Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: italy, Rébecca Dautremer

Lucca Comics & Games, The Morning After The Weekend Before

Lucca Comics And Games, The Morning After The Weekend Before

Published Mon, 03 Nov 2025 07:57:05 -0600

Article Summary

Lucca Comics & Games 2025 hits record attendance with over 280,000 tickets sold and 30,000 cosplayers.
Controversy over the "French Kiss" theme highlights adult tones and freedom of expression at the event.
Major guests include Hideo Kojima, Tetsuo Hara, and stars from Stranger Things, Critical Role, and more.
Marvel and Panini unveil new comic series, while Tetsuo Hara is honored with a unique Uffizi Gallery display.

Lucca Comics And Games claims record figures for 2025, with more than 280,000 tickets sold, 17,000 industry professionals attending and over 900 guests, 730 exhibitors, 1,500 events, 12 art exhibitions, and 30,000 official cosplayers. All that despite reports from the ground that things seemed to feel a little more spacious this year. There was also a little disquiet from some over what was seen as a more adult theme to the show, specifically the choice of the "French Kiss" theme of the show and associated imagery, which paid tribute to France, even if the title was in English, and the poster painted by Rébecca Dautremer, underlying freedom of expression. Which, of course, not everyone likes. For one week, The National Museum Of Villa Guinigi became Dautremer's studio, recreated with furnishings from her Breton home, inviting visitors to step inside her creative process.

Lucca Comics & Games — Poster by Rebecca Dautremer

The festival hosted the Death Stranding 2 World Strand Tour from Hideo Kojima. The new season of Stranger Things on Netflix debuted with the cast and crew. And Tetsuo Hara, creator of Fist of the North Star, saw the largest exhibition ever dedicated to his work. During the festival, Hara received the Yellow Kid Award, and his self-portrait will be displayed at the Uffizi Gallery, marking the first time in history that a manga creator has been included in the Florentine museum's collection. Matthew Mercer and Marisha Ray of Critical Role bet fans alongside other fantasy figures Rick Riordan, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, and Glenn Cooper.

Marvel Comics had a strong presence, revealing a new Punisher series, and the upcoming Armageddon series from Chip Zdarsky that will begin in Captain America. Panini announced their launch of Pocket Marvel and a DC Vertigo anthology and Captain Birdseye got his own comic book too.

: Akemi Takada (C) Federico Giusti

: Stranger Things (C) Michele Mariani

: Rebecca Dautremer (C) Michele Mariani

: Cosplay (C) Andrea Cardini(1)

: Geronimo Stilton (C) Cinzia Guidetti

: Dark souls – Juliel Blondel, Shonen, Cydonia (C) Luca Giorgi

: Cosplay (C) Michele Quilici

: Cosplay (C) Michele Quilici

The show also saw the cinema release of I Love Lucca Comics & Games, produced by All At Once with production partner I Wonder Pictures by Andrea Romeo and Manlio Castagna, the first feature documentary about the festival, and including diredtor Gabriele Mainetti, authors R. L. Stine and Licia Troisi, rapper Frankie hi-nrg mc, cartoonists Pera Toons, Sio, Fumettibrutti, and Sensei Yoshitaka Amano, alongside festival-goers. Lucca Comics & Games will return from the 28th of October to the 1st of November, 2026.