Comics & Games 2023: Together saw 314,220 tickets sold, 15,000 accredited professionals, 700 exhibitors, the hundreds of guests present from all over the world (from Asia to South America, to the United States, and all across Europe).
Among the international personalities who arrived at Lucca Comics & Games to promote their work and meet fans were the Oscar winner Michel Gondry, comics legend Frank Miller, Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B Cebulski, Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics Jim Lee, actor and D&D master Joe Manganiello, writer of The Boys and Preacher Garth Ennis, Warhammer/Games Workshop Founder and author Sir Ian Livingstone.
Adding their handprints to this year’s Lucca ‘Walk of Fame‘ were Japanese Manga artist and musician Naoki Urasawa, Jim Lee, Hiro Mashima, Garth Ennis, Usamaru Furuya, Sir Ian Livingstone and Max Pezzali.
There were previews and special screenings of The Hunger Games – The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Five Night at Freddy’s, Thanksgiving, The Boy and the Heron and the TV series All the Light We Cannot See.
Emanuele Vietina, director of Lucca Comics & Games: “The ability to incorporate the complexities of contemporary life into the festival is a sign of maturity and is one of the keys to the success of Lucca Comics & Games 2023. Complexities that we are proud to have faced led by universal values shared with our entire community. This edition marks a step of further growth, a new path that prepares us for the next editions with the certainty that hospitality, union, respect for the plurality of opinions and sensitivities are the pillars of an event that is and wants increasingly be a point of reference for the sector at an international level and a comfortable place for everyone.”
The debate of this edition was the most important enrichment, what fuels hopes for a future characterized by the values represented by the splendid flag designed by Tomer and Asaf Hanuka that flies on the poster of Lucca Comics & Games, because what we what holds us here, side by side with each other, is the common passion for stories, the true ones, the ones that make us improve, together.
The closing ceremony took place on the stage of the Carducci Pavilion, with the surprise delivery of Luis Royo’s self-portrait which together with that of Frank Miller will enrich the collection of the Uffizi Galleries.
