The Comics area will bring together more than 400 guests and over 80 Italian and international publishers. Names announced include Frank Miller, Jonathan Hickman, Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack, Tillie Walden, Peter Milligan, Paco Roca, Seth, Eduardo Risso, Jordi Lafebre and many more. The Asian presence is particularly large, with 15 guests arriving from Japan, five from Taiwan, two from China and two from Korea. Go Nagai will arrive from Japan, together with, among others, Gurihiru, Yuu Watase, Paru Itagaki, Peach Momoko, Usamaru Furuya, Shintaro Kago and Yoshiyasu Tamura. JH and Cheong-gwa will be present from Korea, while China and Taiwan will be represented by authors such as Liang Azha, Li Haoling, Chang Sheng, Nownow and Karmarket. Among the protagonists of the edition there will also be Marko Djurdjevic, artist and creative director with experience in Marvel, Riot Games, Sony and other large entertainment groups, who will present the transmedia fantasy project ORKEN in Europe.
There will also be many exhibitions that will populate the historic buildings of the city and the pavilions of the event. Among the main ones, the exhibition “Go Nagai: Sun, heart and steel”, from 28 October to 1 November at the Banca del Monte Foundation, dedicated to the Japanese master creator of Mazinger Z, Grendizer, Jeeg Robot and Devilman. Among the central events of the anniversary is "Lucca Legacy: a comics and games story", an exhibition which will open on 3 October on the second floor of Palazzo Guinigi. The project, created by Lucca Crea in partnership with POLI.design of the Polytechnic of Milan, retraces six decades of the event's history through a path conceived as a lively and participatory space. The public will be able to go through nine environments, including memory, comics and games, accompanied by the mascots Luke and Clea. Palazzo Guinigi will instead host "Valentina: three decades of Milan in the gaze of an icon", dedicated to the character created by Guido Crepax and the representation of Milan in the sixties, seventies and eighties. At Japan Town, the spokon, the Japanese genre dedicated to sport, will be the protagonist with the exhibition "Spokon: Sport, tears and victory!", which will traverse the history of the genre from Rocky Joe and Mimì and the national volleyball team to Captain Tsubasa, Slam Dunk, Haikyu!! and Blue Lock. The theme of Legacy will also be addressed through the board game with the exhibition “Lucca is a Legacy Game”, curated by Andrea Angiolino at the Carducci Pavilion. The Carducci Pavilion will be the heart of the Games area, with boardgames, role-playing games, miniatures, LARP and Trading Card Games. Among the guests are Joe Manganiello, special curator of the program dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons, and Tracy and Laura Hickman, linked to the return of Dragonlance. There will also be space for Critical Role and Daggerheart, with the Italian presentation of the Hope & Fear expansion.
Numerous initiatives dedicated to Trading Card Games, from Pokémon to One Piece, Dragon Ball, Gundam, Digimon, Naruto, Cyberpunk, Palworld and Yu-Gi-Oh!. Magic: The Gathering will also be present with demonstrations, tournaments and international artists. The return of the Olympic Games, the Mastering Tournament and the Grog Trophy is also expected for the public, along with numerous free play and demonstration activities. The Community Village, between Piazza Santa Maria, Giardino degli Osservanti and via Bacchettoni, will host the largest Collectibles area ever created by the festival.
The great protagonist will be Pokémon, which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary in 2026. Activities dedicated to the card game, Pokémon Champions, Pokémon TCG Pocket and Pokémon GO will be organized at the Bacchettoni Gym, together with installations, exclusive products and initiatives with Lego. Other brands featured include Pop Msty, Funko, Lego, Sylvanian Families, Topps, Sanrio, Zuru, Iron Studios, Mighty Jaxx, Blokees and YuMe. A new area dedicated to philately and numismatics is also created, with the Italian Post Office and the State Printing and Mint Institute.
The video game program will feature Yoshinori Kitase, historic producer of Final Fantasy VII, as a guest of Square Enix for meetings with the public and a career masterclass. CD Projekt Red will bring events dedicated to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to Lucca. Plaion will instead present Sega and Atlus titles, including Alien: Isolation 2, Stranger Than Heaven and Persona 4 Revival. Also expected is Mikael Kasurinen of Remedy Entertainment, linked to Control Resonant. Other industry guests include Hideki Kamiya, Stephen Bliss, Daniel Dociu, Charles Cecil and Noah Falstein. There is also space for independent Italian developers, with a selection of studios present in the Indie Vault. The anniversary will also be accompanied by the free video game “Luke & Clea – A Quest for Legacy”, available from September 24th for iOS and Android. The pixel game, inspired by the 16-bit video games of the 1980s, takes the two protagonists to a parallel Lucca built in pixel art. The story of the sixty years will also be told by Rai Cultura with the documentary "60 times Lucca: The adventure story of Lucca Comics & Games", written and directed by Enrico Platania.
The music will occupy various spaces in the city, from the Giardino degli Osservanti to Piazzale Verdi, from the Foro Boario to the Teatro del Giglio. The events announced include the return of the King's Knights and Yoko Kanno's concert, as well as the "Voci di Mezzo" show, dedicated to the great Italian dubbing voices. Piazzale Verdi will host evenings dedicated to metal and Celtic-Irish music, while clubbing events will return to the Foro Boario. A pavilion dedicated to musical instruments also makes its debut, with Fender and Ibanez. The Movie Area will bring film and television premieres, international guests and experiences dedicated to the main universes of pop culture to Lucca. Disney+ will be present with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, together with actors Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri and the producers of the series. Other events include the preview of North South West East – The legendary story of 883, the celebration of 50 years of Studio Aardman with Peter Lord and Matthew Walker and the arrival of Hirokazu Kore-eda. Warner Bros. Pictures will present The Cat in the Hat, while HBO Max will offer an experience dedicated to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Paramount+ will bring Dexter: Resurrection and Netflix will be present with activities related to KPop Demon Hunters. Crunchyroll will offer a pavilion dedicated to One Piece, Black Clover, The Apothecary Diaries and Firefly Wedding, as well as the world premiere of the first two episodes of the third season of Shangri-La Frontier. The film program will also include events dedicated to the Hunger Games, Fast & Furious, Godzilla, Momo, Hope, Kiki – Home Delivery and the “Horror Nights of Lucca Comics & Games”. The story of the sixty years will also be told by Rai Cultura with the documentary "60 times Lucca: The adventure story of Lucca Comics & Games", written and directed by Enrico Platania.
