What a happy occasion! The two biggest festival events of Thessaloniki coincide both in terms of dates and location. A celebration of books and culture comic in the most “superhero” event of the ninth art, they are simultaneously and powerfully returning to the International Exhibition in Thessaloniki.

Created by American standards but adapted to Greek conditions, Thessaloniki Comic Con is one of the most popular festivals. Since the first event in 2015 in the warehouses of the Port, it has won the trust of designers and the public and has become an institution as mentioned in “K” by Leontios Papadopoulos, one of the co-organizers of the festival. Even the TIF Vellideo Convention Center, where it has been held for the past few years, is proving to be too small to capture the exciting creative world of comics. In any case, 200 influential artists and screenwriters, Greek and foreign, will meet here again this year to unfold a rich program of initiations, exhibitions, workshops, artistic performances and new trends in the field.

The celebration could not fail without the creativity of the Greek comics scene with designers working abroad and young talents, along with the familiar Argyris Pavlidis, who voiced some of the most famous cartoon characters, and Thassos Apostolidis with the well-known “Comedies of Aristophanes”, who in This year marks the end of forty years of continuous production.

However, the exhibition is stolen with a fresh touch by Greek artists who were inspired by Thessaloniki to offer illustration from a different perspective in the original group exhibition. “The idea came from previous events when we asked foreign comics designers to draw Thessaloniki with their own pen,” explains Mr. Papadopoulos. “More than 50 of their drawings of fictional familiar characters have been published to date in our collector’s magazine, a publication every event. This is a gift from Thessaloniki Comic Con,” he notes. This year they decided to turn to famous Greek comedians to capture Thessaloniki either as residents or as guests. The response was impressive. Twenty-two designers and comic book illustrators take us to the known and unknown corners of Thessaloniki and introduce them to the monuments and sights with a personal touch.

Guests at the Comic Book Celebration will include Disney writer and Lucky Luke artist and screenwriter Hervé Darmenton.

Some illustrators, drawing on elements from the history of the city, connect the past with the present, emphasizing its architectural palimpsest. Among the artists signing large-scale drawings are Giorgos Destephanos, Efi Theodoropoulou, Giorgos Kaltsudas, Valia Kapadais, Thanasis Karapalios, Konstantinos Sklavenitis, Irini Skouras, Voula Hatsopoulou and others. It is at the center of this year’s iconographic festival organized by the Municipality of Thessaloniki.

Comic book lovers, young and old, from Friday to Sunday will have the opportunity to meet one of their favorite heroes through cosplayers, as well as the creators of Lucky Luke, Mickey Mouse, Little Hero, the world of Asterix and more. Casti (née Andrea Castellan), Italian screenwriter Disney stories, French cartoonist and screenwriter Hervé Darmenton, who signed new stories of the lonely cowboy Lucky Luke after the death of the legendary Morris, Brian Azzarello, who wrote stories about Batman and Superman. , Michela Frare, Disney Pixar illustrator and designer of the new Donald Duck comics, British toy and cartoon writer Simon Furman, who connected his name with the history of Transformers, and many others.

“Thessaloniki through their eyes”, Ioannis Vellidis Conference Center, 5-7 May.