COMICON Naples 2026 unveils a major new wave of international and Italian guests for the 26th edition of the International Pop Culture Festival, taking place from April 30 to May 3 at the Mostra d’Oltremare in Naples (Italy).
Among the highlights, for the first time ever in Italy, legendary Japanese mangaka Makoto Yukimura, creator of the globally acclaimed Vinland Saga, will attend the festival to present the final issue of his 20-year-long manga series. One of the most influential historical manga of all time, Vinland Saga began in 2005 and has won major awards including the Kodansha Manga Award (2012) and the Grand Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival (2009), later becoming a hugely successful anime series. COMICON Naples will dedicate a brand-new exhibition to Yukimura’s work, along with special events and meetings with the artist.
International comics stars
COMICON Naples 2026 will also welcome Liam Sharp, the acclaimed British comic book artist best known for his work on Wonder Woman: Rebirth (written by Greg Rucka), The Green Lantern (with Grant Morrison), Batman: Reptilian(written by Garth Ennis), The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman and Spawn: The Dark Ages. More recently, Sharp wrote, illustrated and lettered his own creator-owned series, StarHenge, an epic sci-fantasy saga based on the legend of Merlin, earning him an Eisner Award nomination for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist.
From Serbia comes renowned comics master R.M. Guéra, celebrated for his work on acclaimed series such as Scalped and Goddamned (with Jason Aaron), the comic adaptation of Django Unchained (with Jason Latour), Tex: L’Uomo dalle Pistole d’Oro (based on texts by Pasquale Ruju) and as well as for the Judge Dredd series, creating several stories written by Rob Williams.
Italian excellence
Representing Italy, COMICON Naples will host Sara Pichelli and Simone Bianchi.
A Marvel artist since 2008, Sara Pichelli has won an Eagle Award, a Harvey Award and two Stan Lee Awards, and is the co-creator of Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man of the Ultimate Universe. Her work spans major Marvel titles including Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, Namora, Fantastic Four, a special Spider-Manproject written by J.J. Abrams and Henry Abrams, and the launch of the Scarlet Witch solo series written by Steve Orlando.
Simone Bianchi is internationally renowned for his powerful interpretations of iconic superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America, Wolverine and the X-Men, for whom he also redesigned the costume line for Marvel. His original Star Wars artwork was acquired by George Lucas for his personal collection. Bianchi has also collaborated with the music world, creating official concert posters for TOOL (Miami) and The Smashing Pumpkins (Denver), and in Italy he designed the cover and pop-up artwork for Caparezza’s album EXUVIA.
Another major return sees Caparezza, one of Italy’s most distinctive and genre-defying musicians and rappers, back at COMICON Naples On the heels of his phenomenal discographic and editorial success, Orbit Orbit. The artist will be at the center of an exclusive exhibition showcasing, for the very first time, the original artworks and never-seen before personal sketches from Orbit Orbit, the graphic novel that accompanied the album of the same name and marked Caparezza’s debut as a comic book writer. A visionary, colorful and deeply personal journey, the project features artwork by some of the most prominent names and emerging talents in Italian comics, including La Came, Matteo De Longis, Sergio Gerasi, Nicola Mari, Marco Nizzoli, Renato Riccio, Stefano Tamiazzo, Riccardo Torti and Yi Yang.
COMICON Naples will also welcome Dario Moccia and Davide Masella, founders of Tomodachi Press, joined by illustrator Agnese Innocente. For the first time, Tomodachi Press will feature a dedicated stand and an artist alley, focused on collectible card art, with numerous artists and illustrators involved.
Cosplay and music
Cosplay remains a core element of COMICON Naples, which will host internationally renowned Estonian cosplayer Yugoro, celebrated for her epic props and fantasy costumes. In 2024, Yugoro represented the entire Baltic region at the Cosplay Crown Championship in the United States and at GICOF in South Korea. She will meet fans at COMICON Naples and serve as a judge for the Cosplay Pro and Cosplay Regular contests.
On the music front, Giorgio Vanni, the iconic Italian voice behind some of the most beloved animated TV theme songs since the 1990s (Pokémon, Dragon Ball, Detective Conan, One Piece and many more), will perform a live concert at the Arena Flegrea within the Mostra d’Oltremare.
Previously announced guests and special exhibitions
Previously announced guests for COMICON Naples 2026 include Leo Ortolani, Magister 2026 and creator of Rat-Man; Aurélien Predal, official Key Art artist for COMICON Naples 2026 and acclaimed art director behind projects such as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Inside Out 2, the Despicable Me saga (1 and 4) and the Hotel Transylvania universe (2 and 3); legendary manga editor Kazuhiko Torishima; videogame pioneer Koji “IGA” Igarashi; Disney comics legend Don Rosa; actor and voice performer Troy Baker; composer Austin Wintory; game developer Andrea Pessino; composer and sound director Tomoyuki Tanaka; comic artists Shintaro Kago, Satoshi Shiki, Alex Maleev and David Mack; and producer and DJ Naz Chris.
Great anticipation also surrounds the major exhibition dedicated to Robert Crumb, one of the most influential comic artists of all time. Opening in Naples in spring 2026, the exhibition will be the centerpiece of COMIC(ON)OFF Napoli, the festival’s extensive citywide off-program featuring dozens of events across Naples.
COMICON NAPOLI
COMICON Napoli – International Pop Culture Festival is among the top 5 European festivals in terms of size and cultural content.
In 2025, the 25th edition ended with a record 183,000 visitors (+4.6% compared to 2024) and staggering figures: over 600 events held across more than 323,000 sq ft of indoor space, 538,000 sq ft of outdoor area, an indoor theater with 850 seats, meeting rooms ranging from 20 to 400 seats, stages for live performances, and an open-air arena with 6,000 seats.
It is a leading cultural festival in Italy, a point of reference not only for the Campania region but for the entire Italian peninsula (71% of the audience comes from outside Naples), with an extraordinarily positive impact on the entire Naples area: the economic impact—i.e., the wealth generated by the festival for the various players in the supply chain, accommodation, transport, shops, bars, restaurants, and so on—is constantly growing: €36 million in 2023 and €42 million in 2024.*
Thanks to a packed programme, COMICON Napoli attracts fans of comics, cinema and TV series, video games, games and all aspects of pop culture every year, with an average age of under 25 (60%), confirming Naples’ reputation as a city of young people and an attractive cultural hub for Italy and abroad.
COMICON Napoli is an event sponsored by the Campania Region and the Municipality of Naples. COMICON Napoli is supported by the Directorate-General for Cultural Policies of the Campania Region, while COMIC(ON)OFF is supported by the Culture Department of the Municipality of Naples.
As every year, COMICON Naples confirms its eco-friendly approach, focusing on the environment through partnerships with national consortia involved in the recovery and recycling of aluminum packaging with CIAL, plastic with COREPLA, and steel with RICREA.
COMICON is an accessible festival: many of the events on the program can also be followed in LIS – Italian Sign Language.
TICKETS, MEMBERSHIPS, AND THE EXCLUSIVE JUNGLE PASS
Daily admission: €20.00
4-day ticket: €46.00
Reduced price for children aged 6-11: €10.00 (for all children born between 29/04/2014 and 29/04/2020)
Jungle Pass: €250.00 (more information at napoli.comicon.it)
More information People with disabilities and school groups interested in participating can write to accessibilita@comicon.it and ufficioscuola@comicon.it respectively to receive further information.
Tickets, memberships, and Jungle Passes are on sale at ticket.comicon.it.
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