Comic Barcelona's 42nd edition opens with record breaking number of artists

The largest comic book convention in Spain, Comic Barcelona, kicked off their 42nd edition on Friday in Fira de Barcelona, until Sunday. 

This record-breaking edition has the highest number of artists' signings for fans and a special focus on cinema.  

The convention will hold movie marathons organized by the Sitges Terror and Fantastic Film Festival.

Comic Barcelona has also introduced a new space, Zona Utopia, dedicated to fantasy, science-fiction, and horror-themed comic books. The new space also has an 'Artists Alley' where fans can get their favorite comics signed or ask for a personalized drawing by various drawers.

There are also exhibitions that pay homage to the 'Mad Max' comics by George Miller and 'Blacksad', showing how the comic was made.

For the younger comic books lovers, there is the 'Comic Kids' area, with a variety of activities, like a runway with kids' cosplay, a concert by Educapop and an escape room. 

The festival is also honoring the late comic writer, Francisco Ibáñez, the author of Mort & Phil, born in Barcelona. In fact, this is not the only time the Catalan capital has honored Ibáñez, as it also installed some traffic lights based on Mort & Phil.

For people interested in how the comic book world works behind the scenes there are talks by professionals on topics such as grants, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and comic book translations, as well as panels with artists. 

Posy Simmonds 

One of the artists signing is Posy Simmonds, an English writer and illustrator, who used to work for famous newspapers such as The Guardian, The Sun, and The Times. 

"It's wonderful, I'm really looking forward to meet the public", Simmonds told Catalan News.

In 1981, Simmonds was named 'Cartoonist of the Year' by the British Press Awards and a short film, based on her book 'Fred', was nominated for the 1998 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. 

Her book 'Gemma Bovery', released in 1999, was adapted into a French movie in 2014. 

"For a long time, I just worked for the British press, and it was when [the book] Gemma Bovery was published in France, I realized that I've joined this big tent of comics," Simmonds said.