Our Story
The Association of Comic Book Enthusiasts and the event “Herceg Novi Comic Festival” (HSF) was founded in 2007 by visual artist and comic book creator Nikola Ćurčin. The goals of the association are to popularize comics and educate the public about the ninth art. The festival is also designed as a cultural event that extends the summer tourist season, with the first Friday in September chosen as the start date, and the festival lasting for six days. Although it began as an event with a modest budget, the Herceg Novi Comic Festival quickly managed to attract world-renowned artists as special guests, such as Igor Kordey, Esad Ribić, Zoran Janjetov, Darko Macan, and others. At the same time, regular guests and the festival’s icons, Tihomir Tikulin Tico, Vladimir Vesović, and Iztok Sitar, have established their presence. As the festival grew, Nikola Ćurčin expanded the organizing team, bringing in Jovan Subotić first, followed by Nebojša Mandić. This trio began to work wonders in the years that followed. The festival grew beyond regional boundaries, garnered extensive media attention, earned the title of a “Festival of Special Significance for the City,” and became one of the most attractive destinations in Southeast Europe for comic book enthusiasts. The festival’s growth is also reflected in the increasing number of special guests and in the attractive music programs that accompany comic-related events. With the status it has earned among comic book fans, HSF fully fulfills its role as both an important cultural event and an event that extends the summer tourist season in Herceg Novi. Each year, the Herceg Novi Comic Festival hosts twelve new special guests and welcomes around sixty returning artists. The festival’s daily programs take place at different locations throughout the city for each of the six days, culminating in live music performances and after-parties. The programs include exhibitions, fan art, T-shirt drawing, signings, presentations, panel discussions, screenings, the “Comic in a Bottle” event, and more. In addition to regular comic-related activities, the festival offers guests a variety of accompanying programs such as tours, cruises, diving, jet skiing, salsa, music concerts, and parties. Since 2016, the Association of Comic Book Enthusiasts has also organized another event, smaller in scale but not in quality. The Winter Comic Weekend is designed as a thematic event dedicated to a major comic book star. The first guest of the Comic Weekend was William Simpson, the lead storyboard artist for the globally hit TV series “Game of Thrones” and an Emmy Award winner. This event marked a significant turning point in the history of the Association and the beginning of HSF’s meteoric rise, and since 2018, Mr. Simpson has officially held the title of Ambassador of the Herceg Novi Comic Festival. For its contribution to the development of relations between the two countries, the Embassy of the Republic of Italy in Montenegro awarded the Association of Comic Book Enthusiasts “Herceg Novi Comic Festival” the “Caravaggio” award, while the Novi Sad Fair awarded HSF a gold medal for the festival’s exceptional quality in 2019. The regular partners of the Herceg Novi Comic Festival include the Municipality of Herceg Novi, the Tourist Organization of Herceg Novi, the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, and the Embassy of the Republic of Italy in Montenegro. Sponsors and friends of the festival include numerous businesses, hospitality venues, and public institutions in Herceg Novi that generously offer their infrastructure for the festival’s use. The strategic goal of the Association of Comic Book Enthusiasts “Herceg Novi Comic Festival” is to elevate the festival and the city to the level of the world’s greatest events dedicated to the ninth art.
The Hercegnovski Strip Festival has had the honor of hosting a large number of guests from the world of comics in its previous editions. Whether they are artists, writers, critics, journalists, publishers, or talent scouts, everyone who has come to Herceg Novi has become part of the HSF family and gladly returns to our festival. Some have gained the title of Festival Ambassador, some have the status of regular guests, and who knows what other titles await us in future editions. The following participants have been involved in past festivals:
**Argentina:**
– Enrique Breccia
– Leandro Fernandez
**Australia:**
– Chris Thompson
**Belgium:**
– Dan Verlinden
**Bosnia and Herzegovina:**
– Filip Andronik
– Milenko Bogdanović
– Zdravko Cvjetković
– Enis Čišić
– Kenan Halilović
– Midhat Kapetanović
– Besir Maglić
– Zoran Pejić
– Kostja Ribnik
– Dejan Šijuk
– Milorad Vicanović Maza
– Tatjana Vidojević
**China:**
– Yi Yang
**Croatia:**
– Štef Bartolić
– Krešimir Biuk
– Valentina Briški
– Marko Đeška
– Sonja Gašperov
– Val Jukić
– Igor Kordej
– Filip Mihela
– Martina Krizmanić Pšenica
– Darko Macan
– Denis Pajtak
– Milko Peko
– Matija Pisačić
– Irena Jukić Pranjić
– Esad Ribić
– Bob Solanović
– Josip Sršen
– Fran Strukan
– Goran Sudžuka
– Dalibor Talajić
– Mirna Tikulin
– Tihomir Tikulin Tico
– Renato Vladimir Renky
**France:**
– Dana Dimat
– Fred Remuzat
– Julien Shantz
**Germany:**
– Sarah Burrini
– Mohammed El-Sayed
– Sedat Oezgen
– Alexander Ruscher
**Ireland:**
– Cian Tormey
**Italy:**
– Carlo Ambrosini
– Mario Alberti
– Paolo Bacilieri
– Vanessa Belardo
– Stefano Bidetti
– Moreno Burattini
– Ester Cardella
– Fabio Celoni
– Davide De Cubellis
– Pasquale Del Vecchio
– Werther Dell’Edera
– Maurizio Di Vincenzo
– Andrea Di Vito
– Tito Faraci
– Michele Foschini
– Valerio Held
– Mariana Ignazzi
– Jenika Ioffreda
– Anna Lazzarini
– Grazia La Padula
– Antonio Lucchi
– Marcello Mangiantini
– Marco Mastrazzo
– Paolo Mottura
– Joevito Nuccio
– Alessandro Pastrovicchio
– Lorenzo Pastrovicchio
– Giada Perissinotto
– Valerio Piccioni
– Giorgio Pontrelli
– Enea Riboldi
– Oscar Scalco
– Angelo Stano
– Walter Trono
– Zerocalcare
**Montenegro:**
– Dražen Baletić
– Luka Cakić
– Tihomir Čelanović
– Srđan Ivanović
– Đorđe Kamenarović
– Anđelka Kovač
– Rina Nedović
– Ilija Nikčević
– Dragić Rabrenović
– Luka Rakojević
– Sofija Rašo
– Miodrag Spasojević
– Lazo Sredanović
– Simon Vučković
– Aleksandar Vujošević
– Andrija Vujošević
**Netherlands:**
– Zoran Djukanovic
**Russia:**
– Artyom Trakhanov
– Dmitry Yakovlev
**Serbia:**
– Jana Adamović
– Marko Aleksić
– Ivana Antović
– Saša Arsenić
– Iva Atoski
– Nemanja Baćković
– Siniša Banović
– Dragan Bosnić
– Ana Ciglar
– Nenad Cvitičanin
– Mirko Čolak
– Rajko Čučak
– Darko Dacović
– Selena Danilović
– Peđa Dimitrijević
– Marija Đeranović
– Aleksandra Ana Đorđević
– Branko Đukić
– Aleksa Gajić
– Borivoje Grbić
– Monika Husar
– Emina Ignjatović
– Peđa Ivanović
– Zoran Janjetov
– Ivan Katanić
– Stefan Katanić
– Branislav Bane Kerac
– Petar Klaić
– Milivoj Kostić
– Dražen Kovačević
– Đorđe Krajnović
– Dragana Kuprešanin
– Goran Lakićević
– Dušan Majkić
– Marko Malk
– Aleksandar Marković
– Igor Marković
– Vladimir Marković Looney
– Milica Mastelica
– Miša Mijalković
– Mijat Mijatović
– Miroljub Milutinović Brada
– Nenad Lazarević Morrison
– Ilija Mirović
– Milan Mišić
– Dušan Mladenović
– Aleksandar Nešić Kreša
– Aleksandar Obradović
– Ana Omi
– Željko Pahek
– Darko Perović
– Dragana Pešić
– Leonid Pilipović
– Vuk Popadić
– Toni Radev
– Danica Radović
– Dušan Raković
– Kristijan Reljić
– Predrag Roćenović
– Vladimir Roganović
– Miloš Slavković
– Filip Stanković
– Zoran Stefanović
– Marko Stojanović
– Stevan Subić
– Ivan Šainović
– Geza Šetet
– Žika Tamburić
– Radojica Todorov
– Jovan Ukropina
– Maja Veselinović
– Vladimir Vesović
– Pavle Zelić
– Aleksandar Zograf
– Vladan Žervanov
– Ana Živković
– Sara Živković
**Slovenia:**
– Izar Lunaček
– Karolina Marušić
– Iztok Sitar
– Zoran Smiljanić
**Spain:**
– Raul Allen
– Fernando Dagnino
– Toni Fejzula
– Javier Fernandez
– RM Guera
– Aneke Murillenem
– Roger Ibanez
– Guillermo Ortego
– Francis Portela
**Switzerland:**
– Viktor Bogdanović
– Andrej Đerković
**United Kingdom:**
– Doug Braithwaite
– Ian Churchill
– Mike Collins
– Boo Cook
– Simon Davis
– Rufus Dayglo
– Glenn Fabry
– PJ Holden
– Karen Holloway
– Brian Kirk
– Dave McKean
– Andrew Scott
– Zoe Thorogood
– William Simpson
**Musical Guests:**
– 2 Beat
– Acoustic Therapy Trio
– Ako Znam
– Artan Lili
– Best Moon Rising
– Boka All Stars
– Cheap Seats
– Darkwood Dub
– Disciplin A Kitschme
– Deca Loših Muzičara
– DJ BodziE
– DJ Chevalier
– DJ Renky
– DJ Seagull Prime
– DJ Soft 85
– DOS
– eDOLL
– Empathy Soul Project
– Fast Women & Slow Horses
– Gift
– Gotham Villains
– Groovy Castel Nuovo
– Gump Forrest i Majka Mara
– High Voltage
– Hunting Souls
– Ice Cream Man & His One Man Band
– Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša
– Kenova
– KUD Idijoti
– Kupplung
– Lagana Sreda
– Light Under the Black Mountain
– Low Voltage
– Lutke na koncu
– Marko Vlahović
– Mladen Nikčević
– Monah
– Mustang
– Počeni škafi
– Podosti
– Prljavi inspektor Blaža i Kljunovi
– Psihomodo Pop
– Rambo Amadeus
– Repetitor
– Ritam Sex-i-ja
– Rodeo Clown
– Sana Garić
– Sara Renar
– Selektor Deda
– Sevdah BABY DJ
– Šlape
– Virvel
– Vitez Đurović i Petar Veliki
– Viva Vops
– Who See
– ZeroTwo
– Zoster
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The audience in Herceg Novi has the opportunity every year to enjoy excellent exhibitions of works by world-renowned comic artists. The Herceg Novi Comic Festival opens with a major exhibition dedicated to the work of special guests at the “Josip Bepo Benković” city gallery, accompanied by a thematic exhibition at the “Sue Ryder” gallery. Other locations host additional exhibitions, ranging from works by younger creators and debut works to promotions of new comics and tribute exhibitions to some of the comic greats.
The Association of Comic Lovers “Herceg Novi Comic Festival” has practically the entire city infrastructure at its disposal, making it ready to meet any exhibition challenge. In previous editions, the audience had the chance to see some truly interesting displays. For instance, at the eighth festival, the “Josip Bepo Benković” Gallery showcased original pages from the then-unpublished episode of the Italian comic Zagor, “The Past of Jimmy Guitar,” in the presence of both authors, scriptwriter Moreno Burattini and artist Bane Kerac. This episode was published in Italy exactly twelve months later. Additionally, at the twelfth edition, the audience could enjoy a large exhibition dedicated to Osvaldo Cavandoli and his “La Linea,” organized in collaboration with the “Nova” festival from Pančevo. At the thirteenth HSF, we paid tribute to Lazo Sredanović and the fifty-year anniversary of his work on the comic “Dikan” with a grand exhibition.
The HSF places special emphasis on working with the youngest participants. During the festival, workshops are organized for both children and adults. The leadership of these workshops is entrusted to Professor Vladimir Vesović, director of the “Đorđe Lobačev” comic school in Belgrade, as well as comic artists and educators Tihomir Tico Tikulin, Iztok Sitar, and Filip Andronik from Zagreb, Ljubljana, and Sarajevo. The children’s workshops are exceptionally well-attended, and we are known as a festival that attracts the largest number of young people as its audience. The most talented children of Herceg Novi have had, and will continue to have, the opportunity to draw with their role models and learn from some of the world’s greatest comic creators. All events are hosted by the city galleries and renowned local venues, and all activities at HSF are free of charge.
The biggest attractions of the festival gatherings are the fan drawing sessions. Organized drawing at HSF takes place in four two-hour intervals on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, while the final day, Wednesday, is reserved for the “everyone draws” event. On this day, all rules go out the window, and in a relaxed beach bar setting, drawing continues all day long accompanied by music, dancing, diving, jet skiing, and other activities. Friday, the first day of the Festival, is reserved for the special guest exhibitions and the grand opening, while Tuesday is set aside for a boat trip and the “comics in a bottle” event.
A special attraction of HSF is drawing on t-shirts. During the designated sessions, all Festival guests can draw dedications for fans not on paper but on specially prepared t-shirts. Comic enthusiasts thus receive a unique souvenir from their favorite artists with a design of their choice.
One of the tasks for the special guests of each HSF edition is to create a poster dedicated to the Festival and Herceg Novi. All posters, printed on high-quality paper, are available as souvenirs for all comic lovers. Each edition also has a festival t-shirt and a festival tote bag, which are also available to comic fans during the event.
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The festival also features a comic book fair. The fair is organized by the “Mr.No” comic shop from Podgorica, along with guest publishing houses that showcase their comic book releases. HSF is the only opportunity for the audience from Herceg Novi, as well as from nearby Kotor, Tivat, Dubrovnik, and Trebinje, to explore the annual production and acquire comic book editions they may be missing. This aspect of the festival further enhances its significance, as it attracts a substantial number of visitors to Herceg Novi.