Imposter Syndrome at Full Power
The Lake Como Comic Arts Festival 2025
Friday evening Sue, Cecil and I arrived at the Villa Elba on the coast of Lake Como for the opening reception of the Lake Como Comic Arts Festival. The Villa and its grounds are lovely, but just how in hades did we end up here? I follow people on social media and many of them are comics creators. A few had mentioned this small, yet amazing event in Italy. Since I had started buying art & comic book pages they mentioned it to me. I’m not wealthy, in the least, I’m a retired public school teacher from a state known for not paying teachers well. I also play around with drawing and collect comics among other pursuits.
Sue and I had promised each other that with my retirement we would start to use our passports more often, I set the goal at once per year at a minimum. This became part of meeting that goal.
When I attend a comic con I try to purchase some piece of original artwork. It might be a sketch, a commission, or a page. It matters, if a piece speaks to me and if I’m prepared to spend the money (or better yet it is within my “stop & think point” when it comes to art) I’ll but something. My stop and think point isn’t that high and unfortunately, prices for original art are usually way above that.
Lake Como Comic Arts Festival is a special event in that it is small and focuses on the art & artists. Which is scary for someone like me. Like I normally do with anything I jumped in with both feet and paid for the highest level of ticket which includes a lot of stuff including: A portfolio with art from some of the participants, an original sketch from Alex Ross or Bill Sienkiewicz, and an invite to the opening reception. Let’s say it’s pricey, but in the long run, well worth it for a comic art geek.
After a day of traveling to Milan to see the last supper and a church which has a painting of unicorns boarding Noah’s ark we headed back via the ferry to prepare for the reception.
Fortunately this was a mix of people so the attire wasn’t formal. I did decide not to wear a t-shirt, but I could have. I met some other collectors but mostly sat at a table with Sue watching the world go by drinking Pinot Noir. The funny thing is my level of knowledge when it comes to comic artists is similar to that of music… ok, a bit higher but, I recognize the work but the artist, for the most part could be standing in front of me and I wouldn’t know. I’ve been to enough Cons to recognize the regulars on the U.S. circuit, but here? I’m pretty clueless. I’ve bought work from Stan Sakai and Humberto Ramos so I know them (you never forget anxiety filled situations, no matter how brief).
So I just was a wallflower for the evening.
Things Are Different Here
The next morning I got up early said goodbye to a still sleeping Sue and headed out to the Festival about two hours before it opened to queue up. If there’s one thing comic con people get used to it’s queuing. I was not the first person, but was still early in line. The folks running things came by and dropped off croissants for those in line. We all talked to each other in our various accents about why we were here. Some were first timers (like me) others had been a few times. We all had game plans. My idea was to start with Frank Cho then move on to my commissions, then look around everything.
Time for Plan B
As Leonard Snart said, “Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan...”
Once I figured out where I needed to go there was already a group waiting at Frank Cho’s table, but no Frank. So I head to find Yannick Corboz. You see prior to the convention they auctioned off the chance to be the first person on an artists commission list. I looked at what Yannick had done and decided to give it a go. I had heard nothing so I wasn’t sure what to expect (anxiety level high). I sat down across from Yannick and at the mention of “commission” was pointed to another person who arranged those things. Once I had explained and paid, Yannick and I chatted for a bit. Now when it comes to having an artist create I try to be as open as possible. I want to see the artist’s vision. While it may be a character that is not theirs I want to see how they would tackle it. There are no wrong answers here. Yannick does beautiful watercolors of women, so I asked him to do Bettie. He gave me a timeline and I said, I’m here all weekend, take your time. I arranged to also purchase his 2025 sketchbook with a drawing in it.
From there I headed to see Mahmud Asrar about a commission we’d already arranged. Mahmud does the current comic Bug Wars which is amazing. He had posted he was working on his pre-list for Lake Como and I asked him for a Rocketeer. What he showed me was amazing. He sheepishly said he had difficulty with the character, but as you can see it was just fantastic.
I headed back to Frank who was still AWOL and the line was still there. Looking like many were settling in for the long haul. You see what Frank had done was post a photo of sketches he was bringing and it was a first come first serve. I saw he had a drawing of Tinkerbell and figured I’d try and see about that. Oh well, back to wandering around, I’ll check back later.
All the wonders of the world… and more
Basically every artist has a table to work at or put their work. Most have some kind of display. There is a chair in front so while the artist draws they don’t have to look up at you to chat. The artist to fan ratio makes this a very intimate event.
This year they decided to have a gallery exhibition of David Mack’s work on Daredevil:Reborn. David did all the murals and artwork done by the Muse. While this was the focus of the exhibition David’s known for so many other amazing things in the comic world.
I checked social media and around lunchtime Frank posts a photo of sketches and says he’s on his way… no Tinkerbell so, no worries, just scratch that one off the list. Sue stops by for lunch before heading into Como to shop and explore. We stop by David Mack’s table and buy a painting he’s done of a cat the looks a lot like Issi (I miss my boys).
I spend the rest of the day wandering in a daze. I stop by Humberto Ramos’ table look at a few pages and covers… darn. He has a bunch that I like that are way beyond my stop and think point. Then I see it- a page from the first issue of Spectacular Spider-Men. Peter and Miles walking into the Coffee bean for the first time. They aren’t in costume, so it is within my price range. So I buy it. I’m reminded to keep an eye out because Humberto’s art from his new run on Fantastic Four will be available online soon.
I then pick up a small sketch of the Rocketeer before stopping by to see the progress on my commission. It is finished, and it is… exactly what I wanted (even though I really didn’t know what I wanted). Wow. Just plain old fashioned wow.
From here I head into the panel room (it’s quiet and dark, panels won’t start for 30 minutes) to just and decompress and reflect for a bit.
First panel was David Mack being interviewed about his career and work on Daredevil: Reborn. It reminded me that David had mentioned the art we had bought earlier was part of a book and he was having some dropped off so I needed to go and check back later.
David also quoted Chuck Jones 1,000 bad drawings- except changes drawings to pages. These are my people, I’m just too introverted to actually talk to most of them.
The next panel was the European premiere of the Kingdom Come Documentary. The focus was mostly on Alex Ross and how he changed the way people looked at comics. I’m no critic, so I won’t say anything else, it did bring back a lot of memories of when the comic first came out and my first thoughts after reading the first issue.
So that ended the first day. I was still overwhelmed by it all, but happy with the experience. The one thing I figured out was I could take it easier on Sunday.
Sunday Sunday SUNDAY!!!
Sue and I started out heading on the ferry into Como. There was a market at the park on the way so we shopped a bit. Sue got a fancy daypack/purse and I picked up a wallet. I learned on my first trip to Europe that billfolds from the U.S. are not the right size to hold foreign currency. I’ve picked up a new wallet when I’m in another country so that everything fits nicely. This was on my list and while I will question it, the gentle selling it said he makes them… maybe true, might just be a story for the tourists. Sue was still looking around for a few things and we wanted to get them before the stores closed for lunch as many stores did. So off to Como! No actual problems except getting a bit lost. In the end Sue was happy, and we headed back to Cernobbio for lunch.
From there I returned to the Festival. I wanted to attend the last panel and I still had a comic I wanted to get signed… I’d been carrying it around the entire trip and would feel really stupid if I didn’t make an effort to get it signed.
This lead me back to Pulps.fr and Yannick to pick up my sketchbook (he gave me a choice of a number of sketches which was great). I also had to inquire about a Rocketeer drawing they had on display 🙄 I’d already picked up a small drawing, but this was a pencil sketch… yes, I bought it. I just feel like an idiot for not asking who the artist was… I still don’t know.
Some artists had set signing times which was smart since the idea was for them to demonstrate throughout the weekend while chatting with fans. On the way to the panel room I bought David Mack’s cat book and a few other things before arriving (late) to the last panel which was basically suggestions on how to improve the Festival. The goal was to see what worked, and what didn’t. There was discussion on bringing in comics dealers - answer basically was “no, this focuses on art & artists.” Also something about customs, taxes, and stuff like that. They also talked about Line skipping and dealers lining up before anyone has arrived to get first dibs on art or commissions. This year dealers were given a different color wristband and if one of the organizers saw them in line for an artist- they would be asked to get out of line since they were not an attendee. I’m guessing- No line? Sure, but the attendees were the priority. As for line skipping there is a walk from where people line up to where the expo hall is. Once you get past the gate people start accelerating. Is there a way to prevent this? So the people who waited hours actually get in first and don’t just get a croissant (which was wonderful). The ratio of attendees to artists was 7:1. The attendance at the festival was around 400. It will never go above 1000. The biggest issue limiting growth is hotel space. I guess the big hotels have been closed for renovation for a few years. There were a few suggestions for people to bring in. Most had been asked or attended before. With only 70 tables there is a lot of thought as to who to invite. A survey will go out soon for more feedback. Along with asking who the attendees would like to see. 🤔 This looks to me to be a tight knit community of fans and artists with a mutual respect which was a great way to spend a weekend. Am I planning to attend again? Yes, hopefully next year, but the hashtag “SavingForComo” will need to be used a lot beforehand.
“No, I’m not Brian Bolland”
I was asked twice if I was the artist Brian Bolland (Judge Dread in 2000AD, Camelot 3000 for DC, among others) so I guess there is a passing resemblance? One person was very nice and talked with me (embarrassingly) for a while before leaving saying he was going to get something so he could write down my contact information so we could keep in touch… He never came back. It reminded me of getting Cecil’s picture with Adam Savage from Mythbusters at SDCC only to see the name badge he was wearing had a completely different name. Funny thing about that- it was Adam Savage.
The most expensive piece of art I saw was 70k but I’m sure if I had really looked I would have found something that cost more. I spent way more than I should have (I estimate double what I had planned) but I’m not suffering from any buyers remorse. This is art from people I admire and respect. I’m not buying to resell. I did get a little apprehension about getting the works in my portfolio signed after the first artist asked for ten euros. Although some people not only got every piece signed, but also had the portfolio cover signed by everyone artist. I did not. Something to think about - although CGC was not there to offer authentication services… 🙄 which IMHO made this a much classier event, and one that I want to put on my list of Cons to return to.
As I read over this I’m still Amazed at all that a saw, and most of it I didn’t write about. I need to really move beyond the artists I follow and look at some of the amazing things people are putting together. There were 70 world renowned artists there and I only focused on a handful. Next time- #savingforcomo
I love how intimate this fest was! 7:1... WOW!!!
No idea where you found time to enjoy Italian wine, sunshine, great artists, write checks and be sure Sue happy and ... write this amazing account of a day never forgotten! Great job!