Every year, Lucca Comics & Games has a theme and this year, for the festival’s for its 57th edition, the theme is ‘Together’, which is highlighted in the 2023 poster for the event (see above), which has been created by twins, Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka.

“The image captures the essence of Together in a unique and evocative way; the characters depicted represent the multiple tribes that animate the vast community of the festival,” says Festival Director, Emanuele Vietina. “By doing things together we come out transformed and the stories once narrated and therefore shared, begin to take on a life of their own. The heart of it is that on our own we can go faster, but together we will go further.”

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of Lucca Games, which the games section at the festival and to celebrate, a vast array of gaming faces are attending alongside some stellar names from comics, TV and film.

First announced guests include Naoki Urasawa, Garth Ennis, Craig Thompson, Howard Chaykin, Don Ross, Jim Lee, Luis Royo, and Kim Bo-Young.

That’s not all, actor Joe Manganiello returns yet again to the event as an international ambassador. Manganiello is currently working on what has been announced as the “definitive” D&D documentary, in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, scheduled for 2024. 

Something else celebrating 30 years is Magic: The Gathering and The Creator and historic President of Wizards of Coast, Peter Adkison will be in Lucca to present the Italian premiere of the feature film Igniting the Spark.The Story of Magic: The Gathering. 

In the video game part of the festival, Rand Miller, CEO and Co-Founder of Cyan Worlds, co-creator of Myst and Riven will be attending as a special guest. As well as the 30th anniversary of Lucca Games, it’s also the 30th anniversary of Myst, the iconic video game.

“It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Cyan and these two iconic games in the development of the gaming industry,” says Vietina. “Lucca Comics & Games is fortunate to celebrate Rand and Cyan on this important anniversary which demonstrates Lucca Crea’s thought leadership, and recognition of international creatives that shape not only our culture, but our future.”

There’s plenty more to look forward to at this year’s Lucca Comics & Games, keep up to date by subscribing to the event’s newsletter here.

Lucca Comics & Games will be taking place on 1-5 November. Find more event news at SciFiNow.

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It seemed every related major brand had a presence in some capacity at the event: PlayStation, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon, Nintendo, Bandai Namco, CD Projekt Red, Dungeons & Dragons, Hasbro, Funko, you name it, all have an exhibition or site, with many exclusive and immersive opportunities for fans. This isn’t including the countless tents around the city, containing representatives from pretty much every comic book, Manga or graphic novel publishers we’ve ever heard of.

The entire city is so comprehensively consumed by the event – every shop brings out mannequins in cosplay or dresses up for the occasion. For example, a nearby Gelateria has been converted to Stranger Things’ ‘Scoops Ahoy’ and by sheer coincidence, we saw a Demogorgon walk in for a scoop. These sorts of things occurring aren’t uncommon here. We even witnessed a spontaneous and unplanned street Beyblades tournament in a nearby square on a night out – which was exactly what you think it is.

On Monday the iconic director Tim Burton (pictured above), guest of honour at Lucca Comics & Games arrived and hosted a very special European Fan Screening of the first episode of Wednesday, the highly anticipated TV series directed by Burton.

After the press conference at the prestigious Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, Tim Burton greeted the public in Piazza San Michele, where more than 8,000 fans and cosplayers dressed as Wednesday gathered. He was then greeted by a Wednesday Cosplayer flashmob, that’s a thing here.

In case you missed it Wednesday is an eight episodes series that follows Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy, where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the murder mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.

In the afternoon, in order to help us understand Lucca better outside LC&G, we were taken up the Guinigi Tower in the centre of the town. The seven-hundred-year-old structure, standing 125 ft high is a huge presence in the city and commands stunning views of not only the town, but the nearby Tuscany region, it’s rolling hills and mountains. The several large Holm Oaks growing 40 meters above the ground also made it slightly surreal.  We caught the views at sunset, and it was a truly moving and beautiful experience. For all the craziness of the last few days it was nice to pause…briefly… Right, back to the Comics & Games.

The event also hosted a Q&A panel for the upcoming TV series of Willow. Set after the events of the 1988 fantasy fan favourite, Warwick Davies returns with an exciting new cast, some of whom joined us in the city. Guests were delighted to meet new cast members Erin Kellyman, Ellie Bamber and Amar Chadha Patel who joined them for a Q&A. The audience was also treated to several clips from the upcoming show in a world exclusive at Lucca. No spoilers from us but you won’t have long to wait, the series Premieres on Disney+ on 30 November.

Following the panel, we visited Florence. The stunning scenery on the drive to Firenze was almost worth it for just that, and at only an hour drive from Lucca, a day trip to Florence was very manageable. In order to avoid being too much a like a travel blog, we’ll try to keep it loosely SFN oriented! If you’re a Hannibal fan, there are areas of the city that are hugely recognisable…

For gamers, the popular Assassin’s Creed II was set in Florence and we were able to check out some of the iconic landmarks including the incredible Duomo, the Basilica Santa Croce (burial site of Machiavelli and Michelangelo), Piazza della Signoria and the famous bridge Ponte Vecchio before heading back to Lucca.

Lucca officially closed on 1 Nov and sold 320,000 thousands tickets! We cannot stress how amazing our time at Lucca Comics & Games has been and we’ve been hugely fortunate to have been looked after by the people of this city. The people here have been so warm and welcoming and there truly is something here for everyone and we hope to meet some of you readers in Lucca in future years.

Until then, Ciao!

Keep an eye on https://www.luccacomicsandgames.com/ for news on Lucca 2023. 

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On 31 October, the director will be in Italy for the European Fan Screening of the first episode of Wednesday, the highly-anticipated Netflix series out on 23 November. Burton directed the first four episodes of Wednesday created by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and starring Jenna Ortega.

Lucca Comics & Games will also have over 150 exhibitors from the games world (including board games, role-playing games, miniatures at Miniature Island and collectibles) PLUS a Performance Area, where artists paint live.

Each year, the festival has a theme and this year’s theme is Hope – which has been depicted in the 2022 festival’s poster (above) created by Canadian artist Ted Nasmith, who is known for his illustrations of J.R.R Tolkien’s works of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the cover for the first edition of The Silmarillion, a posthumous work edited by Christopher Tolkien. In Nasmith’s artistic vision for the festival, ‘Hope’ is the Lady of the Dawn. The Goddess HOPE is inspired by Yavanna, who represents the ‘healer of nature’ in J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe. 

“Fantasy is on the side of those who dream, of those who want to build alternatives, parallel worlds, better scenarios, new roads,” said festival director Emanuele Vietina. “For us, HOPE is a certainty, not a doubt. HOPE is the future of a generation, as Greta Thunberg would say, something that comes from actions, not words. Above all, HOPE, is the only thing that remains in Pandora’s box when it is opened.”

Lucca Comics & Games will be taking place from 28th October to 1st November. More information can be found here.

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Lucca Comics & Games 2022 is the largest convention of its kind in Europe (and the second largest in the world after Comiket in Tokyo) and brings together thousands of fans of comic, gaming, video games, fantasy fiction, manga, anime, animated films, TV series and cosplay from all over the world.

This year the festival will be hosting the 20th-anniversary celebrations of iconic game company CD PROJEKT RED, as well as TOEI Animation Europe and the Anime Factory celebration of ‘One Piece’. There will also be exhibitions dedicated to masters like Alex Randolph and international guests such as Chris Ware, John Romita JR., Tracy Hickman, Chris Riddell OBE and John Blanche.

Each year, the festival has a theme and this year’s theme is Hope – which has been depicted in the 2022 festival’s poster (above) created by Canadian artist Ted Nasmith, who is known for his illustrations of J.R.R Tolkien’s works of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the cover for the first edition of The Silmarillion, a posthumous work edited by Christopher Tolkien. In Nasmith’s artistic vision for the festival, ‘Hope’ is the Lady of the Dawn. The Goddess HOPE is inspired by Yavanna, who represents the ‘healer of nature’ in J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe. 

“Fantasy is on the side of those who dream, of those who want to build alternatives, parallel worlds, better scenarios, new roads,” said festival director Emanuele Vietina. “For us, HOPE is a certainty, not a doubt. HOPE is the future of a generation, as Greta Thunberg would say, something that comes from actions, not words. Above all, HOPE, is the only thing that remains in Pandora’s box when it is opened.”

Lucca Comics & Games will be taking place from 28th October to 1st November. More information can be found here.

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Some of pop cultures biggest brands, stars and companies will be attending Lucca Comics and Games 2021 from 29 October – 1 November in Italy.

Watch the launch video for the festival here…

The master of comics Frank Miller will be in Lucca for the presentation of the documentary dedicated to him, Frank Miller – American Genius, by director Silenn Thomas. The film explores the half-century-long career of the author. From complicated personal affairs to worldwide success in print and film, the documnetary is an epic journey into the mind and heart of one of the most prolific and iconic authors of our time.

Roberto Saviano, the author of Gomorrah, a best-selling exposé of the Camorra Mafia in Naples, will also be attending to promote his first graphic novel Sono Ancora Vivo (I’m Still Alive) with drawings by Tel Aviv-based illustrator Asaf Hanuka.

In gaming, Riot Games will be showcasing Arcane. The exhibition will include a series of original sketches artwork and two special collaborative handmade pieces, the boots of Jinx and the hextech glove of Vi, the two sisters protagonists of the series, on display.

Netflix will be hosting a special event dedicated to The Witcher with a panel including Kim Bodnia, who joins the cast for series two as Vesemir, Joey Batey, who plays Jaskier, series creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, costume designer Lucinda Wright and production designer Andrew Laws.

The Walt Disney Company Italia will also be attending Lucca Comics & Games 2021 to present the new Disney animated film Encanto and the Italian premiere of the first two episodes of Dopesick – Declaration of Addiction, starring Michael Keaton, will be hosted by the festival.

Searchlight Pictures films The Dark House and Antlers – Insatiable Spirit will be shown at the festival with special screenings and finally, Italian Gothic Band Lacuna Coil will be present at the festival’s Rock ‘n’ Comics.

Lucca Comics & Games will be taking place on 29 October to 1 November 2021 in Italy. Find out more here.

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There’s an opportunity to meet up with fellow geeks and gamers as Lucca Comics & Games festival announces it is happening in person from 29 October to 1 November 2021 in Italy.

“Lucca Comics & Games is a unique cross-media event dedicated to pop culture, cosplay and comics held in a medieval Tuscan town,” said Emanuele Vietina, Director of Lucca Comics & Games. “Before the pandemic, each year more than 250,000 fans walked through our city walls to immerse themselves in a world of fantasy. Our organisation has worked very close with government to implement safety rules. We are delighted to be able to open our gates again after a year of darkness.”

This year Italy is honouring poet and philospher Dante Alighieri by celebrating the 700th anniversary of his death and Dante’s Divine Comedy sets the tone for the returning festival with this year’s theme being ‘rebehold the stars: light’. Indeed, light is the synthesis of this new Lucca Comics & Games, which signals a passage from dark to light, and paves a road to a new kind of normal. Visitors will go back to meeting creators of universes that have been an integral part of the festival – comics, games, storytelling, modern mythologies and big and small industries represented in these worlds.

The theme of Light will visually accompany the Festival experience with contemporary Italian illustrator Paolo Barbieri creating the image of Lucca Comics & Games poster (above). In the year of Dante’s celebrations, he creates a link between Lucca Comics & Games to Dante’s journey with Virgil through the darkness of Hell.

The festival will be returning to the heart of Lucca, Italy in 2021, offering the public the chance to find the most beloved publishers and exhibitors in historical areas. The central core of comics will remain in Piazza Napoleone, the iconic pavilion is coming back together with Palazzo Ducale and the historical spaces of the Palazzetto dello Sport for this year. The world of gaming will be housed in the Real Collegio and in the Cavallerizza area, Japan World will conquer the large spaces of the Polo Fiere di Lucca. The music and cosplay area will be hosted in the San Francesco complex.

Suspended between theatrical performance and costume craftsmanship, the cosplay world finds its home within the Villa Bottini and will host communities including Assassin’s Creed Cosplay, Terre di Mezzo Cosplayer, Ghostbuster Italia, Avengers / X-Men and 501 Italica Rebel/Legion Empisa. There will also be space for medieval fantasy, steampunk, the post-apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead, the universe of Harry Potter and the magic of Disney. The San Francesco Auditorium will host the long-awaited Cosplay Competition on Saturday 30 October.

Lucca Comics & Games will be taking place on 29 October to 1 November 2021 in Italy. Find out more here.

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