Love #5 - 'Le Molosse' (2021).
Federico Bertolucci is an Italian comic creator, game artist and colorist, specialized in epic and poetic fantasy series with mostly animals in starring roles. For Disney Italia, he has drawn comics with Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, but also issues of the fantasy adventure series 'W.I.T.C.H.'. His stories for the latter have also been reprinted in multiple international editions, including in the USA. Bertolucci has worked extensively with the French scriptwriter Fréderic Brrémaud, most notably on the wildlife-themed graphic novel series 'Love' (2011- ), the children's comic book series 'Les Petites Histoires' (2014-2016) and the mysterious two-volume story of 'Brindille' (2018-2019).
Early life
Born in the Tuscan city of Viareggio in 1973, Federico Bertolucci had his first art classes at the College of Arts in Lucca. Already as a child, he enjoyed drawing a person or an animal without looking at them just using his memory and experience. Between 1994 and 1998, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, where he learned how to use oil colors and studied human anatomy. After graduation, he took an additional nine-month comics course from the Disney Academy in Milan, after which he began his professional career working for Disney Italia. Bertolucci has named Disney legend Carl Barks as his favorite artist, but also admired other classic creators such as T.S. Sullivant, Alex Raymond, Floyd Gottfredson, Chuck Jones and Norman Rockwell. Among his more contemporary influences have been Denis Bodart, Stephen Silver, Ashley Wood, Craig Mullins, John Nevarez, Giorgio Cavazzano, Corrado Mastantuono, Alessandro Barbucci, Alex Ross, Jean-Pierre Gibrat, Sergio Toppi and Bill Watterson.
'I Bassotti in un problema... massiccio' (Topolino #2315, 2000). © Disney
Licensed characters
Despite his formal art training, Bertolucci has mentioned that working for a large company with steady publishing deadlines has been the best training ground. In 1999, his first comic stories with Disney characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the Beagle Boys and Pluto appeared in Topolino and the girls' titles Minni & Company and Minni Amica del Cuore. Starting in 2001, Bertolucci was part of the art team for 'W.I.T.C.H.' (2001-2008), drawing several issues of this monthly comic book about five teenage girls with magical powers. Besides the regular series, he also drew a couple of special issues dedicated to specific characters, as well as the first Panini sticker album with the 'W.I.T.C.H.' characters.
Cover illustrations for 'W.I.T.C.H.' © Disney
During these early stages of his career, Bertolucci also contributed covers and short story art to 'Monster Allergy' at Buena Vista Comics, another children's fantasy series by 'W.I.T.C.H.' creators Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa. He additionally drew short stories with Hanna-Barbera's 'The Flintstones' for the daily Il Sole 24 Ore, and did the coloring for the graphic novel adaptation of Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch'. During his career, Bertolucci has worked as an illustrator or colorist for international publishers like Mosaik (Germany), Egmont (Denmark) and Mattel (USA).
'Richard Cœur de Lion'.
French comics
Since 2007, Bertolucci has been working on several comic series for French publishers like Soleil, Bamboo, Ankama, Delcourt, Clair De Lune and Glénat, mostly in collaboration with the scriptwriter Fréderic Brrémaud. Their first joint productions were two volumes of 'Richard Coeur de Lion' (Soleil, 2007-2008), a funny animal version of the 12th-century King Richard I, also known as Richard the Lionheart. In 2009, Bertolucci joined Brrémaud and fellow scriptwriter Mathieu Reynés at Bamboo publishers, where he drew the gag comic book 'Les Tennismen', poking fun at tennis. Then at Delcourt, Bertolucci and Brrémaud created 'Rocambole de Ponson du Terrail', a comic book adapting the adventures of Pierre Alexis Ponson du Terrail's 19th-century gentleman thief Rocambole, AKA Marquis Albert de Chamery.
Love #!- 'Le Tigre' (2011).
The animal world
One of Bertolucci and Brrémaud's most notable collaborations was the award-winning graphic novel series 'Love' (Ankama Éditions, 2011- ). Reminiscent of a nature documentary, each installment depicts a day in the life of another wild animal, successively a tiger, a fox, a lion, dinosaurs and an Australian hunting dog. Without words, the authors showcase their passion for animals through a dramatic storyline crafted with careful documentation and lavish illustrations. Besides the original publication in French, the series has been published in the USA (Magnetic Press), the Netherlands (Dark Dragon Books), Germany (Tokyopop), Italy (Saldapress) and other countries.
'Les Petites Histoires de la Mer' (2015).
Simultaneously with 'Love', the Bertolucci-Brrémaud team took their fascination for animals to a younger audience. Between 2014 and 2016, Éditions Clair de Lune released a series of six picture books under the title 'Les Petites Histoires'. The stories are a mix between educational full-color illustrations from the world of the animals and funny comic strip segments starring a little dog and his squirrel friend. In each volume, the two friends go on a fun and educational journey, for instance to the forest, the savannah, the sea or a farm, where they meet a variety of interesting domestic and wild animals. The booklets have additionally been published in several other languages, for instance in English by Lion Forge Comics under the title 'Little Tails'.
Brindille #1 - 'Les Chasseurs d'Ombre' (2018).
Fantasy series
In 2018 and 2019, Bertolucci and Brrémaud joined the publishing house Vents d'Ouest to create the two-volume graphic novel series 'Brindille', a dreamlike and mysterious story about a young heroine trying to find her own identity. In 'Brindille', a frail young girl flees a roaring forest fire in the middle of the night desperately taking refuge in a cave where she quickly loses consciousness. She wakes up in a strange, tiny village populated by fairy-like creatures. Her hosts seem intrigued by the sparkles of light that seem to surround her. As she has no recollection of her past, except for a wall and flames, she sets out to find out who she is. International editions of the series were published by Magnetic Press (English), Dark Dragon Books (Dutch) and Saldapress (Italian).
At the same publisher, they launched their new four-volume series 'La Légende Oubliée de Perceval' ("The Forgotten Legend of Parzival", 2022- ), about the younger years of one of the legendary Round Table knights.
'La Légende Oubliée de Perceval' #1 (2022).
Return to Disney comics
Since 2014, Bertolucci has occasionally returned to drawing new stories with Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck for Topolino. For the French publisher Glénat, he teamed up with Brrémaud again for the stand-alone graphic novel 'Les Vacances de Donald' (2021). In this book-length pantomime story, Donald Duck goes on a camping holiday in the woods, where everything goes wrong. Also starring classic characters like Chip 'n' Dale and Humphrey Bear, the book was a tribute to the 1950s cartoon adventures of Disney's unlucky duck.
Children's book illustrations
In addition to comics, Federico Bertolucci has also been a prominent illustrator for children's books. For Edizioni Piemme, he has illustrated several covers for 'Il Battello a Vapore' ("The Steamboat"), a book series with fantasy, horror and adventure stories. At Mondadori, he has been lead illustrator of the young adult fantasy book series 'Le Ragazze dell'Olimpo' ("Girls of Olympus", 2008- ) by Elena Kedros. Among the other artists for the collection were Emilio Urbano, Manuela Razzi and Mara Damiani. Between 2009 and 2013, Bertolucci created 16 volumes of the picture book series 'Dinodino Avventure nel Giurassico' ("Dinodino Adventures in the Jurassic") with writer Stefano Bordiglioni at Emme Edizioni. Other books illustrated by Federico Bertolucci have been editions of the Emilio Salgari classic 'Il Corsaro Nero' (Mondadori Ragazzi, 2009) and Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (Il Mastino dei Baskerville', Piemme 2013).
'Les Vacances de Donald Duck' (2021).
Other activities
Among Federico Bertolucci's other activities were the creation of the backgrounds for a Dreamworks pavilion at the Hollywood-inspired theme park Motiongate in Dubai. Since 2020, he has been a freelance artist for the online game developer Moon Active, and he has additionally been active as a teacher at the Roman Comic Strips School (Scuola Romana dei Fumetti).
Graphic contributions
In 2005, Federico Bertolucci was one of the contributing artists to the ninth volume in the collective pin-up book collection of Éditions Soleil, 'Les Filles de Soleil'. For the same publisher, he made a comic interpretation of the Pascal Obispo song 'Millésime' for the anthology 'Les Chansons de Pascal Obispo en BD' (2006). He was also one of the artists drawing a short story with André Franquin's 'Marsupilami' for 'Marsupilami - Des histoires Courtes Par...' (Dupuis, 2017). With Brrémaud, he has created a full-color pantomime comic page with Mickey Mouse for the 2020 international 'Mickey All-Stars' anthology.
Recognition
In 2017, Bertolucci won the U Giancu Award at the International Cartoonists Exhibition in Rapallo, Italy, for 'Love'. That same year, the Lucca Comics & Games dedicated a retrospective exhibition to him at the Palazzo Ducale. Two years later, Bertolucci was awarded the 2019 Romics d'Oro at the Romics comics and gaming convention in Rome. The international exposure of his comics 'Love' and 'Little Tails' have earned him several Eisner Award nominations in the USA, for instance the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022 Eisner Awards for Best Painter/Digital Artist, the 2017 and 2022 Eisner Awards for Best U.S. Edition of International Material and the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers.
Bertolucci has been named as an influence by Thierry Capezzone.
Federico Bertolucci.