There’s something magical about arriving in Lucca during the Comics & Games convention.
As soon as you step off the train and see the first cosplayers scattered through the medieval streets, you immediately understand that you’re about to experience another reality.
This year, from October 29th to November 2nd, the Tuscan city was transformed—once again—into the world’s largest village dedicated to comics, games, and pop culture.
And believe me: it was a truly extraordinary edition.
Every year Lucca has a theme, and for 2025, “French Kiss” was chosen.
This edition was a tribute to France and Franco-Belgian comics, but also an invitation to celebrate artistic freedom.
Among the pavilions, the typical elegance of the bande dessinée was palpable.
The schedule was mind-blowing.
There were Tetsuo Hara, the legendary author of Fist of the North Star who received the “Master of Comics” award, John Romero, the creator of Doom, and Kevin Eastman, the creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Then there was Hideo Kojima, who chose Lucca as the European stop for his Death Stranding 2 tour. I had the opportunity to attend his talk; the room was packed, and people hung on his every word when he spoke about the boundary between gaming and cinema.
It was one of those moments when you realize that Lucca isn’t just a fair, but a meeting place of visions.
Lucca isn’t an event you “visit”: you experience it.
Every street is a discovery—an alley with stands of small publishers, a square transformed into an arena for tournaments, and a bastion of the walls where epic photos of cosplayers are taken.
This year, the numbers speak for themselves: over 280,000 visitors, 17,000 professionals and authors, and approximately 30,000 officially registered cosplayers.
Among the new features, Hasbro unveiled new lines of collectible action figures (yes, I caved and bought one).
Netflix brought exclusive content from Stranger Things and The Witcher, while the board game sector had its moment with an area entirely dedicated to indie designers.
Seeing the authors take the stage—as excited as children—is one of those moments that reminds us why we love all this.
Every edition of Lucca leaves a different mark.
This time, I carry with me the feeling that pop culture has become a universal language—capable of uniting generations, styles, and different nations.
I met extraordinary people, swapped comics, played with strangers, and took photos with friends I only see once a year: in Lucca.
