AboutAndrea Bresciani was the first of two artists to illustrate for Frontiers of Science and present a visual interpretation of the scientific text written by Professor Stuart Butler and Bob Raymond.
Andrea was born January 29, 1923 in Tolmino, in the Italian province of Goriza. His family was Slovenian in origin but the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire saw the Slovenian territory of Tolmin ceded to Italy and renamed Tolmino.
Andrea never attended a drawing class and was entirely self-taught. His talent was obvious to the architect who employed him to design furniture early in his career. Andrea's chance reading of a comic someone left on a train, led him to wonder whether comics might be a profitable way for him to earn some extra money. After practicing the comic art style each night after work for three months, he presented his drawings to a publisher and was immediately offered employment as a comic illustrator.
In the 1920s and 30s the Italian comic scene was flourishing and Andrea developed his comic art credentials working on Italian comic strips such as Saette, Poldo and Geky Dor. He didn't have a romantic illusion as to the true motivation for drawing however, "It was a job like any other. I worked for a living."
During the post war years, Andrea decided to leave Europe and emigrate. He moved to Sydney in 1951 and obtained work as a comic strip artist with Atlas Publications; Sergeant Pat of the Radio Patrol and Smoky Dawson were some of the Australian comic titles he is known to have worked on.
In 1961 Andrea was given the opportunity to illustrate a brand new comic, Frontiers of Science. For the next twelve years, he produced artwork for five strips each week.
As Frontiers of Science was science fact and not science fiction, it was essential that Andrea produce realistic illustrations. Any single month may have included illustrations of scientific instruments, measurement devices, diagrams explaining the theory of physics, space machinery, and giants of history such as Albert Einstein.
After twelve years with Frontiers of Science, Andrea travelled overseas, living for various periods in Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Philippines. He applied his artistic talents to fashion magazines, political cartoons and advertising, and was employed by Marvel publications. He was also artistic director for the Hanna-Barbera company for animated series such as Defenders of the Earth and Robin Hood. Among his movie credits were The New Scooby Do Movies (1972), Hiawatha (1988), and Otherzone (1998).
Andrea eventually returned to Australia and lived in Melbourne near members of his family until his death in February 2006. Date of DeathFebruary 2006
