A former biotechnology researcher, Emanuela transitioned into comics and has worked on several Italian series, including L'insonne. Alongside her work as a comic book artist, she also illustrated role-playing game manuals.

She has worked for IDW on Angel and Star Trek/Doctor Who. Her most well-known work for Marvel is X-Factor with Peter David. Over the years, she has had the opportunity to illustrate almost all of the major Marvel Universe titles. Her work spans several media, including the graphic novel Castle, based on the TV series, and contributions to titles like Thor, X-Men, and Avengers, many of which were adapted for television, film, and promotional campaigns.

In 2013, she collaborated with Valiant, contributing to Archer & Armstrong, Harbinger, and Bloodshot. She later returned to DC titles as the main artist on Supergirl, Starfire, and Green Lantern. During the same period, she created numerous concepts, illustrations, statues, and action figures for the DC Bombshells collection. In addition to her comic book work, she developed all the graphics for the Warner Bros. theme park in Abu Dhabi, designing vertical graphics for the park and its rides based on iconic DC superheroes.

Emanuela is also highly regarded for her major contributions to the Wonder Woman main series and her illustrations of this iconic female superhero. Her work with DC led her to illustrate the graphic novel Birds of Prey, written by Brian Azzarello and based on the DC movie.

Throughout her career, she has continued working for both Marvel and DC Comics. She also serves as a character designer and illustrator for gaming companies like Epic Games—creating several loading screen graphics for Fortnite—and as a box art artist for toy companies such as Mattel and Formo. In 2024, she worked as the artist on World’s Finest: Teen Titans and Shazam! with Mark Waid.

Beyond her main work for DC Comics, she has also illustrated many popular characters and titles, including Red Sonja and Vampirella (Dynamite), Ghost (Dark Horse), Betty & Veronica (Archie), and Clear and Nocterra (Image).