The extremely rich program of the 20th jubilee edition of the Herceg Novi Comic Festival (HSF), which will be held this year from September 4 to 9, has been completed and specified in detail. To define the detailed program content, the organizers were waiting for the confirmation of the guest appearance of the most famous and most read comic in these areas – the legendary Alan Ford, i.e. its current author, Riccardo Secchi, the son of the creator of Group TNT, the legendary Luciano Secchi, better known under the pseudonym Max Bunker.

At the end of April of this year, Max Bunker announced that he was finally stopping working on that cult comic series, which he started in 1969 with cartoonist and illustrator Robert Raviola, better known as Magnus. But Alan Ford continues to live and remain in the Secchi family, so the baton will be taken over by his son Riccardo, who will hold a presentation of the iconic comic with which many generations of people in the former Yugoslavia grew up in the beautiful surroundings of the garden of the Herceg Novi Hotel (Ex Lazarev Garden) in Herceg Novi on Saturday, September 6.

This guest appearance, rounded off by a list of 150 guests of artists, screenwriters, musicians, producers and a program that, in an educational sense, also receives another important promotional program unit – Ecology and the ninth art of the Hercegno Comic Festival (HSF) irrefutably proves the epithet of the manifestation of exceptional importance for culture in our country. In the jubilee year, the organizers made an effort to improve the already extremely rich educational part of the program, which includes workshops, master classes, but also the presentation of young artists from Montenegro. That is why, in the year of the jubilee, an entire exhibition in the “Josip Bepo Benković” Gallery is dedicated to young Montenegrin comic artists, where about twenty of them will present their works, and during the presentations they will have the opportunity to personally introduce themselves to the world cream of the ninth art, which this year is coming to Herceg Novi from more than 25 countries around the world.

Of course, every year HSF raises the organizational and programming standards to a higher level, primarily with the quality of the program and the artists who stay in our country during the six days of the festival, but also by expanding the festival events to the entire territory of Boka and Lovćen. Thus, six years ago, cooperation with the Municipality of Tivat first began, and three years ago it was extended to Lovćen and cooperation with the Kotor – Lovćen Cable Car and the Monte 1350 bar, and this year the support of the Municipality of Kotor became official. Thanks to this, the new program within the jubilee edition is the visit of the HSF and the entire comics caravan to Risan, where in addition to the classic comics program, there will also be a meeting with children from the local primary school and under the slogan “we bring quality culture to your door” the world cream scene of the ninth art will be presented in the best possible way.

In addition to the established regular programs that the festival dedicated to the ninth art entails, such as exhibitions, workshops, the stock exchange, drawing, as well as the authentic comics in a bottle program, HSF always brings an extremely high-quality music program, so this year an exceptional line-up is led by one of the most famous rock bands of the former Yugoslavia, “Partibrejkersi” with the great frontman Zoran Kostić Canet, and a phenomenal band from Zagreb, the legendary group “Film” led by one of the most interesting characters of musical creativity on the local premises by Juro Stublić, as well as the most famous rock star from Herceg Novi, the regionally extremely popular musician Antonije Pušić, aka Rambo Amadeus with his quintet.

In the complete program that is attached, it can be seen that HSF does not base its six-day program on just one segment or just a few hours of daily content, but that all six days from opening to closing, the agenda is filled with all-day activities. What HSF always emphasizes is that all programs, from workshops, drawing, presentations to concerts, are free for visitors.

With a detailed review of the program, let’s note once again that this year’s anniversary edition of HSF brings a truly glamorous list with more than 150 creators and comic artists, led by twelve special guests: Filipe Andrade (Portugal), Marco Costiello, Josephina Tomarchio, Katja and Luana Vecchio (Italia), Dani (Greece), Darick Robertson, Terry Moor, Jim Mahfood and Shawn Crystal (USA) and the British Geof Senior and Barry Kitson. Great artists Anna Lazzarini, Oscar Scalco, Marcello Mangiantini, Luca Strati are returning from the Apennine Peninsula, while the French team of artists will be led by Jean-Charles Poupard, Tristoon, Christoph Bataillon. Also, the Spanish comics scene will be very present this year, and the headliners are the returning Francis Portela and Fernando Dagnino. The list of guest artists is completed by Brett Hobson (the well-known cartoonist of Heavy Metal magazine and comic book “Heart & Sin”), while those who are practically natives at HSF are led by the storyboarder of the Game of Thrones series, Festival Ambassador William Simpson, with the stars of American publishing Esad Ribić, Dalibor Talajić, Stipan Morian  and Mirko Čolak, and there are also Sarah Burrini, Aleksa Gajić, Jovan Ukropina, Milorad Vicanović Maza, Iztok Sitar, Izar Lunaček, Štef Bartolić, Krešimir Biuk, Tihomir Tico Tikulin.

In addition to the top artists in Herceg Novi, from September 4 to 9, the director of the Warsaw Comic Festival, Dominika Czapska, and Bob and Gina Chapman, owners of the Graphitti Design publishing house, will be at the jubilee HSF.

RICCARDO SECCHI – BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

He was born in Milan. After graduating with a degree in modern literature and gaining experience at the Max Bunker Press publishing house, where he worked as an editor for the Alan Ford series, he devoted himself to writing and created the comic book character Gabriela, a nun with superhero powers, which was published as an independent production. The good reception of this first edition allowed him to present himself to other publishers. For the Sergio Bonelli Editore publishing house, he wrote several stories about Nathan Never and related series, and later stories for Dylan Dog and Zagor.

He also wrote more than a hundred stories for the weekly comic magazine Topolino, collaborating on numerous other Disney publications. He worked on various television projects, both as a screenwriter and as a story editor.

Along with writing, he has been engaged in education for a long time. He taught screenwriting at the Comic School in Milan and at the Disney Academy. He currently teaches at the Mohole school and runs his own online screenwriting course called Storytelling Tools.

As of April 2026, Alan Ford is the official screenwriter of the legendary monthly issue.

XX HSF PROGRAM, September 4 – 9, 2026.

Friday, September 4

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. “Dašo Pavičić” Elementary School

–   School of drawing and comic book and illustration workshop

11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Nikola Đurkovića Square

–  Comic Book Exchange

– Promo program – Ecology and the ninth art

–  HSF promo program

8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Belavista Square

– Ceremonial opening of XX HSF – Local music Đenović

– Gallery “Josip Bepo Benković”

–       Exhibition – Works by special guests

–       Exhibition – “Young Montenegrin Authors”

– Gallery “Sue Ryder” – Exhibition “Unfolding – Mileta Poštić”

10:00 p.m- – 03:00 a.m. Forte Mare fortress

– “NeonoeN” concert (free entrance)

– “Partibrejkers” concert (free entrance)

Saturday, September 5

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. City library and reading room

–   School of drawing and comic book and illustration workshop

11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Nikola Đurkovića Square

– Promo program – Ecology and the ninth art

–   Drawing for fans

–   Drawing on t-shirts

–   Comic book exchange

– Background music program – 2Beat

1:00 p.m.– 6:00 p.m. HSF Hotel Herceg Novi (ex Lazarev Garden)

–  Presentation – Alan Ford – Ricardo Secchi

–  Presentation – Special guests

– Presentation – Montenegrin authors

10:00 p.m. – 03:00 a.m. Fortress Forte Mare

– “San Guido sa Hokkaido” concert – Bunt rock festival (free entrance)

– Concert by Jura Stublić and “Film” (free entrance)

Sunday, September 6

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Trophy hall “PVK Jadran”

–   School of drawing and comic book and illustration workshop

– Awarding of prizes for the works created at the workshops

11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Resto bar “Jadran”

– Promo program – Ecology and the ninth art

–   Drawing for fans

–   Drawing on t-shirts

–   Comic book exchange

1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Resto bar “Jadran”

–  Presentation – Special guests

–  Presentation – World comics scene

–  Presentation – Regional comic scene

9:00 p.m. – 01:00 a.m. Fort Forte Mare

– “Gorostas” concert (free entrance)

– “Rambo Amadeus Quintet” concert (free admission)

Monday, September 7

11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Magnolia Square, Tivat

– Promo program – Ecology and the ninth art

–   Drawing on t-shirts

–   Comic book exchange

–   Drawing for fans

3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Cable car, Kotor – Lovćen

–   Drawing for fans

–   Drawing on t-shirts

– School of drawing in nature

– Background music program – 2Beat

10:00 p.m. – 01:00 a.m. Staircase 28. October – GOT and L’Etage

– William Simpson X anniversary block party

“Low voltage” live music

Tuesday, September 8

11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Catamaran “Tahiti”

–   Drawing for fans

–   Drawing on t-shirts

–   Comic book exchange

– Background music program – 2Beat

2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Risan, Park

– Promo program – Ecology and the ninth art

–   Drawing for fans

– Drawing with children from elementary school in Risn

–   Drawing for “Comics in a Bottle”

–   Comic book exchange

5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Catamaran “Tahiti”

–   “Comics in a Bottle” Cruise

–   Drawing for fans

9:00 p.m. – 01:00 a.m. Amphitheater Theater – Park Hall

–   HSF party – “Seagulls” (free entry)

–   HSF party – “Boka all stars” (free entrance)

Wednesday, September 9

10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Beach bar “Peoples”

–   School day

– Promo program – Ecology and the ninth art

–   Drawing for fans

–   Drawing on t-shirts

– Background music program – 2Beat

8:00 p.m. – 00:00 a.m. Hotel Herceg Novi (ex Lazarev Garden)

–   Final HSF cocktail