Comic book artists from 20 countries, 150 of them, are staying in Herceg Novi these days, where, together with fans of the ninth art, they are enjoying the rich program of the 18th Herceg Novi Comics Festival. The high level of artistic talent, the creation of a platform for connecting creators, and the role in promoting and affirming authors and the ninth art are qualities by which this festival is recognized, as highlighted by some of the comic book masters who are guests of this year’s edition.
A guest of Herceg Novi is a big star of the comic book art world, five-time Eisner Award winner, also known as the “comics Oscar,” American artist Gene Ha. After receiving the prestigious “Russ Manning” award for the most promising author in the world, he worked for American giants “DC Comics,” “Malibu Comics,” and “Marvel,” as well as for one of the greatest comic book writers of all time, Alan Moore. He arrives at the Herceg Novi Comics Festival as one of the first two guests from the world’s biggest comic book country, the United States, along with the renowned comic book artist Jill Thompson.
“American festivals tend to be market-oriented, focused on sales and promotion, but the essence of this festival is the art of comics, bringing together readers and creators to meet and get to know each other, as well as the great works. The level of artistic talent at this festival, and even in this city, is impressive, literally on par with New York. It’s hard to think of another city in the world, such as London or New York, that has as much talent as you can see here in Herceg Novi,” says Gene Ha, who is visiting this part of Europe, the Balkans, for the first time.
He adds that he is proud to be among the first American comic authors to be guests of the festival and hopes that this event will become more recognized, especially by American publishers and editors: “I hope that in the future they will hear about this festival. I believe you can have great works from Belgian and Italian publishers, but I would be thrilled if American and Japanese publishers also knew about this festival.”
He also mentioned that Dave Kelly, the new editor of one of the most important comic book magazines in the world, American “Heavy Metal,” is a festival guest, marking the first time a representative from the largest global comic scene has attended the festival.
“I hope we are the first of many who will come and learn more about all the amazing things happening in this city and region,” Gene Ha stated.
Tony Sandoval, considered by some critics to be one of the best comic artists of today, and three-time Eisner Award nominee, is the first comic artist from Mexico to attend the Herceg Novi Comics Festival.
As he says, during the past days, he has met international comic masters and was pleasantly surprised to find that people are familiar with his work, and he will gladly return to Herceg Novi: “My impressions are great, I’m having a fantastic time. The people here remind me of South America with their mentality, they make me feel like I’m in Mexico. The artists here are wonderful, as is the audience that attends the festival.”
Academic painter, illustrator, and comic artist from Ljubljana, Damijan Stepančić, emphasizes that the Herceg Novi Comics Festival is a great place to socialize and meet comic artists from around the world, and that it’s “nice to belong to a community that is very active.”
As he points out, the beauty of such a festival is the interaction with the audience, and he gives special importance to the fact that there are many young people at the events: “Often, kids come to our drawings, and I love it because we have young people who are just starting to get into this realm of reading big, long, and great comics. That’s also our role here, to promote comics, not just to discuss among ourselves but also to try to get people interested in comics as a medium.”
The premiere of the comic “Stripocalypse” by Zagreb artist Marko Dješka in the “Josip Bepo Benković” gallery was one of the exhibition segments that opened this year’s 18th edition of the Herceg Novi Comics Festival. This versatile author, also known for his work promoting the ninth art, is enthusiastic about the Novi festival.
“My impressions are phenomenal, with diverse guests. The most special thing about this festival is that it’s author-driven, meaning that the authors socialize with each other. One of the best segments is drawing for the audience, which I usually hate at other festivals, but last year I completely changed my mind, in fact, HSF changed my mind about that segment. Essentially, it’s perfect,” says Dješka, adding: “I congratulate the organizers, who are brilliant people, dedicated comic enthusiasts. It’s a privilege to have such people in this place, and for what they do, they deserve all the praise.”
Yesterday’s program of the Herceg Novi Comics Festival was held in the foyer of the “Park” hall due to unfavorable weather conditions, where comic masters drew for fans, and interested visitors could purchase editions from the regional comic book publishing scene at the comic book market. An exhibition of works created at the “One” comic drawing workshop was also held, and awards were presented to the most talented participants – among the elementary school students, Bojana Ćurić received the award, among high school students it was Ana Radonić, while an additional special festival award was given to Sara Milankov.
The musical segment last night was reserved for punk music. The first band to perform was Bolesna Štenad, known for their hard music and explicit, engaged lyrics, followed by punk veterans Dža ili Bu, with songs spanning almost four decades of their career, covering genres from punk, hard rock, to alternative and industrial music.
The Herceg Novi Comics Festival will today, as every year before the final event, cross by ferry. Although it was initially announced that the comic caravan would travel by cable car to Lovćen, this trip has been rescheduled for tomorrow, September 11, due to unfavorable weather conditions. Today, the public in Tivat will enjoy the ninth art, followed by a traditional program at the “Klinci village” resort in Luštica.
In Tivat, at DTV Partizan, from 11 AM to 1 PM, there will be drawing for fans, t-shirt drawing, and a comic book market, while a similar program, along with a drawing school in nature, will take place at Klinci from 2 PM to 6 PM.
In the evening, the HSF caravan will return to Herceg Novi, where at 9 PM, the Boka All Star, the resident festival band, will perform at the amphitheater of the Park Hall or, in case of rain, inside the hall.
The festival’s sponsors and partners are: the Municipality of Herceg Novi, the Municipality of Tivat, the Ministry of Culture and Media of Montenegro, the Ministry of Tourism of Montenegro, the Ministry of Defense of Montenegro, the Herceg Novi Tourist Organization, the embassies of the USA, Italy, Slovenia, France, the UK, and Spain, as well as over 60 sponsors, including representatives from the tourism sector and companies from Herceg Novi and Montenegro.