'Altri Mondi'.
Andrea Romoli is an Italian physicist and comic book artist. Comics have always been a side project to him, which explains his relatively small body of work. Romoli is best known for the science fiction saga 'Altri Mondi' (1977- ), which was adapted into an animated TV series under the title 'Uchūsen Sagittarius', AKA 'Spaceship Sagittarius' (1986-1987). Romoli mostly works in the funny animal comics genre, like his humor series 'Magdala' (1992) and 'Renato La Volpe'.
Early life and career
Andrea Romoli was born in 1944 in Florence. He had a happy, but modest upbringing in post-war Italy, during which his artist father got him interested in arts, sculpting, philosophy and music. He ranks Carl Barks' 'Donald Duck' stories among his major influences, as well the work of novelists like J.R.R. Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, Jorge Luis Borges and Herman Melville and the experiences of explorer Leonard Clark. In 1973, Romoli went to work as a physicist, developing optical systems for space applications. Space travel also became a major theme in his comics, which he created in his spare time. Misadventures with small publishers, low sales and busy working schedules often left long intervals between his publications.
'Sagittarius'.
Altri Mondi
Romoli's best-known creation is 'Altri Mondi' (1977- ), a science fiction series about an anthropomorphic dog, giraffe and frog who undertake space rescue and exploration missions with their spaceship Sagittarius. The first album, 'Avventura su Efesto', was released by Nerbini in 1977. It was followed by 'Fuga su Issar', 'L'ultima Fortezza', 'Il Demone di Azul' and 'Crab Nebula'. In 1979, the imaginative and highly detailed landscapes, accompanied by cosmic maps and dictionaries, caught the interest of Nippon Animation. The Japanese studio acquired the rights to produce a 26-episode TV series adaptation under the title 'Spaceship Sagittarius'. A total of 77 thirty-minute episodes were produced, and first broadcast in Tokyo from 1986 until 1987. Remarkably enough, Romoli wasn't aware of these extra broadcasts until 1987. The series continued to be shown all over the world throughout the 1990s.
'Magdala'.
Magdala
In 1992, Nomoli developed another funny animal character. Magdala is a female cat who always gets in trouble because of her naïveté and impulsiveness. Nerbini released one album in 1992.
Hiatus and return to the comic industry
After 1992, Nomili largely left the comic book industry, mainly because of unpleasant experiences with indie publishers. He didn't return to the trade until he had retired from his daytime job. He took on self-publishing through the website Youcanprint.it, after which three more 'Magdala' books were released: 'La Mia Migliore Amica', 'La Cassa Sbagliata' and 'Area 666'. An English-language edition called 'Price Journey' was published in 2015. He also resumed working on new 'Sagittarius' comic books. Magdala and her sidekick Melissa also starred in the comics album 'Il Clamoroso Furto della Nascita di Venere' ("The Clamorous Theft of the Birth of Venus", 2018), set in Florence. The album was presented in November 2018 in the Biblioteca delle Oblate, a former monastery which now houses the Firenze public library.
'Magdala'.
Renato la Volpe
For the children's magazine Piccole Impronte of publishing house Lav, Romoli drew the comic series 'Renato la Volpe'. The main character is a fox named Renato. The series aims at making children aware of proper treatment of animals.
Children's books
Romili has also worked on children's book series for publishers like Malipiero ('Pero & Pera') and Nardini Editore ('Sea Chicks').
'Renato La Volpe'.