The Comics area is at the heart of the visitor experience in the city centre, featuring offerings from over 80 Italian and international publishers and more than 400 guests from around the world. In addition to the Napoleone Pavilion – which this year once again encompasses the entire square within a huge single-span tensile structure covering over 3,000 square metres dedicated to comics – and the Napoleone Pavilion 2, the Ninth Art will take centre stage in Piazza del Giglio with areas dedicated to collecting, major art galleries and individual artists’ stands, where they will be on hand to take commissions or sell their original artwork. The number of monographic pavilions in the squares and on the ramparts of the city walls has reached a record high, ten in total, creating a globally unique offering for all fans of comics in all their forms. The announced authors will be coming from all over Europe, as well as from the United States, Canada, Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Argentina, Ukraine, Russia, Lebanon, Iran, Egypt and Palestine. There will be a record number of Asian guests, with 15 Japanese creators, 5 from Taiwan, 2 from China and 2 from Korea.
DISCOVERING THE ASIAN NINTH ART
Once again this year, Lucca Comics & Games is treating its audience to an exceptional line-up of authors from no fewer than four Asian countries, showcasing both established masters and emerging talents from the finest manga, manhwa and manhua productions. From Japan comes a real highlight: Sensei Go Nagai, one of the founding fathers of manga and creator of Divina Commedia, Devilman, Mazinger Z and UFO Robot Grendizer (28–30 October). Numerous Japanese female creators, spanning different generations and styles, explore the full range of manga’s nuances. Tunué is hosting the multi-award-winning Gurihiru duo (28 October–1 November), the Japanese comic artist and illustrator duo comprising Chifuyu Sasaki on pencils and inking and Naoko Kawano on colours (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Unico), whilst Star Comics brings Yuu Watase (30 October–1 November), author of Fushigi Yuugi. And then there’s J-POP Manga with Saka Mikami, a world-renowned manga artist born in the early 2000s (The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity), Panini Comics welcomes Paru Itagaki, author of Beastars and Sanda (29–31 October), and brings back Peach Momoko, who has become one of the most revolutionary figures in modern American comics with Marvel Comics. Also present throughout the entire event will be the author Marco Kohinata (Mangaverse), visiting Italy for the first time, and Miyako Cojima with Hikari. Furuya Usamaru will present the complete edition of Litchi Hikari Club (Coconino Press); Shintaro Kago with Hollow Press – a publishing house that will also be bringing Tetsunori Tawaraya with a preview of his new comic, Zalic – and, alongside In Your Face Comix, Kōichi Matsuda will be present with the world premiere of Unmei, and Minoru Sugiyama, author of Girl Device and Mother Cosmos (published in Italy by Star Comics), while the Lucca Manga School will host Yoshiyasu Tamura. The focus then shifts to Korea, with two authors attending throughout the festival: JH, author of What i want to tell you and The Horizon (ReNoir Gaijin) and winner of the 2025 Yellow Kid Comic of the Year award, and Jimmy (nominated for the 2026 Lucca Comics Awards for Racconti vagabondi by ReNoir Gaijin), as well as the illustrator Cheong-gwa (The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway, Jundo). China also has some surprises in store with Jundo, bringing webtoon favourite Liang Azha (All of You, Checkmate! Capture My Heart and Starting With a Lie), who will be present every day, and director Li Haoling, creator of Link Click, one of the most influential figures in new Chinese animation (30–31 October). Finally, we turn to Taiwan, with five creators attending for the entire event: Toshokan is hosting Chang Sheng, nominated for the 2026 Eisner Awards in no fewer than two categories (a true first for a Taiwanese artist). Thanks to a collaboration with Taiwan Comics, Toshokan will also be showcasing Nownow (Guardienne. Il canto delle donne invisibili), while Mondadori will be presenting Karmarket (Rest in pieces). Rounding off the Taiwan Comics line-up are Li Lung-Chieh and Lang-Chi, both of whom are making their Italian debut.
A JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD TOGETHER WITH (ANOTHER) 50 ARTISTS
Among the hundreds of creators in attendance, a selection of 50 guests comprising some of the biggest names in international comics will be at the festival, featuring a mix of long-awaited returns and first-time appearances in Italy. Among the many attendees from the United States are Frank Miller, Jonathan Hickman and the Filipino-American Deniz Camp (Panini Comics), Samuel Sattin and Jesse Lonergan (Tunué), Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Chris Condon (Scott’s Collectables), Jeff Dekal, Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack (Mirage Comics), Paul Azaceta (saldaPress), Darick Robertson (Cart Gallery), and Tillie Walden (Bao Publishing). Staying on the American continent, from Argentina: Fernando Blanco (Scott’s Collectables), Leandro Fernandez (Cart Gallery) and Eduardo Risso (001 Edizioni); from Canada: Boum (Tunué) and Seth (Coconino Press); and from Colombia: Jago Dibuja (Tora Edizioni). Moving on to Europe, the Spanish artists include Nil Valderrama (Star Comics), Paco Roca (Tunué), Rafa Sandoval, Sergio Dávila and Jordi Tarragona (Mirage Comics), Jordi Lafebre (Bao Publishing), Enrique Vegas (Hikari/001 Edizioni) and Laia López (Tora Edizioni); the Macedonian-born cartoonist Boban Pesov (Tunué); the Croatians Stipan Morian (Panini Comics) and Danijel Žeželj (Eris Edizioni); the French artists Géo and Nicholas Hitori De (Star Comics), Tony Valente (Edizioni BD), Jade Khoo (Bao Publishing), Sylvain Repos and Pierre Alary (Renoir Comics), and Patrick Prugne (Edizioni Segni d’Autore); Belgians Olivier Schrauwen (Coconino Press) and Thierry Van Hasselt (Eris Edizioni). From the UK, Peter Milligan (Panini Comics) and Martin Simmonds (Scott’s Collectables), and from Germany, Mawil (Barta) and Jenny Jinya (Silly Studios). Looking further east, from Russia, Stepan Razorёnov (Hollow Press) and from Ukraine, Kat Solomko (Edizioni BD and J-POP Manga). Our journey continues with artists from Egypt, such as Deena Mohamed (Coconino Press); from Iran, Majid Bita (Canicola); from Lebanon, Lina Ghaibeh and Gina Nakhle Koller (Round Robin); and from Palestine, Mohammad Sabaaneh (Round Robin).
