Poster and presentation note of the XXX Barcelona Comic Fair

ROBOTS WILL INVADE THE 30th BARCELONA COMIC ROOM
The contest will feature great authors from all over the world

The 30th Barcelona International Comic Fair today announced a preview of its program at an event held at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, which this year will have a cultural, recreational and scientific nature on the occasion of the exhibition Robots in their ink.

The event, organized by FICOMIC that will take place from May 3 to 6 at Fira de Barcelona, ​​takes advantage of its anniversary to mount “the most spectacular edition in its history”, as the director of the event, Carles Santamaria, has pointed out. Not in vain, during the days of the contest, an attempt will be made to bring together the largest number of autonomous and humanoid robots that have ever concentrated in Spain, since one of the thematic axes of this edition is the relationship between robots and the world of comic and popular culture.

The exhibition Robots in its ink, curated by the UPC professor Jordi Ojeda, will try not only to reflect "how the comic has tried to explain the world of robots", in the words of Ojeda himself, but also "to encourage interest scientist among young people ”and make it clear that“ robotics is going to be the leisure of the future ”. For all this, it will have not only the central exhibition, but also various live exhibits in which visitors can interact with real robots.

"Robotics is part of the collective imagination of fiction and since here we have a pioneering robotics institute it seemed like a good idea to dedicate this anniversary edition to robots, and to be able to count on the rigor that the UPC gave us". In the sample collaborates the Institute of Industrial Robotics, IRI (CSIC-UPC). Alberto Sanfeliu, its director and professor at the UPC, indicated that "robotics is going to have a great impact in this decade" to the point that it could "create a new socioeconomic model." The Hall will carry out a double task of dissemination among the general public and of creating scientific vocations.

Among the novelties of the Salon, Carles Santamaria explained the redefinition of the Salon awards "reducing the number of categories and creating two prizes with a large financial endowment to promote our authors and publishers." The awards of the Grand Prize of the Salon in recognition of the professional career of a Spanish author and that of the best work of a national author will each have 10.000 euros of endowment. In addition, to celebrate the anniversary of the Hall, all those born in 1982, that is, turning 30 this year, will have free admission.

Regarding the provisional program, he explained that an exhibition will be dedicated to the 50 years of life of Spiderman, one of the most popular superheroes in the world. Samples will also be dedicated to the winners of last year's awards, such as Jordi Longarón's Grand Prize at the Comic Fair 2011, whose name is associated with the popular series Hazañas Bélicas; Juanjo Guarnido, cartoonist for Blacksad; or Paco Roca, who won the awards for Best Work and Best Screenplay for El Invierno del Draftsman and who is also the author of this year's original poster.

Roca assured that the poster, in which a cartoonist and a reader can be seen sharing the same comic, “aims to show both sides of the same page, the artist and the reader. There is no one without the other and the place where they meet is precisely the Hall ”, he said. This renowned author recalled the time when he himself was "still a reader" and went "to the Salon to meet the authors he admired." To point out below that "now is a good opportunity to meet those who read me." Roca starred in one of the fun moments of the event when, with the help of the robot Tibi, he discovered the poster of the contest. Paco Roca is currently in full swing for the Goya Award nomination for the animated film Wrinkles based on his comic.

For his part, the president of the Gremi d'Editors de Catalunya and FICOMIC, Xavier Mallafré, assured that the Show continues to enjoy “good health” and in that sense, “an enviable vitality, strength and external projection”. In addition, he affirmed that "the comic is an indispensable means to generate new readers." Pere Mayans, representative of the Department of Education of the Generalitat de Catalunya, agreed with Mallafré in pointing out that the comic "can help improve the school results of our students", since it "contributes more than one way of reading." He added that "this is the fifth consecutive year that we collaborate with the Comic Fair and we are very happy with this relationship because we consider the comic to be a very important pedagogical tool."

The provisional list of foreign guests includes renowned authors such as Go Nagai, creator of Mazinger Z; Milo Manara, one of the masters of European comics; Guy Delisle, author of graphic novels such as Pyongyang and Chronicles of Jerusalem; and Sergio Aragonés, a classic from MAD magazine. Outstanding authors of the DC superhero revolution will be present such as Paul Cornell, writer of Doctor Who and the new Action Comics series; Rags Morales, cartoonist for Action Comics; and Scott Snyder, writer of the new Batman and The Swamp Thing series.

The Show has the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona City Council and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. In addition this year the contest takes up the collaboration with the French Institute of Barcelona. The show will be held in palace number 8 of the Fira de Barcelona site, where it will occupy 19.000 square meters. This is the eighth consecutive year that it takes place at Fira de Barcelona.

We remind you that the period for requesting accreditations for the Comic Fair is open. This will end on Monday April 23, date from which no more passes will be processed. To request the accreditations it is necessary to provide all the data of the medium, as well as the coverage carried out during the previous year. In the case of being the first year to attend the Show, it is necessary to send a recently published work related to comics or culture. We look forward to your assistance. For any clarification, do not hesitate to contact us or consult our website www.ficomic.com. Thank you very much for your attention.

Regards,

Thomas Pardo
Press / FICOMIC