Lucca Comics & Games presented the next edition of the festival, which pays homage to France, the homeland of bande dessinée. Freedom, Creativity, Diversity, the three values of the Institut Français that hark back to the great principles of the French Revolution, perfectly match the five values of Lucca Comics & Games: Community, Inclusion, Discovery, Respect, Gratitude.
This year’s theme is French in name but universal in spirit: FRENCH KISS, a small, natural act which is a narrative detonator. The “French kiss” is a gesture that spans stories, cultures, and generations, intimate and revolutionary at the same time, a must-have in every pop narrative, from cinema to fantasy literature and graphic novels. And dedicated to the kiss, which transforms differences into attraction and opposites into harmony, is the poster, designed by the great French illustrator Rébecca Dautremer.
Inspired by her personal memory of Lucca Comics & Games unifying different people who free themselves thanks to their imagination, the artist has created a veritable gallery of characters, who together give life to fifteen possible kisses in different combinations. A Werewolf, a Warrior, a Vampire Countess, a Monster, a Witch, and the Lukawa – an imaginary creature that blends the name of the city of Lucca with the oriental influence of manga and animation. Passion does not obey rules and unites creatures sometimes distant, by nature, role, or appearance. With this project, Rébecca Dautremer embodies the spirit of French sequential art, that bande dessinée that combines aesthetic refinement, craftsmanship, and narrative invention.
