This, the country's third largest city, spared no expense in staging the festival which was just one of the myriad of cultural events happening this year as part of its centinary celebrations. As well as panels and presentations, the festival had the largest exhibition of International comic art that I've ever seen under one roof, at the Cultural Centre of the University of Minas Gerais. Eisner were icing on the cake.
Brazil has strong traditions in the genres of horror, satirical humour and children's comics.
More recently, superheroes and underground comics are gaining popularity. A competion to create a strip especially for the event, open to both amateurs and pros, drew 743 entries. Won by Marcelo Leliz, a newspaper illustrator, it showed dramatically what Brazil is capable of. The majority of the works received were non-genre and in a staggering multiplicity of styles. Self-publishing is gaining ground here and the future of Brazillian comics could be astounding.