Lucca Comics & Games 2023 yet again looks set to be a week of geeky awesomeness with more than 300 artists set to attend the event, including 45 international guests from the United States, Japan, Spain, France, South Korea, China, Canada, England, Argentina, Israel, Turkey, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Belgium.
The event takes place at the historic Italian walled city on 1-5 November.
“This year we are expecting hundreds of Italian and international guests who will bring to life one of the biggest pop culture events in the world,” says Emanuele Vietina, Festival Director. “We will celebrate our theme ‘Together’ and break down all divisions to create a truly unique community event.”
Guests attending this year’s Lucca Comics & Games include Garth Ennis, Jim Lee, Frank Miller (who we spoke to at the festival back in 2021), Don Rosa, Amélie Fléchais, Craig Thompson, Howard Chaykin, Tony Valente, Luis and Romulo Royo plus many MANY more. Check out the full list of guests at the show’s website here.
For aspiring comic book artists, the festival’s outstanding ‘Area Pro’ meeting place offers young professionals the opportunity to meet with three of the biggest names in the industry worldwide. Portfolio review sessions will be available with CB Cebulski – Marvel’s Editor in Chief, Jim Lee – President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics and Shunsuke Tanaka – editor of Kodansha, one of the most prestigious Japanese publishing houses.
Lucca Games 30th Anniversary
Lucca Games, the section of the festival dedicated to games, celebrates 30 years in 2023. To mark the occasion, Dungeons & Dragons aficionado (and all-round legend) Joe Manganiello and Italian comedian Lillo Petrolo will be the ambassadors of Lucca Games 2023. On 2 November, Lillo will star in the main event on the stage of the Grog Live Show, which will see him and Joe Manganiello pitted against each other in an ironic encounter/clash as Grog (Lucca Games historic mascot this year designed by Karl Kopinski) and Arkhan, also known as Arkhan the Cruel, played by Joe Manganiello.
Magic: The Gathering, the revolutionary community-based game par excellence also turns 30 this year. Lucca Comics & Games pays homage to the first trading card game in history by dedicating an exhibition at Palazzo Arnolfini and creating the Magic Alley at Lucca Games, hosting 18 internationally renowned artists including Adam Paquette, Andrea Piparo, Jeff Laubenstein, Jesper Ejsing, Johan Grenier, Justine Jones, Marta Nael, Martina Fačková, Michele Giorgi, Mark Zug, Mila Pesic, Randy Vargas, Richard Kane-Ferguson, RK Post, Seb McKinnon, Svetlin Velinov, Milivoj Ćeran and Tony DiTerlizzi.
The Italian premiere of the documentary Magic: The Gathering “Igniting the Spark” is also happening with the presence of the director, showrunner and producers.
Lucca Comics & Games will also host the premiere presentation of Star Wars: Unlimited, the brand-new trading card game with unlimited possibilities. The game will be launched worldwide in 2024, but it will be possible to play it first at Lucca. Those who come to play Star Wars: Unlimited will receive two exclusive promo cards as a gift! Nice.
Premiers and movies
Netflix will also be returning to Lucca Comics & Games this year, hosting a physical space in Piazza Anfiteatro, where fans will be able to immerse themselves in their best-loved series. Among the unmissable contents presented will the first episode of All the Light We Cannot See, the ground-breaking miniseries based on Anthony Doerr’s best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, directed by Shawn Levy (Stranger Things, Deadpool 3, The Adam Project), written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) and starring Aria Mia Loberti, Nell Sutton, Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie. The four-episode miniseries will be available on Netflix from 2 November.
Finally, Netflix will bring to Lucca the fan screening of the first two episodes of SUBURRÆTERNA, the highly anticipated TV series expanding the Suburra universe. Giacomo Ferrara, who reprises the iconic role of Spadino, will be in Lucca to present the series and meet fans, ahead of its release on Netflix scheduled for 14 November.
Fantasy
The Fantasy area at Lucca this year also doubles the number of international guests with no less than 20 authors and artists from all over the world in attendance.
Among the highlights will be the events commemorating the 50th anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s death, including exhibitions like Other Minds and Hands: JRRT50 in Time and Space, in Play and Comics where original works by the great illustrator Angus McBride will be on display. Special guest of the Tolkien celebrations will be Brian Sibley, author of texts on the Oxford Professor and Peter Jackson’s trilogies and one of the leading experts on international fantasy.
The queen of French fantasy Christelle Dabos, author of Mirror Visitor quartet, arrives for the first time in Italy to meet fans on 4 and 5 November. Alexandra Bracken the author of Darkest Mind, the saga on which the film of the same name was based, will be at the festival from 3 to 5 November to launch her new novel Silver in the bone.
That’s not all, special guests of the event will be Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima founders of MinaLima, the design studio behind the graphic props of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film series for Warner Bros, and whose work will be exhibited at the festival.
Videogames
Riot Games will conclude the final stages of the most important e-game tournaments of the year at the festival with the Red Bull Campus Clutch with the finals of VALORANT, open only to university students; the finals of the PG Nationals 2023, where the best Italian teams of League of Legends will face each other in a last, epic challenge before the end of the season; VAL Off-Season, the final of the highest national competition of VALORANT, and Baolo Championship Series (BCS), the most famous tournament/event of League of Legends in Italy where Italian content creators will compete.
PLAION will transform the Casermetta San Paolino into Sonic’s home, for all five days of the festival to celebrate the launches of Sonic Superstars and the Sonic universe.
Yu Suzuki, the creative mind behind SEGA’s greatest hits of the 1980s and 1990s, including OutRun and Shenmue, will be in Lucca. As will be Jean-Luc Sala Art Director of Assassin’s creed: Mirage.
Cosplay
The most eagerly awaited events for cosplay fans will surely be the ECG – European Cosplay Gathering and the historic Lucca Cosplay Contest, open to all participants. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Creamy Mami“, cosplay fans will gather at Giardino degli Osservanti. Still on the theme of celebrations, the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who will not be forgotten! A mega gathering of DC Comics characters, in collaboration with Gotham Shadows, with the special participation of festival super guest Jim Lee will be part of the show.
Friday 3 November will see the big event ONE PIECE DAY GEAR FIFTH GATHERING organised in partnership with Toei Animation Europe: three episodes of the anime will be screened at Cinema Centrale, with a parade to follow. In collaboration with Toei Animation Europe, there will be the ONIGASHIMA TREASURE HUNT with the participation of One Piece-themed cosplayers and lots of prizes.
We’ll be bringing you the very best from this year’s Lucca Comics & Games 2023 so keep it here at SciFiNow!
Lucca Comics & Games 2023 is taking place on 1-5 November. Find out more here.
