Barcelona (EFE).- The 41st edition of Comic Barcelona, a reference fair in the comic sector, opens its doors this Friday invaded by young people, with hundreds of children and adolescents who visit the Fira de Montjuïc along with their schools and institutes of the Catalan capital and its metropolitan area.
The lively tide formed by the first visitors to Comic Barcelona 2023 crowds Plaza Univers, located between the two pavilions that Comic Barcelona occupies, and, once inside, is distributed mainly among the dozens of stands that house the commercial area of the event, in Pavilion 2, the largest.
Leaving aside the comics, many of them concentrate and queue in the area dedicated to Nintendo, where games of original video games from that company are organized, belonging to franchises as popular as “Mario”, “The Legend of Zelda” or ” Pokemon”.
The workshops given by the Escola Joso, dedicated to training in comics, illustration, ‘concept art’ and animation, at Comic Kids, the area that Comic Barcelona has set up for smaller audiences, with multiple activities, also triumphed.
However, despite the large influx of young audiences with which Comic Barcelona opens its doors this year, the majority of minor visitors state directly that they do not read comics, while some claim to only read manga.
Along the same lines, the vendors explain that “Friday mornings tend to be lazy” and that “many people come just to look and don’t buy.”
On the other hand, the greatest concentration of adults occurs in the exhibitions, which are located in Hall 5, and celebrate the work of cartoonists and illustrators such as Daniel Torres, Álex de la Iglesia, Genie Espinosa or David López, as well as that of a thirty graphic authors dedicated to humor.
“Zipi y Zape” and its 75th anniversary
In addition, the new edition of Comic Barcelona celebrates, through the exhibition of several original pieces, the 75th anniversary of “Zipi y Zape”, a comic created by José Escobar and which has become an icon in national comics.
On the other hand, the tribute to the figure of Carlos Pacheco, a pioneering Spanish cartoonist in the American market who passed away last November, has been arranged as a rest area with several armchairs.
Likewise, visitors of all ages seek the opportunity to obtain a signature from their favorite authors; for example, waiting their turn at the Norma Editorial stand, which brings together some of its artists: Jordi Lafebre, Fidel Martínez, Drawill, Wade Otaku, Jordi Armengol, Dani Bermúdez, Fidel de Tovar and KIM.
Comic Barcelona 2023: The return of international guests after the pandemic
This 41st edition of the event has as a novelty and main incentive the return of international guests after the pandemic, with such prominent names in the sector as the French Aude Picault, the Dutch Barbara Stok or the Italians Igort and Zerocalcare, among others.
As usual, the event also offers a space for ‘cosplayers’, who parade through the room dressed as characters taken directly from American comics and Japanese manga, and who also have their own area in Pavilion 2, with a workshop repair, ‘photocalls’ and photographic exhibitions.
In this way, once a year, the Fira Montjuïc in Barcelona becomes a space where characters like Spider-Man, both Peter Parker and Miles Morales; Hombre de Hierro; the Stormtroopers from “Star Wars”; Katsuki Bakugo, from “My Hero Academia”, and Tanjiro Kamado, from “Kimetsu no Yaiba; even more classic ones like Arale.
As the morning progresses and the school excursions end, Comic Barcelona empties out, and maintains its usual audience: a more balanced mix between young people and adults, more connected to the world of comics.