For the first time since 1991 the International Festival of Comics and Games will be taking place in a brand new space – the Atlas Arena, which is the biggest indoor arena of its kind in Poland. This year’s festival will be also be hosting a record-breaking spectrum of activities related to gaming. Contests and tournaments will be accompanied by discussion panels, as well as a fair devoted to computer games and equipment. Regardless of all of these assets, comic books and world-renown comic book artists remain at the centre of the entire event.
The Atlas Arena will hold many meetings and workshops with artists responsible for comic books, illustration and computer graphics, as well as other substantial events that have been a part of the festival for years. The market space will be located on the crown of the arena, while on the main field one will be able to find autograph stands and the area devoted to computer, role play and board game tournaments. The main scene, located in the middle of the venue, will hold the awards ceremony, cosplay contests and the „miss comic book” paegant. Entry to the whole event will be free of charge, but donations will be accepted near the entrance.
In October Łódź will be hosting American graphic artist Don Rosa, most famous for his work featuring Donald Duck. Meeting him will be a treat not only for children, but for everyone who appreciates flawless artistic technique. The festival will also provide an opportunity to meet the world famous creators of „Thorgal” – Grzegorz Rosiński, its first designer and graphic artist, and Roman Surżenko, who has been working on the comic’s official spin-off, „Thorgal: Louve” since 2011. This year’s festival is also proud to host David B., the French graphic artist and scriptwriter known for „Epileptic” and „The Armed Garden”.
Comic book scriptwriter Stephen Desberg, author of „Desert stars” (illustrated y Enrico Marini) and the „Scorpion” series, will lead a workshop devoted to the relations between scriptwriters and graphic artists. He will be accompanied by Hughes Labiano – scriptwriter and graphic artist responsible for the „Black Op” series, created with Desberg, and „Dixie Road”, written by Jean Dufaux. One can also anticipate a visit from Gradimir Smudja, who will be introducing „Vincent and Van Gogh”, inspired by the fin-de-siècle movement in French painting. Łódź is also set to host Liam Shaloo (the British artist will run a colouring workshop), Andras Baranyi, Branko Jelinek and other artists from Ukraine, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. In addition, Lyda Patitucci will present the trailer for „Mila in Bloodstained Delta”, along with frames from the original comic book and the methods she used in translating them into another medium. The young Italian director wants her debut motion picture to be an adaptation of „Mila aka Red Dreads”, a comic book by Strukul and Vitti.
Naturally, the festival will also include its more permanent attractions, such as the ninth edition of „City Stories” (comics strictly connected to Łódź, this time the result of a collaboriation between artists from Poland and Czech Republic) and meetings with Polish graphic artists (such as Tomasz Samojlik, Piotr Nowacki, Marcin Podolec, Berenika Kołomycka, Przemysław Truściński, Krzysztof Ostrowski), scriptwriters and comic book publishers. The upcoming three days in Atlas Arena are bound to satisfy even the most reluctant of visitors. Apart from many exhibitions, panels with famous artists, the programme will also include workshops for both professionals and amateurs and stimulating discussion.
Krzysztof Ostrowski (graphic artist, author of the comic book „Plastelina” and frontman of Cool Kids of Death) will run a workshop called „The tablet and comic books”, with the use of Dell’s XPS 18 tablet, which he used to create the cover of the comic book introduced during this year’s festival.
The festival will also provide special areas for children and for trade, along with sections dedicated entirely to Star Wars and Manga (for the enthusiasts of Japanese comic books, along with the cosplay contest for those who enjoy dressing up as characters from comics, anime or video games). The Alienware Area will be equipped in state of the arts computer hardware. The trademark of Alienware is owned by Dell, one of the partners of the festival. Within this space all participants will be able to experience gaming in the third dimension, thanks to the unique 3D Diorama. There will also be a tournament of the game „F1 2013”, which will celebrate its Polish premiere during the second day of the event. The main prize will be an Alienware laptop. The players are also invited to play other recent games, such as „Arma 3” or „Pro Evolution Soccer”.
Game tournaments: „Starcraft 2”, „Dota 2”,„League of Legends”, „Counter Strike – Global Offensive”, „World of Tanks” by the SC2 Group, which will also be hosting PS3 tournaments: „Tekken Tag Tournament 2”, „Soul Calibur V”, „Injustice Gods Among Us”, „Mortal Kombat”, „Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition”, „Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3”. The 24. edition of the International Festival of Comics and Games will also provide a rally for fans of the Fan4Fan computer games, along with many contests and activities for those who won’t take part in the tournaments.
Applications for tournaments can be sent to:
Starcraft 2 – turniej@fan4fan.org
Dota 2 – dota@fan4fan.org
League of Legends – lol@fan4fan.org
There will also be an opportunity to sign up directly during the festival.
Photo © Don Rosa – American graphic artist, most famous for his work featuring Donald Duck. / the 24th International Festival of Comics and Games
More information on: The 24th International Festival of Comics and Games in Łódź
