Barcelona Comic Fair opens its doors with a splash

With a bang, kapow, boom and splash, the 36th Barcelona Comic Fair opened its doors today. Last year’s edition saw some 118,000 attendees, and organizers FICOMIC are hoping to reproduce this. And with the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War movie, the local publisher for Marvel, Panini Comics, has an idea of what could make this happen.

Their editorial director, Alejandro Martínez, said that “The greater public evidently makes the connection between a big premiere, expected to have a mass attendance, and comics. I think that this brings more people to the fair.”

With over 50,000 meters squared and an even bigger exhibition space, there are three main stars of this year’s show. The first is the creator of the renowned Captain America character, Jack Kirby. Then, there’s beloved superman parody Superlópez, celebrating its 45^th birthday. Last – but not least – comes a retrospective on the so-called ‘boom’ of comics for adults in the country.

Another novelty looks to the future, rather than the past. The Cómic Kids space dedicates almost 3,000 meters squared to younger generations. Here, they will be able to discover the art form through workshops, talks, and a comic book library.

Invitees include personalities like the graphic creator of ‘V for Vendetta’ David Lloyd, and many more. There will also be an official contest and exhibition featuring last year’s winners. Mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau even made an appearance on this opening day. To see this animated event youself, there’s still time: it runs until Sunday, at the Fira Montjuïc de Barcelona fairgrounds.