Guests, events and exhibitions of the International Pop Culture Festival
After setting a new attendance record in 2023 with over 170.000 visitors, COMICON - International Pop Culture Festival returns to the Mostra d'Oltremare in Naples from April 25 to 28, 2024, with its 560th edition, which promises to set new records in terms of area, exhibitors, and expected visitors. Among the largest cross-media festivals in the world, COMICON Naples arrives at the starting line with over 450 events scheduled and more than XNUMX guests from three continents, as always with a central core at the Mostra d'Oltremare and an OFF program of events and exhibitions spread across the city.
The programs of all the thematic areas are very rich: Comics, Cinema and TV Series, Videogames, Games, Asian, Music, Cosplay, Kids, Neverland, the themed food spaces PizzaCon and J-Pop Manga Niwa to which is added the new Urban Area which, for the first time in a pop festival, highlights the connections between street culture, art, sports, fashion. There will be no shortage of exhibitions, always the flagship of COMICON, with over 20 exhibition itineraries.
And precisely in the spirit of the link between comics and street culture, COMICON has decided to entrust the creation of the festival's magmatic official poster to Mike Del Mundo, an artist who marked the decade with his award-winning covers for Marvel and other publishers.
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The role of Magister has been assigned to Igort (Quaderni giapponese, Fats Waller, 5 è il numero perfetto), one of the most famous and influential Italian cartoonists in the entire international scene, a pioneer in the creation and exchange with Japanese publishing, as well as director, editor and driving force behind the spread of the graphic novel in Italy. The perfect Magister in an edition rich in Asian artists like never before.
Among the most anticipated guests and events at COMICON 2024: the talk "Elodie meets Manara," a conversation hosted by writer Valeria Parrella to celebrate the partnership between two protagonists of Italian creativity following their collaboration on the cover of Elodie's club tape "Red Light," created by the Maestro of Comics; an unmissable event for fans of Liberato, the Neapolitan artist whose identity is unknown: the first, top-secret images from Francesco Lettieri's film "Il segreto di Liberato" will be revealed, in the presence of Giuseppe Squillaci and LRNZ, directors of the feature film's animated sequences; "Hitoshi Sakimoto - New Gaming Worlds," the first concert dedicated to the Ennio Morricone of video game music, "Hitoshi Sakimoto," a show celebrating one of the most important composers in the history of video games with a stunning performance by the Nuova Orchestra Scarlatti; Dungeons & Dragons 50th Anniversary Celebrations with Frank Mentzer—a legendary figure in the iconic role-playing game that has become a mass culture phenomenon, as well as the creator of the legendary “Red Box”—and the “50 Years of Dungeons & Dragons” exhibition; John Romita Jr., the iconic cartoonist of Spider-Man stories over the past 40 years, artist of the masterpiece Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, and living legend of American comics; meetings and showcases by sensei Iwamuro, Umezawa, and Minami Seira, creators of Shibatarian, Darwin's Incident, and The Rise of the Shield Hero, respectively; the arrival of Yasumi Matsuno, a game designer whose contributions have been crucial to titles such as Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, and the Tactics Ogre series; the special event dedicated to the most beloved, incorrect, and controversial animated series of the moment, Hazbin Hotel, in the company of its Italian voice actors; A concert by Giorgio Vanni, singer-songwriter and voice of the most beloved cartoon theme songs of the 2s; Comicon Cosplay Challenge PRO and Comicon Cosplay Challenge KIDS; a meeting with Giampaolo Morelli, Ciro Priello, Fabio Balsamo, Giovanni Esposito, Desirée Popper, Valeria Angione, and Gianfranco Gallo, who will preview the film Falla gira 2024 Offline; the COMICON 3570 Awards ceremony, which this year will award the COMICON Special Lifetime Achievement Award to Alfredo Castelli, a master of Italian comics who recently passed away; the return of Casty, legendary Disney storyteller, who created the variant cover for Topolino #XNUMX, a collector's gem, featuring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Pluto immortalized in a souvenir photo in Naples; and a talk with astronaut Paolo Nespoli, who, together with communicators Luca Perri and Adrian Fartade, will explore the spatial boundaries of video games.
A special initiative is the "K-OMICON" program of activities. To mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and Korea, COMICON meets with KOMACON, the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency, and together they host a delegation of artists, professionals, chefs, and companies in Naples. They offer festival attendees a broad overview of the K-world, including an exhibition, talks, drawing performances, traditional dress experiences, culinary events, contests, and K-pop music shows.
The cultural activities and exhibitions of COMICON have benefited from the support of the Campania Region, which also sponsored the festival.
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