issue comic book prequel to the 2009 film Star Trek by IDW Publishing. It follows the characters of Spock and the Romulan Nero during the year 2387, detailing the events that cause them to travel to the 23rd century...

and Star Trek: Nero

Star Trek: Nero

Star Trek: Nero is a four-issue comic book prequel to the 2009 film Star Trek and sequel of the previous book Star Trek: Countdown, both by IDW Publishing. It follows the character of the Romulan Nero and his crew in the time between the destruction of the USS Kelvin and the kidnapping of...

. In 2008 she submitted her work to the Chesterquest international talent search and was named one of the finalists by Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 editor C. B. Cebulski

C. B. Cebulski

C.B. Cebulski is an American writer and editor for Marvel Comics, known for his work on titles such as Marvel Fairy Tales. As of 2011, he holds the position of Senior Vice President of Creative & Creator Development.-Career:...

, which led to her working for Marvel. She illustrates for Marvel from her home in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

Pichelli started working for Marvel Comics is 2008 with the limited series NYX: No Way Home, followed by a brief run on Runaways

Runaways (comics)

Runaways is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series features a group of teenagers who discover that their parents are part of an evil crime group called the Pride. Created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, the series debuted in April of 2003 as part of Marvel Comics'...

with writer Kathryn Immonen in 2009. She worked with Immonen again on the X-Men: Pixie Strikes Back limited series

Limited series

A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....

, released in December 2009, which focused on the X-Men

X-Men

The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...

 character Pixie. Pichelli provided art for one storyline in the I Am An Avenger anthology series, which ran from 2010 to 2011., then joined the team working on Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in August 2009 as part of the relaunch of Ultimate Marvel under the new "Ultimate Comics" imprint. It serves as a continuation of Ultimate Spider-Man, as well as an all-new series...

starting with the October 2010 issue #15. After that series ended, Pichelli contributed to the 2011 limited series Ultimate Fallout

Ultimate Fallout

Ultimate Comics: Fallout is a comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in July 2011 as part of the second re-launch of the Ultimate Universe...

, where she illustrated the first image of the Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

 character as portrayed by Miles Morales

Spider-Man (Miles Morales)

Miles Morales is a fictional comic book superhero published by Marvel Comics. A teenager of African American and Latino descent, Miles is the second character to go by the name of Spider-Man in Marvel Comics' Ultimate Marvel line of books. First introduced following the death of Peter Parker, the...

 in the Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Marvel is an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and updated versions of the company's superhero characters, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series...

 universe. Pichelli took on regular art duties on the relaunched Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in August 2009 as part of the relaunch of Ultimate Marvel under the new "Ultimate Comics" imprint. It serves as a continuation of Ultimate Spider-Man, as well as an all-new series...

with Morales as the protagonist, starting in September 2011. Pichelli, who uses a Cintiq 12wx graphic tablet to illustrate Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, added more screentone

Screentone

Screentone is a technique for applying textures and shades to drawings, used as an alternative to hatching. In the conventional process, patterns are transferred to paper from preprinted sheets, but the technique is also simulated in computer graphics...

s to her illustrations to give what she called "a more 'pop' feeling to the book, because I think it would fit perfectly with the new series".

Reception

Pichelli won a 2011 Eagle Award for Favorite Newcomer Artist, beating out fellow nominees Rafael Albuquerque

Rafael Albuquerque

Rafael Albuquerque is a Brazilian comic book creator primarily for his artwork on books such as DC Comics' Blue Beetle and American Vampire. Though primarily a penciler and inker of interior comic art, he has also done work as a cover artist, colorist and writer.-Career:Albuquerque begun his...

, Fiona Staples

Fiona Staples

-Biography:Staples' first published work was 2006’s Done to Death with writer Andrew Foley for Markosia. She was one of the illustrators of WildStorm's Trick 'r Treat graphic novel, an adaptation of the Michael Dougherty film. She was the penciller and inker of The Secret History of the Authority:...

, Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy (artist)

Sean Gordon Murphy is an American animator and comic book creator known for work on books such as Batman/Scarecrow: Year One, Teen Titans, Hellblazer, Shaun of the Dead and Joe the Barbarian.-Early life:...

 and Bryan Lee O'Malley

Bryan Lee O'Malley

Bryan Lee O'Malley is a Canadian cartoonist. He is best known for the Scott Pilgrim series, but is also a musician using the alias Kupek.-Career:...

. 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." Marvel Comics editor Tom Brevoort

Tom Brevoort

Tom Brevoort is an American comic book editor, known for his work for Marvel Comics, where he has overseen titles such as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four. He became Executive Editor in 2007, and in January 2011 was promoted to Senior Vice President of Publishing...

 called her "a real breakout talent" and "a top talent primed to explode in a major way". David Brothers of ComicsAlliance

ComicsAlliance

ComicsAlliance is an American website centering around the subject of American comic books. The editor-in-chief of the site is Laura Hudson. One of its frequent contributors and Senior Writer is Chris Sims, who appeared in a segment on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to provide commentary as the...

 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." IGN

IGN

IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

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".