Posted in: Comics, Conventions, Events, Lucca Comics & Games, Pop Culture | Tagged: absolute, Absolute MArtian Manhunter, Alessandro Tota, Anna Brandoli, asterix, Bianca Bagnarelli, Chihoi, Danijel Zezelj, Deniz camp, ed brubaker, Feeding Ghosts, go nagai, Guerra Giusta, Houses Of The Unholy, javier rodriguez, Leonardo Merlini, Lorenzo La Neve, Olivier Schrauwen, sean phillips, sunday, Tapum, Tessa Hulls, Veruska Motta
LUCCA Awards For 2026: Absolute Martian Manhunter & Feeding Ghosts
LUCCA Awards For 2026: Absolute Martian Manhunter, Feeding Ghosts, Sunday, Tapum, Asterix, Houses Of The Unholy and Guerra Giusta all win
Article Summary
- Absolute Martian Manhunter wins Best Serialised Comic at the 2026 Lucca Awards for its acclaimed Italian edition.
- Leo Ortolani’s Tapum takes Yellow Kid Author of the Year, while Olivier Schrauwen’s Sunday wins Comic of the Year.
- Feeding Ghosts earns Tessa Hulls Best Writer, with Guerra Giusta, Asterix, and Houses Of The Unholy also honored.
- Go Nagai and Anna Brandoli receive lifetime Yellow Kid honors as Lucca celebrates top comics and translation talent.
The 2026 Lucca Comics Awards were handed out on the evening of the 29th of October at the Teatro del Giglio Giacomo Puccini, the historic theatre that has become the festival’s ceremonial stage, at Lucca Comics and Games. You can catch up with more Lucca coverage on Bleeding Cool right here.
The Yellow Kid Awards remain the festival’s top honour. The Yellow Kid for Author of the Year went to Leo Ortolani forTapum, published by Feltrinelli Comics, his account of the First World War that keeps the humour and the horror in the same frame. Accepting the award, Ortolani told the audience, “It’s not a given that someone would give me an award.” The same paper noted the prize arrives while graphic-novel sales are up sharply — one report cited a 34.8% rise in value in the first nine months of 2026.
The Yellow Kid for Comic of the Year went to Domenica by Olivier Schrauwen from Coconino Press. The jury singled out the book’s ability to stretch an ordinary day into a shifting examination of time, memory and point of view. Fumettologica, a media partner of the festival, described the choice as recognition for work that experiments with the language of comics rather than simply telling a story.
Lifetime achievement Yellow Kid Awards were given jointly to Go Nagai and Anna Brandoli. Nagai, already a major guest of the 60th “Legacy” edition, was honoured for the way his work (Mazinger, Devilman, Goldrake and the rest) rewrote global pop imagery. Brandoli was recognised for the precision of her line and her historical storytelling. The award also offers the opportunity to submit a self-portrait that will be added to the Uffizi’s permanent collection.
The Gran Guinigi Awards included names familiar to Bleeding Cool readers such as DMZandHellblazer. Croatian artist Danijel Žeželj won Best Artist for Guerra Giusta,American comics journalist Tessa Hulls won Best Writer forFeeding Ghosts, and Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez won Best Serialised Comic for its Italian translation. Houses Of The Unholy by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips got the award for the best translation from English, and Asterix in Lusitania got the best translation from French.
Yellow Kid 2026
- Master of Comics:Go Nagai
- Mistress of Comics:Anna Brandoli
- Comic of the Year:Domenica by Olivier Schrauwen (Coconino Press), translation by Olga Amagliani and Claudia Cozzi
- Author of the Year:Leo Ortolani for Tapum (Feltrinelli Comics)
Gran Guinigi 2026
- Best Artist:Guerra giusta byDanijel Žeželj (Eris Edizioni), translation by Valerio Stivè
- Best Writer:Ombre di famiglia – Feeding Ghosts byTessa Hulls (Tunué), translation by Martina Fermato
- Best Short Comic or Collection:Sto con il mio santo by Chihoi (Canicola), translation by Anastasia Genovese
- Best Serialised Comic:Absolute Martian Manhunter byDeniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez (Panini Comics), translation by Lorenzo Corti
- Best Debut:Mentre ero via by Rina Jost (Diabolo Edizioni), translation by Giulia Bertoldo
- Publishing Initiative – Stefano Beani Award:La fine del mondo (il manifesto)
- First Generation Award (ages 6–12):Kurt! by Sabine Lemire and Rasmus Bregnhøi (Sinnos)
Special Mention:Il mondo degli animali perduti by Noémie Weber (Diabolo Edizioni) - Self Publishing Award:Dust Marrow by Pastaacolazione
Gran Guinigi Pro 2026
The Pro awards recognise the translators, letterers, colourists, designers, and packaging that make the books happen.
- Best Translation from English:Stefano Formiconi for Le case del Male byEd Brubakerand Sean Phillips (saldaPress)
- Best Translation from French:Vania Vitali and Andrea Toscani for Asterix in Lusitania by Fabcaro and Didier Conrad (Panini Comics)
- Best Translation from Japanese:Christine Minutoli for La storia di Genji by Waki Yamato (J-POP Manga)
Special Mention:Prisco Oliva for La voce della strada by Kei Usuba (J-POP Manga) - Best Editorial Packaging:Topolino e il mistero dell’uomo nuvola by Ted Osborne and Floyd Gottfredson (Panini Comics)
- Best Lettering:Marco Daeron Ventura for Insectopolis by Peter Kuper (Tunué)
- Best Cover:Pino by Takashi Murakami (J-POP Manga)
- Best Color:Matheus Lopes for Helen di Wyndhorn (Bao Publishing)
The jury for the main Yellow Kid and Gran Guinigi categories were Lorenzo La Neve, Bianca Bagnarelli, Alessandro Tota, Leonardo Merlini, and Veruska Motta. They chose from a shortlist of 33 titles selected by the festival’s readers’ committee.
Nagai’s Master of Comics win continues Lucca’s tradition of recognising major international creators who have shaped the medium (and who have strong Italian publishing connections). Ortolani’s Author of the Year for Tapum is a strong home-crowd result for one of Italy’s most popular and prolific cartoonists. Schrauwen’s Domenica, published in English as Sunday from Fantagraphics, taking Comic of the Year is the most critically oriented choice of the night. The ceremony sits inside a wider Italian conversation about the health of the medium. Days earlier, the Associazione Italiana Editori had presented figures showing comics accounting for roughly one in ten printed books sold through trade channels in the first nine months of 2026.
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