Luciano Vecchio - Understanding one's self with SERENO
Meet SERENO, the Mystic Master of Light and guardian of New Teia
Today we have the opportunity to sit down with Luciano Vecchio, best known for Iceman, Ironheart, Champions, and DC Pride, to chat about his first crowdfunded effort for a hardcover collection of SERENO #1-3. The SERENO - Exclusive Hardcover Collection is set to go live on ZOOP soon, you can stay tuned by signing up for the prelaunch here!
Keeping it Geekly - Hello and good afternoon Luciano! I appreciate you swinging by to chat about SERENO - a personal tale of a superhero fighting not only for his community but also understanding his own heart as well. I had the opportunity to read #1-3 and was blown away by how deep this series felt, both with its exposition and art direction. Before we dive into that let’s begin with the basics, how did you find yourself getting into the comic industry?
Luciano Vecchio - Thank you for having me! I grew up in Argentina loving comics since I was a young kid, and back then I swore to myself drawing superheroes would be my work when I grew up. And through stubbornness and focus and a lot of luck, it came to happen. I started small but steadily working with indie and small publishers, accumulating a work volume and making my way up.
KiG - Your interiors and character designs have such life in them. Are you completely self-taught as an Artist or were there any classes or courses you took to help shape your style? Do you have a preference for traditional or digital mediums?
L.V. - I am mostly self-taught, though even now I eventually take some classes here and there to sharpen an aspect of my craft. Now that technology allows it I do everything digitally on the iPad. I was always obsessed with drawing and coloring digitally, from doing pixel art with a mouse on early 90s Microsoft Paint to begging my parents to get me a scanner and obsessively teaching myself how to color on early Photoshop. Sereno specifically is a mixed process, the linework is traditional and the blacks and coloring and sometimes recomposition of the page is digital.
KiG - Do you have a special routine that you like to do to help get you in the right mindset to create or does it just come naturally for you? Is there any certain music or maybe a tv show you like to play in the background?
L.V. - It depends on the project, I have my “mainstream work” routine which is pretty straightforward, just going to draw after breakfast and jump to the page or assignment I feel will bring me the most joy that day. I pursue that feeling of enjoyment while drawing, and I don’t believe in “saving the good part for later”. In Sereno, it shook a bit because I mixed writing and drawing, jumped from one to the other, and experimented with composition and narrative coloring in an improvised way, so it resembles more of a trance, a channeling, or an invocation.
KiG - The amount of work you have done is impressive, with your name being credited in an extensive number of titles from DC Comics, Marvel, IDW & more. What title was your first break into working for larger publishers? How did that moment feel when you saw your name in the credits?
L.V. - It had many small steps, sort of through a backdoor. The first one I often forget was participating in DC’s Zuda Comics imprint for digital comics submissions in the 2000s. Then I knew an editor on DC’s kids’ line and my first assignment was a Ben 10 comic, which started my TV show’s adaptations era. But making the jump to the mainstream with Marvel’s Ironheart was the actual turning point that made me feel I set foot where I wanted to be after all that work, and it was magic.
KiG - SERENO is the Mystic Master of Light and New Teia’s guardian, a city in which science and magic intertwine by night. This story is so emotionally riveting while the art is visually mesmerizing, mixing darker and lighter tones with an emphasis on colors. Can you tell us what went into creating this series?
L.V. - In short, an invocation, an experiment to do hyper sigil in Morrisonian terms. My intention was to tap into the roots of the genre that shaped me my whole life, and see what archetype and tale would be channeled through the artistic prism of “me”. A poetic exploration of why we tell ourselves stories of superheroes. The result is a Magic Boy Superhero, a queer lead invoking the attributes of the Moon, fighting villains and monsters in a story that bridges the Apolline and Dionysiac aspects of the self. And feeling tired of the “warrior” archetype in superheroes, this is my “magician” archetype counteroffer. The one that tames and transforms the Dragon rather than slaying it.
KiG - As previously mentioned, your interiors are just flat-out gorgeous. The lack of colors initially adds a whole different level of immersion when you finally see them flood the panels where Sereno encounters a villain. This felt like it made those situations much more impactful and significant. What was your reasoning for handling the coloring in that manner?
L.V. - I find a lot of inspiration and potential in working within a designed set of limitations. I had previously worked on a red, black, and white goth series and found a myriad of uses for just one color, so I was itching to try what happened with each different color taking that spotlight. And it adds a third layer of visual silent narration, in tune with Sereno’s Third Eye. Used this way, color speaks for itself.
KiG - We see the sparks of a love interest develop between our hero Sereno and Rufián, a cat burglar. I loved this approach of having New Teia’s Nightwatchman fall for a reforming criminal. Was there any special symbolism behind their connection?
L.V. - It started as a queer homage to Bruce and Selina and Spidey and Black Cat, but it ended up stealing the show. A gay hero/villain love interest was something I hadn’t seen yet and the dynamic was a delight to write and draw. The focus shifted from romance to exploring how the honest encounter of such different people transforms each other in their individuality.
KiG - If there was anything you wanted readers to take away from the story of Sereno what would it be? To me, this story felt like Sereno finding themselves and who they truly are. Their character growth throughout #1-3 was remarkable.
L.V. - I see Sereno as a psychonautic shareable fiction suit that anyone can wear, to dive within themselves through action and adventure. I found it to even work as an oracle of sorts, reading comics for world-saving self-exploration.
KiG - With this being your first crowdfunding venture as a creator, what drove you to use ZOOP’s platform? How has your experience been working with them?
L.V. - We met through CEX Comics Experience Publishing, who release Sereno in English in print for the first time as a mini-series. They partnered with Zoop to give Sereno included the awesome collected edition it deserves. I never did a crowdfunding campaign before, but I got the chance to meet the Zoop guys in person at New York Comic Con and heard about other people’s experiences, so I’m super excited and looking forward to materializing this collection.
KiG - Thank you so much again for the sit-down and the opportunity to learn more about you and SERENO. I wish you great success with your crowdfunding campaign on ZOOP and I can’t wait to see what you come out with in the future!
L.V. - Thank you so much for the support! Best wishes for you too :)