Hello fellow Wookieepdians! Today we had the opportunity to connect with Luciano Vecchio, the cover artist of several comic books!
Q1: How long have you been working as an artist professionally, and what's your favorite part about the profession?
A: I started really young, so it’s over 22 years of profession now. It’s been a wild ride through children's books, advertising, games and comics. My favorite thing is what I’m doing now: drawing mainstream superhero comics at Marvel, being part of the decades spanning tapestry of this shared collective work, and collaborating with awesome writers.
Q2: What's your typical process for designing a cover—from concept to final piece?
A: It varies from case to case, but most often an editor will come with a specific need or prompt for the cover, and I’ll do a few quick thumbnails with a bunch of composition ideas. They’ll pick one and I proceed to fully draw it, and I usually color my own covers as well.
Q3: How did you first get introduced to Star Wars?
A: With the original trilogy. Being a child in the 80s my older siblings had some action figures and merch and Star Wars was part of the pop culture even in Argentina where I live. I think Return of the Jedi was the most impactful and the first I watched with full consciousness, and I loved the Ewoks, the droids and Yoda when I was a kid. Luke is still one of my favorite heroes in fiction.
Q4: You mentioned prior when we first reached out that you're a fan of some of the Disney+ series. Is there a standout series that you've most enjoyed?
A: The Mandalorian, I love how it started as mostly its own thing within the universe. Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin even replaced Boba Fett as the coolest Star Wars character. And I love how they restored the value of puppetry and practical effects with Grogu.
Q5: Your first Star Wars cover work was your Pride cover with Magna Tolvan back in 2023, and you have a Pride cover this year with Sana Starros. What was the process you went about for which character you wanted to feature on the respective covers?
A: As a visible and vocal queer artist, I make a point of working with LGBTQ+ characters in superhero comics when possible, and I’ve been part of the Pride Marvel Voices initiative in one way or another over the years. And in 2023 they asked me to do a cover for Star Wars too.
The characters are assigned to me. Actually I worked on Sabe first, but that cover was released later. I tried a few compositions, and once the iconic art-nouveau inspired profile shot was approved and fully drawn, they liked it enough to want to make a series of it and add other characters: Leia, Magna Tolvan and Doctor Aphra. This year I was asked to do Sana Starros so we resumed the series.
Q6: Of the covers you have worked on for Star Wars, is there one you are particularly proud of?
A: I like seeing them all together, I love creating a visual system with variations that spotlight each character’s individuality. If I have to pick one, I’ll go with Sabé because it was the first and inspired the concept.
Q7: Conversely, was there one that was maybe more challenging to work on?
A: I would say Leia because drawing likeness isn’t something I like to focus my style on, as I don’t strive for realism. Translating an actor’s features to my style and keeping it recognizable is a challenge, but a fun one.
Q8: If you were to do any other cover work for Star Wars in the future and could choose one character or concept within the Star Wars universe to include, what would it be, and why?
A: I would love to expand this series and keep drawing everyone in the Star Wars universe like this. I’d love to do Din Djarin, Darth Vader, Luke, Darth Maul, C-3PO, my favorites. And circling back to Pride, I would love if Stormpilot became canon in comics and I could draw Poe and Finn together.
Q9: Thanks for sitting down with us! If people would like to keep up to date with your work, what social media platforms should they find you on?
A: I’m on Instagram @lucianovecchioart and X @lucianovecchio and Bluesky @lucianovecchio.bsky.social. And you’ll find me on the Superhero side of Marvel Comics drawing Uncanny X-Men, covers and more.