Two cars driven by Mad Max
arrived early to the Naples fair grounds while Mickey Mouse and
Goofy were seen wandering among the ruins of Pompeii, and the
comic book master Milo Manara stood ready to cut the inaugural
ribbon for the Comicon international festival.
Some 100,000 visitors were expected at the Mostra
d'Oltremare fair grounds in Naples for the 17th Comicon
international comics festival that begins Thursday and continues
to Monday.
The Mad Max cars were the first to arrive, coming on a
lorry from the Netherlands and said to be presented in an
exclusive European event.
The two cars included the legendary Interceptor, an XB Ford
Falcon coupé, and its companion, a five-door Chevrolet coupé.
Fans of the Road Warrior series will be able to see both in
motion in all of their extraordinary power during the event.
It is a gift for the saga's fans from Warner Bros films,
which will be presenting a seven-minute preview of the George
Miller film Mad Max: Fury Road.
It is arriving out of competition at the Cannes Film
Festival and due to be released on screens on May 14.
As well, an episode of the Gotham series that has never
before been screened will be shown to fans.
There are two magazine covers that will be dedicated to the
four-day event: one of Topolino (Mickey Mouse), shown with Pluto
against the Pompeii ruins as a backdrop; and the other of the
200th issue of Julia (Bonelli), by Vittorio Giardino.
This year's focus is on Comics and the Press, a sort of
journey from newspapers to magazines to graphic journalism,
presented by Manara, the Italian comic book writer and artist.
An exhibition at Pan will pay homage to for his 70th
birthday.
Exhibition itineraries will lead from the monthly magazine
Linus, which is celebrating 50 years since it founding, to the
authors of Futuro Anteriore and Becco Giallo.
International guests from Japan will include Yoshiki
Tonogai and Ryuhei Tamura, as well as the cosplayer Reika.
There will be many Italian artists, from Ortolani to
Liberatore, and a great deal of space for Marvel's 75th
anniversary.
The largest domestic publishers will be among the over 250
exhibitors, many presenting new ideas for spring, as well as
parallel sections including GameCon and CartooNa on animated
films (with the Century Fox previews for The Book of Life by
Jorge Gutierrez, produced by Guillermo del Toro).
Other sections will include the Asian Village while the
Comicon Cosplay Challenge will be back (the winner will be flown
to the London championships).
As well, special areas will be set aside for children.
The event will take place over a surface area of 70,000
square meters, some 40% larger than last year, including four
hectares of the new pond area.
Passes for the entire event have been sold out and 10-euro
day-entrance tickets are being snapped up.
Organizers say that 100,000 visitors may come, 20,000 more
than last year.
"We are getting big", said Comicon director Claudio Curcio.
Mayor Luigi de Magistris spoke of an "extraordinarily high
level of quality" at the event which he said should be
consolidated and improved ever more with the large amount of
space at the Mostra d'Oltremare fair grounds.
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