Lucca Comics & Games has named the winners of its 2026 awards, handed out on Oct. 29 at the historic Teatro del Giglio during the festival’s 60th edition, according to the official announcement.
The festival’s top honors, the Yellow Kid Awards, went to two very different books. Leo Ortolani won Author of the Year for Tapum, his First World War story from Feltrinelli Comics that mixes humor and horror. “It’s not a given that someone would give me an award,” Ortolani told the audience. Comic of the Year went to Olivier Schrauwen’s Domenica from Coconino Press, published in English by Fantagraphics as Sunday, which the jury praised for its daring experimentation.
American superhero comics got a win too. Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez took the Gran Guinigi for Best Serialised Comic for its Italian edition from Panini Comics, Bleeding Cool reports. Tessa Hulls won Best Writer for Feeding Ghosts, her memoir of three generations of women and Chinese history, and Croatian artist Danijel Žeželj won Best Artist for Guerra giusta.
Lifetime achievement Yellow Kids went to Go Nagai, the creator of Mazinger Z, Devilman and Grendizer, and to Italian artist Anna Brandoli, known for her historical storytelling.
Other winners included:
Best Short Comic or Collection: Sto con il mio santo by Chihoi (Canicola)
Best Debut: Mentre ero via by Rina Jost (Diabolo Edizioni)
Best Translation from English: Stefano Formiconi for Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Houses of the Unholy (saldaPress)
Best Translation from French: Vania Vitali and Andrea Toscani for Asterix in Lusitania (Panini Comics)
Best Cover: Pino by Takashi Murakami (J-POP Manga)
Best Color: Matheus Lopes for Helen of Wyndhorn (Bao Publishing)
The awards arrive during a strong run for comics in Italy. Days earlier, the Italian Publishers Association reported that about one in ten printed books sold through trade channels in the first nine months of 2026 was a comic, with graphic novel sales up 34.8% in value.
Absolute Martian Manhunter’s win adds to a big awards season for DC’s Absolute line, after Absolute Batman took Book of the Year at the Harvey Awards.
