Just Comics

Mondadori Store, the largest network of bookshops in Italy, and J-POP Manga, one of the main Italian manga publishers, launch “Destination Cartoomics”: a special project and a series of appointments dedicated to Japanese Comics fans bound to dominate the Milan Games Week & Cartoomics, the great comic exhibition entirely devoted to the world of comics, graphic novels and gaming.

The initiative will be presented in the Mondadori Stores – Rizzoli Galleria, Milano Duomo, Arese (MI) and Vimercate (MB) – within the “Just Comics” section, the area dedicated to manga, superheroes, and graphic novel – with an unmissable promotion for all anime fans. Readers can get their J-POP passport: a special manga-style document to be completed by November 26^th with different hankos, or iconographic stamps representative of the Japanese company that will be affixed to each purchase of two titles published by J-POP Manga in the participating bookstores and on Mondadoristore.it.

The passport must be completed at the info point of the Just Comics stand, pavilion 12, during the exhibition held from November 25^th to 27^th, to receive special gadgets and discount coupons.

THE EVENT CALENDAR

The project is also based on a series of appointments open to the public: the participating Mondadori Stores will welcome readers and comics fans with live manga sketching and presentations, organised with the publisher J-POP Manga and the students and professionals of the Comics School of Milan.

 Among the events, on Friday October 21^st, at the Rizzoli Galleria bookshop, the presentation of the second issue of the Japanese manga Dandadan, written and sketched by the author Yukinobu Tatsu.

The series of appointments with the professionals of the Comics School will start on October 22^nd, at the Rizzoli Galleria bookshop, from 16:00 to 18:30, with the presentation Kishōtenketsu: telling it like a manga and live sketching with professor Gabriele Mareri and the cartoonist Mattia Salvaneschi.

 On November 5^th, at the Mondadori Megastore of Duomo, from 17:00 to 19:30, professor Sabrina Sala will speak of the  Timeless classics, or evergreen titles that captured the attention of entire generations, together with the cartoonist* Fra Fusconi, who will entertain the audience with special live sketching.

On November 10^th, at the Mondadori Megastore of Arese, from 17:00 to 18:30, the cartoonist Richmond Montanano will create customised sketches of the audience’s favourite techno-futuristic scenes of the manga world.

On November 19^th, at the Mondadori Bookstore of Vimercate, from 16:00 to 17:30, the cartoonist Rosy Battaglia will create live sketches of children’s favourite manga scenes.

The complete event calendar is available on the following link.

Mondadori Retail, the company that runs the largest network of bookstores in Italy, continues to develop with an expansion plan for the opening of new Mondadori Stores, an enhanced offer and an increasingly distinctive positioning embracing physical stores, e-commerce and social media.

“The ongoing work to renew and enhance the network and to focus on the book core business has enabled our network to consolidate its leadership still further,” said Mondadori Retail CEO Carmine Perna. “We are moving ahead with the opening of 13 new stores planned by the end of 2022, for an overall total of 25 openings during the whole year. Our bookstores are designed to inspire future readers and as meeting places where local communities can make new discoveries: so we are paying ever greater attention to the new generations, with dedicated formats in the stores and on the social channels, and the organisation of initiatives involving the local area,” Perna added.

FORTHCOMING OPENINGS

On the bookstore front, three new Mondadori Bookstores under direct management will be opened in the second half of the year, in the regions of Lazio, Lombardy and Umbria. They follow the two openings in Genoa and Montenero di Bisaccia (Campobasso) in April and May.

The expansion of the franchising network is also moving ahead, with 10 new bookstores due to open by the end of the year in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Sicily and Marche, after the start-up of 10 affiliated outlets in the first half of 2022. A nationwide presence across Italy, from North to South, with medium-size locations where books are the real protagonists.

The Mondadori Store development plan is also supported by the continuous renewal of directly managed stores: by the end of September, the Mondadori Bookstore in Padua will open in its new location in Piazza Garibaldi, and in Vimercate the outlet in the Torri Bianche shopping mall will undergo a restyling; during the winter, the new Mondadori flagship will open in Milan, on the corner between Piazza Duomo and Via Mazzini.

THE NEW FORMATS

The Mondadori bookstore offer for children and adolescents is enhanced with the new “We are junior” section, an area designed to welcome even the smallest children, with books and educational games to stimulate the imagination for the 0-13 age group. With its yellow and green colour scheme and origami decorations inspired by nature and the world of animals, which have great appeal for children, the section has an immediately recognisable visual identity.

The process of continuous innovation has also led to the development of the “Just Comics” format, for manga, graphic novels, superheroes and the great Italian authors. Planned as a comic store in the bookstore, “Just Comics is a flexible space that adapts easily to the specific dimensions of the individual outlet. The project began in Milan with an entire floor in the Rizzoli bookstore in the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery and the Mondadori Megastore in Piazza Duomo, and has since been extended to all the bookstores under direct management and to a growing number of stores managed on a franchising basis, establishing itself in just under a year as a point of reference for lovers of the genre.

EVENTS

The events calendar has been enhanced with meetings with writers and figures from the world of entertainment and initiatives with schools and libraries. Bookstores play a vital role in promoting reading, thanks in part to the passion of local booksellers, who are able to build productive ties of cooperation with local institutions. Events include the literary festivals “Ad alta voce” in Mestre, “Come un libro all’aperto” in Fano, “Velletri Libris” in Velletri. For information about all the events: https://eventi.mondadoristore.it/it/news/2022/07/19/estate-in-festival-tutti-gli-eventi-letterari-delle-nostre-librerie/115/

DEBUT ON TIKTOK

From the physical to the digital, relations with readers are also consolidated on social media, with initiatives and content to support purchasing on all channels: from today Mondadori Store will also be on TikTok , as well as Instagram and Facebook, to talk about books, local events and meetings.

A journey to explore the Mondadori bookstores in Italy, through the testimonials of people with close connections to bookstores: from booksellers, who organise content on the TikTok profiles of local Mondadori bookstores, attracting numerous followers, to booktokers, young men and women who love reading and have built up huge followings. A communication format that valorises books and bookstores, making them a point of reference for people who want to follow the latest literary trends on social media.