At Xmas Comics we celebrate 20 years of Lucrezia and 30 of Sprayliz with Silvia Ziche and Luca Enoch

At the tenth edition of Italian comic characters.

Sprayliz, the character created by Luca Enoch for the magazine Intrepido and published in comic books for the first time in 1994, turns 30. Elizabeth Petri, known as Liz, is a high school student with a secret passion for graffiti with spray cans, from which its tag derives: Sprayliz. With her graffiti, Liz denounces the abuses of power and repressive methods of the mayor and the police of her city, addressing social issues ranging from racism to exploitation and the therapeutic use of drugs.

20 candles per Lucreziacharacter created by Silvia Ziche and appeared for the first time in the 2004 comic My Love. Serial collector of disastrous loves, black belt in consolatory shopping, compulsive accumulator of good intentions, champion of acrobatic self-justifications and competitive procrastination, Lucrezia lives immersed in normality, yet always succeeds in a magic: being a thousand people and at the same time one. Since 2006 Lucrezia has been a regular presence on Modern Woman with a weekly streak and it is protagonist of a series of graphic novels with which Silvia Ziche talks about the difficulties of love relationships and gender issues.

On the occasion of the two anniversaries, Xmas Comics and Poste Italiane organized an important event philatelic operation. Fans can discover two special dedicated postmarks, and a special celebratory box with four postcards for each of the two characters. Also scheduled are the usual philatelic postmark ceremonies with the two authors, who will be available to the public for sketch sessions, autographs and personalized drawings on both days of the event.

“Xmas Comics conferma Turin as a nerve center for the world of pop culture and comics in Italy – declares Gábor Ganczer, managing director of GL events Italia –. This event represents an extraordinary opportunity for the public and creators to meet, uniting generations of enthusiasts and professionals in one great celebration of comics and its many facets”

Over 50 authors present at the Oval Lingotto

Cartoonists, illustrators and publishers are the heart of the Turin event: they are present at the Oval more than 50 Italian authors from the world of the ninth art, who are available to the public for personalized sketches and drawings, as well as protagonists of conferences and meetings. Among the publishers present, the big names of Edizioni BD, Cut-Up Publishing, Magic Press, Sbam! Comics, Tunuè and Tora.

In addition to the two authors of the official poster of the event, Lorenzo Pastrovicchio and Luca Merli, among the guests present at Xmas Comics there is Antonio Lapone, an internationally renowned author from Turin, with publications for Italian, French and Belgian publishers; his Femmes painted on large acrylic canvases are exhibited at the Champaka Gallery in Brussels/Paris, at the BRAFA (Brussels Antiques & Fine Art) and in Lausanne at the Catherine Niederhauser Gallery; Pasquale Frisenda, Bonelli and Cut-up publishing author who has collaborated on projects such as Ken Parker, Magico Vento (for which he was also the cover artist), Dylan Dog and the Deadwood Dick series based on the stories of Joe Lansdale. In 2024 he published his first artbook with Cut-up; Lola Airaghi, designer for Legs Weaver, Brendon, Dylan Dog, Morgan Lost and Zagor, of which she was the first woman to draw a story. Among his works, the album cover of Nino Rota’s soundtrack for Federico Fellini’s film Roma, created for Rustblade Records in 2019.

From the Disney stable there are Giada Perissinotto, Emmanuele Bacicinelli, Federico Butticè, Francesco Barbieri and Francesco Guerrini.

There was a large delegation of authors at the Cut-up stand, which in addition to the aforementioned Frisenda and Airaghi hosts authors of the caliber of Claudio Chiaverotti, Rodolfo Torti, Alessandro Bocci, Stefano Fantelli, Moreno Burattini, Silvia Riccò, Davide Barzi, Anna Lazzarin, Marcello Mangiantini and Oscar Scalco.

Arancia Studio, the reality created by Mirka Andolfo, hosts in its space the authors Ciro Cangialosi, colorist for Lupo Alberto, designer for Disney and author of the covers of Angry Birds; Francesca Ciregia, designer for Marvel, Edizioni BD, Star Comics, Cosmo, Raven Distribution and many others; Mario Foccillo, cover artist for DC Comics and creator of artwork for sporting events; Paolo Traisci, designer active on the Franco-Belgian market and illustrator for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and La Geste des princes-démons.

Dubbing: the Italian voices of Arcane on Saturday, Maurizio Merluzzo on Sunday.

Thanks to the collaboration with Animated VoicesFurthermore, at Xmas Comics 2024 there are two of the Italian voice actors of Arcane, the famous animated series on the Netflix platform set in the League of Legends video game universe.

Saturday 14 December at 12.30 pm guest on the main stage Margherita De Risi, voice of one of the two protagonists of the series, the tormented Powder/Jinx. Margherita has also voiced other iconic characters such as Mirabel from Encanto, Elle Fanning in Maleficent, Eliza Scanlen in Little Women, Rapunzel and Ciri from The Witcher. Together with her on stage Emiliano Coltorti, the voice of Viktor, the ambitious Zaunita who works with Jayce in the laboratory in Piltover. Emiliano has also lent his voice to many actors including Jared Leto, Evan Peters in Dahmer (Jeffrey Dahmer), Jason Schwartzman, Sebastian Stan, Paul Dano, Michael Rosenbaum in Smallville (Lex Luthor) and Matthew Gray Gubler in Criminal Minds (Spencer Raid).

Sunday’s guest December 15th is Maurizio Merluzzoone of the most loved voices on the Italian scene. He gave voice to iconic characters such as Ragnar in the Vikings series, Shazam in the film of the same name, Donquijote Doflamingo in One Piece and Zamasu in Dragon Ball. With over one million subscribers on YouTube, Maurizio is also a successful creator with content that mixes dubbing and entertainment. The event on stage with Merluzzo is scheduled for 1.30pm.

Cosplayinternational competitions are back: qualification for the Nordic Cosplay Championship finals in Sweden is up for grabs. Among the guests Neja and Manuel D’Andrea.

The Turin event confirms itself as one of the most important national gatherings for the cosplay world, with numerous events and activities organized in collaboration with the Cospa Family association. Cosplay contests are scheduled, with hundreds of participants every year, with various categories in competition, from the best male and female costume to the best group, from the best interpretation to the best accessory.

For the second consecutive year Xmas Comics hosts the Italian stage of circuito NCC – Nordic Cosplay Championshipborn in 2014 from the collaboration between the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The race is scheduled for Sunday 15th starting from 2.30 pm; the Italian representative, a solo cosplayer judged on the basis of costume and performance, will have the opportunity to challenge competitors from all over the world in the finals in Sweden in July 2025. A jury of leading exponents of the cosplay world will judge the competitors national and international, which evaluate the “craftsmanship” ability of the competitors, the ability to identify with the chosen role, the interpretative and sympathetic skills: the jurors of this edition are Manuel D’Andrea, an Italian artist known throughout the world for his extreme transformations with Makeup and foreman in the art departments for the Hollywood film industry. Currently active as Artistic Director of Elfia, Europe’s largest Fantasy festival, Manuel has worked with brands such as Netflix, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Prime Video and many others. The artist is also the protagonist of a meeting on the main stage on Saturday 14 December. Edoardo Penato, Italian representative at the finals of the latest edition of the Nordic Cosplay Championship; Elisabetta Giordano, cosplayer since 2008 and Italian representative at the European Cosplay Gathering in Paris in 2014.

Karaoke and Karacosplay events also return to Xmas Comics, the costume karaoke contest, where a quality jury evaluates the participants for their vocal skills and interpretation of the character. The jurors of the Karacosplay, scheduled for Saturday morning at 11, are Neja, an Italian singer-songwriter with more than four million records sold, known throughout the world for dance hits such as Restless; Laura Cotza, singer and theater actress from Turin, protagonist of The Magical World of Laura, a show in which she plays the theme songs of cartoons from the 70s to today, all enriched by cosplays of some of the most beloved cartoon characters; Riccardo Da Ronco, pianist, keyboardist and arranger from Turin, who collaborated with international artists such as John Macaluso (Malmsteen’s drummer) and Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson’s guitarist) and founder of the “Cosplayer PartyBand” which for several years brought the musical theme songs of cartoons, revived in a Dance style, in many venues in northern Italy.

For Karaoke – qualifications on Sunday morning, finals in the afternoon – the jury is made up of Roberto “Robb” Morello, singer and multi-instrumentalist, frontman of Gremlins Soundtracks; Nene, alias of Noemi Pirrone, Ligurian kaigai idol and cosplayer, with performances in idol showcases and cosplay competitions in Milan and Novegro; Fabio Plozner, singer, guitarist and cosplayer, founder of the group I knights of Zara.