Erlangen International Comics Festival 2026

On Sunday evening, June 7, the 22nd Erlangen International Comic Salon closed its doors. The exhibitors and organizers—the City of Erlangen’s Cultural Affairs Office—are very pleased with the response. Over 35,000 visitors came to the exhibition tents and the more than 20 event venues throughout downtown Erlangen in ideal weather conditions—more than ever before.

Workshops, open studios, readings, and more

For four days, everything in Erlangen revolved around the art of comics. Around 300 exhibitors and 600 artists presented their work to readers in the exhibition tent halls, 19 exhibitions could be explored in downtown Erlangen, and well over 300 events—often addressing challenging cultural, political, artistic, and social themes—were remarkably well received. With the Erlangen Culture and Education Campus (kubic), which opened just a few weeks ago, an additional festival hub has emerged where, among other things, the extensive children’s and family program “Kids Love Comics” took place, featuring workshops, open studios, readings, live drawing sessions, and a scavenger hunt—which alone attracted around 5,000 visitors. In addition to the exhibition highlights “Christoph Niemann. To the Point” at the Erlangen Kunstpalais, “What’s So Funny? The Comic Art of Walter Moers” at the City Museum, “Silent Comics. How to Say a Lot Without Words” and “Isabel Kreitz – The Pen Is My Sixth Finger” at the Erlangen Art Museum, as well as the major Simpsons exhibition “It Doesn’t Get Any Yellower!” , smaller exhibitions on political topics such as “#iceoutcomics – Using the Pen Against Trump and U.S. Deportation Policy,” “Roya Soraya – Wind in My Headscarf,” or “Shadow Lives – Stories from People Without Papers” also attracted great interest.

Exhibition hall on Schloßplatz (Photo: Erich Malter)

Ever-growing public interest

Exhibitors at the fair also spoke very positively about the 22nd edition of the International Comic Salon: “The International Comic Salon is always the perfect place for us to celebrate premieres and new releases with fans and our artists,” said representatives from Egmont Ehapa, which celebrated the kickoff of “75 Years of Micky Maus Magazine” in Erlangen. Dirk Rehm, head of the Reprodukt publishing house, had invited 25 international artists, including French superstar Lewis Trondheim—“an investment that paid off,” he confirmed. The Berlin-based avant-verlag brought José Muñoz and Dominique Bertail to Erlangen, among others. Johann Ulrich called it the “best Salon” he’d ever attended. Claudia Jerusalem from Carlsen Verlag also expressed great satisfaction and noted that she observed the ever-growing public interest not only at the booth but also at the numerous events in which her publishing house participated. Dirk Schulz from Splitter-Verlag noted more foreign licensors among the Salon’s guests, and for Steffen Volkmer of Panini Comics, the Erlangen Comic Salon is “an indispensable part of the German and international comic scene” and so he highlighted the thematic and aesthetic diversity of the many events and exhibitions, as well as the festival’s visibility in the city.

In the concluding roundtable discussion late Sunday afternoon with publishing representatives, moderated by Alex Jakubowski, the group not only looked back on the Salon but also took stock of the industry’s overall situation. It became clear that the mood is characterized by subdued optimism. Rising production costs coupled with dwindling purchasing power among readers present publishers with increasing challenges, especially when it comes to high-quality books. After all, the comic book market continues to grow, in contrast to the book market as a whole.

AI as a Key Topic

Steffen Volkmer of Panini Comics, however, believes the potential of graphic literature is far from exhausted: “The market is still not fully tapped.” “We need to publish even more comics by German-speaking artists that address issues relevant to the German-speaking world,” added Dirk Rehm of Reprodukt. The International Comic Salon would play an important role in this regard, as it attracts new audiences for graphic literature like almost no other event. The problem, however, according to the unanimous opinion on the panel, is that far too few artists in Germany can make a living from comics. Most earn their living through illustration commissions, which are threatened by artificial intelligence. AI was a central theme throughout, including during the closing panel: In the print sector, publishers do not expect AI-generated comics to take over the market. Marie-France Lombardo from the Swiss publisher Edition Moderne emphasized on the panel that readers are also interested in the people behind the books. Nevertheless, artists in the audience called for a clear stance from influential comic book publishers and a ban on AI-generated comics.

Award for Best Non-Fiction Comic Goes to Ulli Lust

As part of the International Comic Salon Erlangen, the Max und Moritz Prize—the most prestigious award for graphic literature in the German-speaking world—was presented in eight categories on the evening of June 5: The award for Best Non-Fiction Comic went to “Die Frau als Mensch” by Ulli Lust; “Der verkehrte Himmel” by Mikael Ross was honored as Best German-Language Comic; the Best International Comic is “In den trüben Gewässern Istanbuls” by Özge Samancı; Franz Suess was named Best German-Language Comic Artist. The Max und Moritz Prize for Best Children’s Comic went to “Der Zahn” by Ayşe Klinge, and the prize for Best German-Language Comic Debut went to “Fleischeslust” by Martin Oesch. The Paul Derouet Promotion Prize, awarded for the first time to “Abgang” by Lina Brazerol, honored an outstanding publication from the academic sector with an invitation to the renowned International Comic Seminar in Erlangen. The jury’s special prize was awarded to journalist Andreas C. Knigge for his outstanding contributions to the art of comics in Germany. As announced prior to the awards ceremony, British artist Posy Simmonds was honored with the special prize for an outstanding life’s work.

Further Events

The exhibition “What’s So Funny? The Comic Art of Walter Moers” can be seen at the City Museum through September 13. The two exhibitions at the Art Museum, “Isabel Kreitz – The Pen Is My Sixth Finger” and “Silent Comics. How to Say a Lot Without Words” run through July 5. “Erlangen Noir – Michael Jordan, TONTO & Friends” is on view at the Kreativlabor through June 28, “Lisa Neun – The Dream Is Over, Charly P.” runs at the EL ARTElier through July 17, and the Comicmuseum Erlangen e. V. presents “Ducks Saving Themselves in Rockets – A Brief Anatomy of the Drawings and Stories by Florian Satzinger” in its event and exhibition space through July 26.

The 23rd International Comic Salon Erlangen will take place from June 15 to 18, 2028.