The Herceg Novi Strip Festival, which has evolved over the years, has become one of the most important art festivals in Montenegro. This was also proved by the 12th edition of the festival, which was attended by about 70 artists from Montenegro, the states of the region, as well as from all over Europe. Among them was Walter Trono, who took part in the HSF manifestations for the third time.
Born in 1987, he’s an italian cartoonist and illustrator, creator of the dystopian series Testa o Croce published by It Comics. For Sergio Bonelli Editore he also works on the fantasy series Dragonero. He worked for several publishers (Star Comics, Aurea Editoriale, IDW Publishing) as a penciler, inker and complete author.
“I really fell in love with this town and the guys. For me, it always a pleasure to come back here and spend this comic week with them. I think this festival is very important because the HSF crew can manage the cultural part of the comics environment well, but also friendship, humanity, and the wellness of this country. Walter Trono says the HSF has also a great artistic importance in the comics society.
“HSF is important because of the festival capability to attract great artists and to develop good exhibitions of art, comic pages, and illustrations of the artist they invite. So, this is a good part of the cultural experience of the Herceg Novi Strip Festival. The festival is also great for the fact there are a lot of meetings with other artists and fans coming from all over the Balkans. I think this is a very important cultural event," explained Walter Trono.
Nebojsa Mandic, the festival PR manager, says Walter is always one of the authors who is very motivated to draw for the fans. He explains his dedication: “For fans, for readers, maybe the first important thing that they want to have when they reach a comic exhibition is meet their favorite artists and get their sketches, or original art. Walter is also a musician, a rock'n'roll singer, so for him, HSF is doing a great job in organizing side programs of the festival, especially when it comes to music. Jovan, Nikola and Nebojsa always think to have good and interesting guests in the musical segment of the program as well."
At the closing ceremony, we had the opportunity to discover his musical talent. Before the performance of the Artan Lili band, he took the microphone to join the HSF founder Nikola Ćurčin on drums.
"I like the mixture of ninth art and music, because, for me, comics are a kind of music, succeeding to get very close to its audience and make them feel and think. And through the history of comic art we can see it was and it is always connected with music at the time.”
What could be inspiration for an artist developing a comic book? Trono explains: "Inspiration comes from movies, music, books, other art, sculpture, other comics, life and what I see on the street, inspiration is gathered from all sides and simply incorporate in what I create. Friendship is a great inspiration and based on it always comes the next cooperation, and for the sake of socializing, I came to Boka Bay for the third time. I'm sure I will come back to Herceg Novi and see the friends I have here."
