Comic Books Italian Style: Napoli ComiCon

In just a few days I will be in comic book paradise. April 27^th - 29^th are the dates earmarked for the 9^th annual Napoli COMICON -- Southern Italy's premier event for everything having to do with comic art, comic books and animation and held the historic Castel Sant'Elmo which sits on the outskirts of the city-that-never-sleeps (that would be Naples, not New York).

I've written several articles on comic books and comic book art and I'll echo what I've voiced in other forums: Europe in general -- and that includes Italy -- has a different attitude when it comes to comic books. Even now - in what is considered a down-ward turn in comic book sales, most Italian titles sell close to a million copies a month. Not bad for illustrated adventures of cops, cowboys and spacemen. No capped crusaders here: you're just as likely to see someone on a bus engrossed in the adventures of Tex (check out my AC article on Tex) as you are to find someone reading the daily newspaper. And that's good, because in my humble opinion anything that encourages a person to read should not be looked down upon.