The 60th edition of Lucca Comics & Games 2026 is approaching, scheduled to run from Wednesday, October 28 to Sunday, November 1 (here is our feature, detailing the main guests and the latest news about the event).
For the occasion, on October 28 in Lucca there will be the meeting The Market for Comics in 2026, Between Adjustment and Growth, curated by the Comics and Graphic Novels Commission of the Italian Publishers Association, in collaboration with Lucca Comics.
In the first six months of 2026, sales of comics, manga and graphic novels in independent bookstores, thanks to the “library bonus,” rose by one third (up 36% in value), reaching four million euros. Comics, in general, is the genre that grew the most (here are the latest data on book sales in Italy, presented by the AIE at the Frankfurt Book Fair).
The figure for independent bookstores fits within a broader context. After the greetings of Giovanni Russo, head of institutional affairs at Lucca Crea, on October 28 Rachele Marziolo of the AIE’s research office will illustrate the market figures for the first nine months, the performance of the different sub-genres and production. Following this, there will be a panel discussion among publishers Claudio Curcio (Comicon Edizioni), Stefania Simonini (Panini Comics) and Giorgia di Tolle (Mondadori). Moderating will be Luca Valtorta (journalist of Robinson – La Repubblica).
