Lucca Comics & Games 2026: 345,000 attendees for the 60th edition, Panini announces the return of Rat-Man

The publisher presented its 2027 programme at its Spoiler Alert conference. The first announcement was Rat-Man: Leo Ortolani is returning to his character ten years after his last adventure, and the first volume of the new series will be released for Lucca 2027. Ortolani will also see his four Fantastic Four stories made between 1992 and 1994 published in May 2027, remastered and coloured for the first time.
On the Marvel side, Marco Rizzo and Lelio Bonaccorso are behind a four-issue Daredevil series starting in May 2027, which takes Matt Murdock to Palermo, Milan and Naples on the trail of a new criminal power linked to Cosa Nostra.
For DC, Panini is launching the DC Next Level initiative in Italy in 2027: the monthly Lobo/Deathstroke in January, then in the spring the series Legion of Super-Heroes and Shadow of the Bat, the latter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez, the duo awarded at the same event for Absolute Martian Manhunter.
Finally, the manga label Planet Manga announced for spring 2027 a twelve-volume Collector's edition of Fruits Basket, along with two titles not previously published in Italy, Fruits Basket Another and Kakumo Chiisaki Sekai Nite, as well as Ao Ashi, a series completed in Japan in 40 volumes.
In France, Fruits Basket is available in a twelve-volume Perfect edition. Here are the first four.

Zelda and Harry Potter: two Panini card ranges for 2027

Panini Collectibles also presented its plans at the same conference. The trading card collection The Legend of Zelda Master Collection, produced with Nintendo and originally announced for the series' 40th anniversary, will be released in Italy during 2027, with no more precise date. The cards shown in Lucca, Link in 8-bit and 16-bit versions, Link and Zelda from Ocarina of Time, Zelda from Skyward Sword and Link from Tears of the Kingdom, had already been revealed before.
Panini America, for its part, is preparing a strategic Harry Potter trading card game, expected in 2027. The rules, card design, formats and availability will be given later.

Star Comics reissues Parasyte in colour and Mushishi

Star Comics kept its announcements for a live stream on the Twitch channel of the AnimeClick website, its last appointment of the event. The Italian publisher will release Parasyte (Kiseiju) by Hitoshi Iwaaki in a full-colour edition of eight volumes, as well as a new edition of Mushishi by Yuki Urushibara in five volumes.
The list also includes Nekomajin by Akira Toriyama, a single volume available in a New Edition and an Ultimate Edition, Märchen Crown, co-written by Aka Akasaka, the Cotton Star box set by Yumiko Oshima and a tribute anthology to Fujiko F. Fujio. These editions are announced for the Italian market.

Video games: Yoshinori Kitase guest of honour at the festival

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The producer of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy was the guest of honour of the video game section. His schedule included a masterclass on Saturday 31 October, followed by his induction into the festival's Walk of Fame, then an audience Q&A on Sunday, while Square Enix presented Final Fantasy VII Revelation at the Casa del Boia. The final instalment of the trilogy comes out on 8 April 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2 and PC, a date known since 3 September.
In an interview given during the event to the Italian site Open, Kitase explained that the Revelation team is the same as the Rebirth team and that it took player feedback on each character into account. He confirmed that the series will include "spin-off" games with different art styles, alongside the numbered instalments. No title or schedule came with this plan.
The first part of the trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, is available on PS5 and, since January 2026, on Switch 2.

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The day before the opening, on 27 October, the Italian studio Nara Studio, co-founded by content creator Francesco "Cydonia" Cilurzo, released the "Welcome to the Valley" trailer for Wonderful Neoran Valley. This monster-collecting game raised more than a million dollars on Kickstarter and had a stand in the Sala Canova for all five days.
The festival also produced its own game, Luke & Clea - A Quest for Legacy, a free 16-bit pixel art game on iOS and Android that tells the story of Lucca Comics & Games. According to the organisers, it entered the Top 100 most downloaded games on both stores in less than a week. A new level is due to be unlocked at each edition.

Series and animation: Shangri-La Frontier and Percy Jackson previews

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Crunchyroll held the world premiere of the first two episodes of season 3 of Shangri-La Frontier at the event. The season starts in January 2027 on the platform, which will stream it in Europe among other regions.
Disney+, for its part, scheduled a preview of season 3 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, expected on 20 November 2026 on the platform.
Funko released POP figures based on the anime in September. Here are Sunraku, Arthur Pencilgon, Oikatzo and Emul.

Board games: Defenders of Hogwarts world preview

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Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, of the MinaLima studio, chose Lucca to present their board game Defenders of Hogwarts as a world preview. The event was the first to make it available to the public, ahead of a release planned for spring 2027.
The programme also included a preview of the Star Trek expansion for Magic: The Gathering, and the first pre-launch tournament in Italy for the Cyberpunk trading card game.

The winners: Go Nagai and Anna Brandoli named masters of comics

The Lucca Comics & Games Awards were presented on 29 October at the Teatro del Giglio Giacomo Puccini. The Yellow Kid awards for master of comics went to Go Nagai, creator of Grendizer, Mazinger Z and Devilman and headline guest of the edition, and to Anna Brandoli.
The comic of the year award went to Domenica by Olivier Schrauwen, published by Coconino Press, and author of the year to Leo Ortolani for Tapum. In the Gran Guinigi awards, Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez was named best series, Guerra giusta by Danijel Žeželj best artwork and Ombre di famiglia by Tessa Hulls best script.
For games, Rebirth by Reiner Knizia, published in Italy by Cranio Creations, is game of the year, and Legend in the Mist, published in Italy as Isola by Illyon Edizioni, role-playing game of the year. Paolo Mori received game designer of the year, Alessio Cavatore the lifetime achievement award, and the Joe Dever award went to Star Wars, created by George Lucas.

What this 60th edition tells us

The figure of 345,000 attendees appears to beat the record of 319,926 tickets sold in 2022, but the two numbers cannot be compared. This year, the organisers gave a total that includes accreditations, without saying how many tickets were actually sold. In 2025, the festival sold around 280,000 tickets, plus around 17,000 trade accreditations.
The ticketing figure highlighted is Saturday's, sold out at 80,000 entries. Emanuele Vietina, the festival director, summed up the edition with a message to the city, asking Lucca to stay true to itself and keep accepting change.
The 2027 edition already has dates: from Thursday 28 October to Monday 1 November 2027, again over five days.
Banner photo: cosplayers at the foot of Lucca's walls during Lucca Comics & Games 2021, by Syrio, CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, via Wikimedia Commons.