COMICON Competitors

The SAN DIEGO COMIC CONVENTION (Comic-Con International) is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation organized for charitable purposes and dedicated to creating the general public’s awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, including participation in and support of public presentations, conventions, exhibits, museums and other public outreach activities which celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture. Comic-Con International: Started as a one-day “minicon” in 1970. The success of the minicon led to the first full-fledged, three-day San Diego Comic-Con (called San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con) at the U.S. Grant Hotel. Over 300 attendees packed into the hotel’s basement for that groundbreaking event, which featured a dealers’ room, programs and panels, film screenings, and more: essentially, the model for every comic book convention to follow. The show's main home in the 1970s was the El Cortez Hotel. In 1979, Comic-Con moved to the Convention and Performing Arts Center, staying there until 1991, when the San Diego Convention Center opened. With attendance topping 130,000 in recent years, the event has grown to include satellite locations, hotels, and outdoor parks. Programming events, games, anime, Independent Film Festival, and the Eisner Awards all take place outside of the Convention Center, creating a campus-type feel for the convention throughout downtown San Diego. WonderCon: Aspects of that show, including comics, movies, TV, animation, the Masquerade, and more. The event has grown in all aspects over the years: more attendees, more exhibitors, more programming, and more fun. WonderCon was started in 1987 in Oakland. Comic-Con International took over the show in 2002 moving it from Oakland to San Francisco in 2003. After 15 years as a Bay Area event, WonderCon was forced to move to Anaheim in 2012 (construction at the Moscone Center) and has been held in southern California since.

Dal 1966, Lucca Comics & Games è il punto di riferimento italiano per fumetto, gioco e cultura pop. Ogni anno, alla fine di ottobre, Lucca si trasforma in uno degli eventi culturali pop più grandi al mondo: cinque giorni di mostre, incontri con autori, tornei, anteprime editoriali e molto altro, nel cuore di un centro storico unico. Ma LC&G non si esaurisce nel festival. È una piattaforma attiva tutto l'anno: progetti educativi nelle scuole con Teste tra le Nuvole, premi e concorsi per giovani autori di fumetti e game designer, residenze creative, produzioni speciali e collaborazioni istituzionali. Assegniamo i Lucca Comics Awards, il Gioco dell'Anno, il Gioco di Ruolo dell'Anno e il Board Game Designer of the Year: i principali riconoscimenti italiani per fumetto e gioco. __ Since 1966, Lucca Comics & Games has been Italy's leading festival for comics, games, and pop culture. Every year at the end of October, Lucca becomes one of the largest pop culture events in the world: five days of exhibitions, creator talks, tournaments, publishing previews, and more, set in a uniquely preserved historic city centre. But LC&G goes beyond the festival. It is a year-round platform: educational projects in schools through Teste tra le Nuvole, awards and talent scouting for young comics authors and game designers, creative residencies, special productions, and institutional partnerships. We award the Lucca Comics Awards, the Game of the Year, the Roleplaying Game of the Year, and the Board Game Designer of the Year: Italy's leading recognitions for comics and games.

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair is the most important international event dedicated to the children’s publishing and multimedia industry. In Bologna authors, illustrators, literary agents, licensors and licensees, packagers, distributors, printers, booksellers, and librarians meet to sell and buy copyright, find the very best of children’s publishing and multimedia production, generate and gather new contacts while strengthening professional relationships, discover new business opportunities, discuss and debate the latest sector trends.