2023-09-28 17:42:00
Over 300 artists, 45 international guests from 15 countries, 61 publishing houses for over 45,000 m2 of exhibition area increased by 10% compared to the last edition: these are just some numbers of the ‘Lucca Comics & Games’ which will take place in the Tuscan city from 1st to November 5, for its 30th edition, the world of comics and cartoons, fantasy and videogames will be the protagonist.
The list of participants borders on infinity drawn by the dragon’s tail, chosen as the symbol of the festival for this year’s edition. The list of Italians includes, among many, Zerocalcare, Milo Manara, Pera Toons, Leo Ortolani and also Gipi, Sio and the Gigaciao group, Silvia Ziche, Paolo Bacilieri, Igort, Fumettibrutti, Werther Dell’Edera, Barbara Baraldi, Simone Bianchi with exhibitions dedicated to Dino Battaglia on the fortieth anniversary of his death and to Akab born Gabriele Di Benedetto, who died four years ago and was elected ‘master of comics’ posthumously in 2020.
The international panorama sees Europeans, Americans and Asians lined up. For the world of Japanese manga, after Naoki Urasawa, Hiro Mashima, Mingwa, Masaaki Ninomiya, characters already announced in the first conference in June in Florence, in today’s conference organized in Milan the names of Usamaru Furuya, Kan Takahama, Keigo Shinzo, Shintaro Kago, Eldo Yoshimizu and Satsuki Yoshino. From the Anglo-Saxon comics circle come Bryan Talbot, Declan Shalvey, Jesse Jacobs and the duo formed by Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura, while the French and more generally European panorama will be represented by authors such as Jordi Lafebre, David Rubin, Goran Sudzuka, Martin Panchaud , Elizabeth Pich and the Bastien Vivès-Martin Quenehen duo with the new Corto Maltese adventure, ‘The Queen of Babylon’.
Among the meetings, waiting for the ‘X-Men/Avengers’ appointment for the 60th anniversary of the greatest teams in the world, in which Douglas Wolk, Mara Famularo, Stefano Caselli, Elena Casagrande, CB Cebulski and Simone Bianchi will celebrate some of the most iconic characters of the famous American publishing house. And readers who are fans of Sergio Bonelli Editore will discover the editorial and multimedia news in the return of the ‘Keynote Bonelli’. Max Pezzali then returns to the Lucca festival to present a project that will see him as the protagonist on the opening day at the Teatro del Giglio with the preview of the comic book of the former 883, a comic book in a very limited edition, illustrated and written by Roberto Recchioni and produced from ‘Lucca Comics & Games’. Among the exhibitions, worth mentioning is the one dedicated to Tolkien, the author of the ‘Lord of the Rings’, entitled ‘Other Minds and Hands’ in time and space, in games and comics, at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni where works will also be exhibited originals by illustrator Angus McBride.
Lillo Petrolo, of the duo Lillo & Greg, is the second ambassador of the festival, as a painter of miniatures, and will propose ‘Lillo and the Grog: journey to the center of modelling’ at Palazzo Arnolfini, where it will also be possible to admire the miniatures painted by Josè Da Vinci, Sergio Calvo Rubio, Arnau Lazaro, Fabrizio Russo, Francesco Farabi, David Arroba, Max Richiero, Pietro Balloni, Luciano Leni, Giovanni Bosio, Alessandro Marinone, Andrea Jula, Danilo Cartacci. Inside the exhibition, a corner dedicated to the Grog, sculpted by Silvia Corso and painted by Lillo himself.
Prime Video will also be a protagonist at ‘Lucca Comics & Games’, within exclusive spaces, to bring a series of guests to the festival who will present their next shows, starting with Fabio De Luigi for an on-stage conversation dedicated to the comic journey and dreamlike ‘Amazing – Fabio De Luigi’, the new ‘one prank show’ arriving on November 3rd; Marcello Macchia aka Maccio Capatonda, Danilo Carlani and Alessio Dogana will be guests of a panel dedicated to their next film, the story of a common man of the digital millennium catapulted into an unexpected analogue journey; and again Lillo who will reveal to the Lucca public, during a panel, the first unpublished images of the next film, ‘Elf Me’, which will see him protagonist on Prime Video from November 24th in the role of an unconventional elf in Santa’s service Christmas.
(by Enzo Bonaiuto)
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