Malta Comic Con 2015 fosters strong ‘Mediterranean’ presence

As this year’s edition of the Malta Comic Con draws closer, additional creators have pledged their participation, among them: Pasquale Qualano (Soulfire), Andreas Michaelides (Botch!), Christos Stamboulis (The Lords of Crimson Valley), Gianluca Maconi (Elfes) Luciano Regazzoni (Nathan Never), Grafimated Cartoon represented by Salvatore Di Marco and Antonino Pirotta (I Vespri Siciliani) and the School of Bitches (Genesis).

The convention, organised by Wicked Comics, is dedicated to the art of the comic book and its many associated sub cultures – such as gaming and cosplay – and will be taking place on December 5 and 6 at the Magazino Hall, Valletta Waterfront from 10:00 to 18:00 on the first day and 11:00 to 19:00 on the second day.

The newly-announced creators will be joining Simon Davis, Sabine Rich, John Freeman, Tim Perkins, Boo Cook, Mike Krome, Heba Rena Yassin, Guillermo Ortego, Sean Azzopardi, Pye Parr, Dani, Giulia Della Ciana, Michael Dialynas, Ilias Kyriazis, Cliodhna, Copper Mouflon, Goran Parlov, Mark Farmer, Nicolas Keramidas, Asia Alfasi, Chris J. Thompson, Nigel Dobbyn, Clint Langley, Gary Erskine, Jenika Ioffreda and Iella.

The line-up confirms a strong Mediterranean contingent in this year’s edition, with Christos Stamboulis and Andreas Michaelides both hailing for Greece (along with the previously announced returning guest Michael Dialynas) and Pasquale Qualano, Gianluca Maconi, Luciano Regazzoni and the team behind Grafimated Cartoon hailing from Italy.

According to the Wicked Comics organisers, the concentration of creators from these countries – Ireland will also register a strong presence – is down to healthy word-of-mouth from participants in previous editions.

“Word is spreading,” Christopher Muscat of Wicked Comics told MaltaToday.

The School of Bitches crew are also returning guests at the Con. The British ‘art-house’ originally based in Cardiff, Wales was established by artist Alan Stealth, who assembled a team to collaborate on Genesis, the House’s flagship publication. Together with writer David Dhalia in 2012, they launched a preview of Genesis at the Malta Comic Con.

With the art-house growing in size and branching out on to multiple projects, a ‘second base’ was established in Malta in April 2015.

More details can be found on www.maltacomic-con.com and all an announcements can be followed on the Malta Comic Con Facebook page