Lucca Comics & Games Awards 2023

The November 2, 2023 The ceremony to recognize talent in comics, video games and the world of illustration for children and young people took place in the historic building Lucca Comics & Games Awards.

Several special guests and protagonists of the different universes that make up the festival filled the hall Giglio Theater From Lucca on the occasion of the handover of the “Oscar” Italian comics and video games. After the announcement in September of 30 finalist worksdedicated the jury Lucca Comics Awards It decreed that the winners who took the stage, often represented by their own publishers, accepted the prestigious awards.

The great Guinigi

• The great Guinigi for the Best short comicwas assigned Mickey Mouse and the Nightmare of Coral Island From Marco Nucci and Casty (Panini Comics). The famous Black spot He’s a prisoner on Coral Island, Disney’s version of Alcatraz, but he has a plan to escape. The comic presents itself as a perfect mix of a supernatural story, a classic escape story and a thriller noir story, but also foregoes the usual happy ending.
• The great Guinigi for the Best serial comic He went to eternity From Alessandro Bilotta And AAVV (Editor Sergio Bonelli). Work is about Alceste Santacroce, an old-school tabloid journalist who makes his moves in retro-futuristic Rome. The main goal is to tell the dark side of fame: Alceste’s media prey, from models to presenters in crisis, represent a humanity constantly oscillating between pity and cynicism.
• The Guinigi for the Best drawing was awarded in the same way Francesca Ghermandi For The Secrets of the Intergalactic Ocean (Eris) it is at Lea Murawiec For The Great Void (COMICON Edizioni). The first in particular takes us into the story of a little dog who is shipwrecked, realizes his brain has been stolen, and finds himself in a new, bizarre fantasy world. Written for Japan, the book is Ghermandi’s version of the most classic fantastic epic, similar to Orlando Furioso.
• The great Guinigi for the Best screenplay He went to Tom King For Human Target (Panini Comics)The jury presented the author’s work in detail:

Christopher Chase, the human target who specializes in “dying” in place of his clients, is poisoned and has only twelve days to live to find out who did it. An old-fashioned noir set in the DC Universe, with Tom King once again demonstrating his ability to handle it skillfully and push his boundaries without ever overstepping them.

• The great Guinigi At the Best newcomer was assigned Iris Biasio For My Sister is Crazy (Rizzoli Lizard): A woman has to deal with the difficult situation of her sister, who has always been very picky and was traumatized by the loss of her husband. In the end she loses touch with reality and withdraws into absolute silence. Trauma never becomes the rhetoric of trauma: it is just one of the many nodes that make up the human mind, unknowable and mysterious.

Editorial and syntactic awards

The Stefano Beani Prize At the Best editorial initiative He went to Morning comics, Insertion of Morning newspaper edited by Michela “Sonno” Rossi.

The Self Area AwardThe collective was honored with 27 nominated works from the world of in-house production and underground comics BlackBoard car production. The group also gained recognition as Guest of honor On the next edition of the festival: professionals have the privilege of creating the advertising artwork Self area 2024 and management of the exhibition dedicated to the winning volume.

For the first time, the winning project was Lucca Project Competition 2023 was announced during the official awards ceremony. This recognition has been transmitted THESE WALLS From Marco Checchin. Here are the judges’ reasons:

For the extremely personal cut of a story of crisis in which the author’s voice narrates with tenderness and violence at the same time the daily despair that lurks in lives on the edge of a difficult time, dependent on a solid and unscrupulous direction, with a never occasional use of the chromatic Language.

Other special projects worth mentioning include: Great Knight Punk From Francesco Cabbaifor the pop aesthetics and powerful grammar that surprise the reader and lay the foundation for a masterpiece, and The Knights of YagaFrom Alice Fazzari And Anna Ferrari, for the masterful marriage between illustrated graphics, a beautiful story and chiseled dialogue.

Yellow child

One of the moments the most exciting of the event It was certainly the delivery of the scope yellow child, are considered the most prestigious awards.

• The Yellow child for the Comic of the year was assigned TransformersFrom Nicoz Balboa (Oblomov Editions): The author talks about his transition from woman to man without shame or hypocrisy. Spiritual sequel to its predecessor Play with fireNicoz Balboa goes into detail about the transition process and follows a path of self-discovery and construction.

• And again, it Yellow child ToAuthor of the Year He went to Silvia Ziche For The Cage (Feltrinelli Comics): A fictional character deals with the ghost of his dead mother and her constant depression. The book is very personal, perhaps self-referential, intimate and sensitive, going beyond a general denunciation of patriarchy, which in this case functions more as an implicit context. The author’s typical humor makes reading a unique experience.

• Finally the time has come Yellow child for the Master of comics was delivered Frank Miller: His previewed self-portrait will be exhibited in Uffizi Galleriesespecially in Self-portrait gallerywhere some of the most important names in world comics are represented.

Lucca Games awards ceremony

Organized by Lucca Comics & Games in collaboration with DV games, The Lucca Games awards ceremony set a new record and attracted a very high number of participants. The Unreleased Game of the Year Award,for example, he had good 60 candidates:it was the winner Sensu by Enrico Vicario. THE Sensu They are not simple folding fans, but authentic protagonists of Japanese culture, from the wooden fans used in dances to the metal fans used by the samurai in battle. In this card game, each player tries to get a combination of cards whose values ​​have a sum of 20 by drawing cards and exchanging them with the others: the first player manages to put together two sets of cards of different types and with a sum of 20 wins . .

Among the five finalists in the category game of the year was the winner Challenger! From Asmodee Italy. The competitive game of Johannes Krenner and Markus Slawitscheck It is based on building a team, led by one player, who must defeat everyone else in a real flag-stealing tournament. The game also allows you to play up to 4 duels at the same time.

The price RPG of the year was assigned Wanderhomepublished by Grumpy bear. Created by Jay Dragonis a fantasy inspired by Hæth, the enchanting land, based on exploration and community building. In this idyllic world, war is only a distant memory and violence no longer exists. The game design is clear and identifiable, guiding the player to resolve difficult situations through dialogue and exchange of ideas. The award was accepted by Flavio Mortarino From Grumpy bear.

Assassin’s Creed is the winning title of Joe Dever Award 2023 today, after 16 years, being one of the most influential cross-media franchises in pop culture. What made him famous and appreciated Assassin’s Creed And the opportunity to explore and experience past eras in different parts of the world, A strength that the French publisher knows well and which it has reinforced through pedagogical methods with new generation titles discovery tour, which provides the player with historical information by digitally visiting places from the past. It was she who received the award Laura Inglima Modica represent Ubisoft.

The Award for his life’s work was deliveredPendragon CEO Silvio Negri-Clementi and CMON COO David Preti. Silvio, former head of the Italian edition of Magic the Gathering, contributed to the spread of the game in Italy. Thanks to him, his passion for the world of gaming became a career in 1998 Giovanni Ingellis who offered him a full-time position as editorial director of Strategy books in the gaming landscape. David Pretiholds the position COO and from “Creative Heart” From COME ONan international publisher of board games, role-playing games and graphic novels. COME ON is a multinational group that publishes award-winning games and has built a large portfolio of original and licensed bestsellers.

After all, it seems right to remember Lucca Junior Competition – Prize for editorial illustration “Livio Sossi”.organized byBook on a Tree and Terre di mezzo Editorewith collaboration of the Picture Authors Association. The prize was won by Elisabetta Decontardialso known as Deco, Illustrator and Cartoonist: Terre di mezzo publishing house he offered to publish his project illustrated with the name “Celeste and her twin Blue,” created from an unpublished text by Angelo Mozillo. The Award for the best digital tablepowered by Wacomwas assigned Maria Luisa Petrarch.

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The article “Lucca Comics & Games Awards 2023” first appeared in VIGAMUS Magazine – the magazine about the world of video games.