A perfect Sunday with... Andrea Broccardo
Aliens, Time Lords and murder most foul!
Every week, a top writer, artist or creator reveals how they’d fill their perfect Sunday, sharing their favourite comfort reads, movies, food… anything that would make their weekend great. Today, it’s the turn of Alien artist, Andrea Broccardo who I had the pleasure of working with on Phase 2 of Star Wars: The High Republic!
Andrea’s perfect Sunday… brunch
Uh, it's a good question. I don't have a specific dish. I'm Italian and, you know, Italians eat a lot of food and speak constantly about food, so choosing only one could be a quest, but if I have to choose, I say pizza!
You have to know that at home, I am the cook. I definitely LOVE to prepare food and Sundays permit more free time than the other days in the week to prepare a good pizza.
Another food that I love and usually eat at Sunday lunch is Asian. I love Chinese and Korean food. There's a little restaurant here in my little town that is simply delicious. I have eaten there for 25 years, more or less and am friends with the owner. I could eat in that place every single day!
Andrea’s perfect Sunday… read
I don't know why, but at the moment I'm totally in Tolkien mode again, so I am rereading The Lord of The Rings… again! I started a couple of weeks ago with The Hobbit and now, after reading the Fellowship of the Ring, I just started The Two Towers.
I love fantasy! I read Lord of the Rings when I was a kid and I totally fell in love with that world!
I wish I had more time to spend on reading books. I have a lot on my shelves that I have not read yet and I miss reading books for entire afternoons, like when I was young.
I'm a big horror fan. I love Stephen King's IT, one of the most terrifying books that I have ever read. Bram Stoker's Dracula is on my shelves in something like 10 different editions! But like the discussion about food, it isn't easy to choose only one book. I have so many books that I reread for pleasure and fun.
Andrea’s perfect Sunday… comic
I'm a big comic book reader. And collector too. I read comics from all around the world, so have a big pile of comics ready to read. But time isn't always enough and the pile continues to grow every single day.
Recently, I read Fables, collecting the new beautiful editions that Panini is publishing here in Italy and just picked up the Tomb of Dracula omnibus series from Marvel. I think that is definitely the Marvel series I most like. This is the third edition that I’ve bought! But if I take a quick look at my not-read-yet-comics pile, I can see the Mask omnibus, Injustice, and a lot of Star Wars books. There's a Tales from Vader’s Castle omnibus too. Maybe you know it, Cavan? 😉
Another interesting fact: my girlfriend Barbara Nosenzo works as colorist for 2000AD (Ballad of Halo Jones, Judge Dredd, Anderson ) and thanks to her, I discovered a lot of beautiful series that aren't printed here in Italy, so I’ve started to collect UK comics like Rogue Trooper, the beautiful Skizz, or Judge Dredd (I'm collecting the Complete Casefile series and a, in love with it!)
Oh, I'm reading a lot of old Dark Horse Aliens books too. I'm working on the Alien series with Marvel and looking for references on my pages, rereading a lot of old old books like Aliens: Outbreak, Nightmare Asylum, Labyrinth and Salvation! I have all of the Dark Horse Aliens books and some of them are comics that I love to read and reread!
But if I have to choose my favorite comics, I definitely choose Berserk, by Kentaro Miura. Berserk was like a thunder strike. I bought the first volume in a comic shop when at High School in the mid '90s and was literally pure love.
Andrea’s perfect Sunday… movie
Another question with a not-so-easy and quick answer! I have a personal top five movies that I can rewatch from the beginning as soon as they’re finished, and in first place is the original Alien.
I first saw Alien when I was very, very young, I think around eight to ten years old. I know, it wasn't the correct age to see a movie like Alien, but my dad has the VHS, so one day, I inserted the tape inside the recorder and started watching. I was absolutely terrified! I stopped at the dinner table scene, only finding the courage to continue a couple of days later. I had to know what happened next! I love everything about Alien, from the characters — so real and believable — to the dialogue, the music, the visual effects. For me everything is perfect, like the "perfect organism" that runs inside Nostromo's air ducts.
As for the other films I can rewatch and rewatch, I’d say John Carpenter's Thing, the original Star Wars trilogy, the first Halloween and the Indiana Jones movies.
Andrea’s perfect Sunday… TV binge
I'm literally addicted to binge-watching. At the moment I'm watching Supernatural for the first time. Barbara loved that series and convinced me to watch it. I was a little worried because there are 15 seasons with 22 episodes each, but I fell in love with the Winchester brothers' family business after only one season.
Before Supernatural, the other two series that I have in my heart are Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I knew Doctor Who only by name and started to watch it with the reboot with Christopher Eccleston as Doctor! I love the idea of time travel, the companions that join the Doctor's journey and the beautiful idea of regeneration to avoid recasting a new actor for a new story arc. My favourite Doc is absolutely David Tennant with Peter Capaldi just a couple of steps behind.
Can't wait to see the new Doctor!
Andrea’s perfect Sunday… podcast
This is an easy one to answer! I have two podcasts that I adore. The first is Elisa True Crime. She's a talented Italian writer who examines true crime cases both old and new, analyzing every single case while avoiding sensationalism and splatter! She concentrates on the victims, the personality of the killers, with an eye on historical and social analysis.
Another podcast I love is 105 ZOO, the most popular radiophonic show in Italy! I had my moment of glory some years ago, as one of the presenters is a Star Wars addict and reached out to me on Instagram and asked for a commission of the show’s presenters as Star Wars characters. I added a member of the team that unfortunately passed away a couple of years before as a Force ghost like Yoda. They loved the picture so much, they invited me as a guest at the show. It was a dream come true!
Andrea’s perfect Sunday… album
Music is a very important part of my work days! Depending on my mood, I listen to a lot of different kinds, from Metallica, or Slayer to Ennio Morricone or Dance Music, but I don't have one favourite album.
Usually, when I'm drawing a comic page, I have to be focused, so have ambient music as background. For example, on the Alien series I'm drawing, I listen to the Alien original score, just to be in the mood, adding creepy/horror ambient music to the playlist. Creepy sounds help me create creepy pages! When I worked on Star Wars, I had the Star Wars score as background for the same reason.
I only listen to music when I'm doing other things, like working on comics, or cooking — or building Lego or Gunpla!
Andrea’s perfect Sunday… treat
Oh, I have a lot of different hobbies!
Working at home I spend a lot of time with my pets. I have a dog, Alma, some fish and also had a cat, Bato, who unfortunately passed away in February. It was really hard. She was my little "studio assistant" spending most of her time laying on my desk while I was working. My desk is so empty now.
I’ve always loved running, swimming, archery, and Aikido. Before Covid I started boxing. It’s very, very useful against stress and great for both mind and concentration, but I can't dedicate as much time as I would. It would be great to have more time for sports and the gym.
And I collect action figures, from Aliens, Predator and horror movies figures to vintage toys like Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so on Sundays, I often go to the antique street markets (we have a lot of them in Italy!) on the look out for old comics or toys. A couple of times I’ve been very lucky!
Alien by Declan Shavley and Andrea Broccardo is out now from Marvel Comics, with colours from Shadow Service’s Triona Farrell!
BETTER OFF BURIED! Talbot Engineering Inc. is under new management, but the organization's brilliant chief scientist, Batya Zhan, is not willing to give up her coded work to this unexpected threat without a fight. Over at Zhan's dig site, the intruders drill into the ice of the moon colony's surface only to discover hundreds of dark, black, frozen bodies. With daylight quickly dwindling away, it's anyone's guess what horrors will emerge in the black of night and from the cold of the ice.
Andrea Broccardo is a comic book Artist for Image Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Lucasfilm, Titan comics, Sergio Bonelli Editore, and Manfont.