Cómic Barcelona returns to pre-pandemic normality. What is considered one of the most international salons in the Catalan capital returns to one hundred percent face-to-face and recovers international guests. Something that both lovers of the genre and the organization celebrate. Talks, premieres, cosplay and signatures with authors fill the program of this 41st edition, in addition to the usual exhibitions, which this year Ficomic has wanted to highlight in style. This 41st edition will have a total of seven, which are the following:
If someone deserved an exhibition this 2023, it was none other than the cartoonist Daniel Torres, winner of the Barcelona Comic Grand Prix 2022. The cartoonist himself has curated his own exhibition, with which he intends to bring his particular universe closer to the attendees, as well as the vicissitudes of characters as charismatic as Claudio Cueco, Opium, Roco Vargas or Tom.
Torres also celebrates his 43-year professional career by showing some of his unpublished sketches and more personal works and values "the heritage of the originals, which some younger authors do not have as such since they jump directly into the digital world".
This 2023 is a year of blowing out candles, as Zipi and Zape reach 75 years more present than ever. To celebrate the birthday, a large exhibition will cover the history of the most famous twins in comics since Josep Escobar brought them to life in the pages of Pulgarcito in 1948.
The collaboration of the cartoonist's heirs has made this great exhibition possible, in which authentic historical pieces and unpublished illustrations are brought together that demonstrate the graphic and thematic versatility of its creator.
"We had a great creator in front of our eyes and we didn't know him," says Cels Piñol of Álex de la Iglesia. The filmmaker has turned out to be a lover of comics, cartoons, and role-playing games since he was a child. Not only that, but he's also a graphic artist extraordinaire, as can be seen in this exhibit packed with workbooks, storyboards from his films, and oversized illustrations.
"I had never seen anyone draw the scene of a shoot with such detail and shading," admits Piñol. The scriptwriter, director and producer will be one of the star guests at Cómic Barcelona.
Fourteen cartoonists have paid homage to the recently deceased cartoonist Carlos Pacheco by recreating some of his best-known drawings. "This is without a doubt the most special exhibition of all", acknowledges Borja Crespo, global content advisor, who recalls that "in his honor there will also be a charity auction whose benefits will be donated to the Spanish Association of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). ”.
Crespo also encourages all the cartoonist's family, friends and followers to attend the talk that will take place in his memory next Saturday in the salon.
The batch of cartoonists who have been publishing in Spain for some time with humor as their banner well deserved a sample, in the opinion of Roser Messa, the curator of 'Magas del humor'.
A series of totems collect the testimony of the pioneers of the magazines to that of the authors who have emerged in recent times, such as Moderna de Pueblo, P8ladas or Flavita Banana, whose work they began by spreading through their social networks. Some of them will participate in the different talks in the room.
Genie Espinosa stars in the "most millennial and visual" exhibition, in the words of Borja Crespo. The cartoonist has carved out a place for herself in the world of design and illustration, standing out with several fanzines, before giving way to her first long comic, Hoops (Sapristi), a dystopian and feminist fantasy that won her the Revelation Author Miguel award. Gallardo from the last edition of Cómic Barcelona.
By the way, if you see a knocked-over chair, leave it alone. Those who have read his debut will understand why.
Those who consider themselves followers of Marvel and DC will not have gone unnoticed by the work of David López. The man from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been in charge throughout his career of giving life to Batman, Catwoman and Captain Marvel, among many others, in his cartoons.
López is also an excellent role-playing player and, as such, he has lent some character designs and adventure scenes lived in the games he regularly plays together with cartoonist friends and creators related to the world of comics for this exhibition.
