The International Cartoonists Exhibition was formed by
Carlo Chendi (1933–2021), an Italian cartoonist and
Disney Italy screenwriter, and the cartoonists
Luciano Bottaro (1931–2006) and
Giorgio Rebuffi (1928–2014), who founded Studio Bierreci. It was originally dedicated to two main categories: cartoonists and readers. The aim of the festival was to show how a comic page is born, illuminating the processes by which pictures are drawn by hand before being photographed and downsized, ready for print. The first exhibition, in 1972, showed the work of cartoonists from eight different countries. As with the 1973 show, no particular theme was selected for exhibition. The 1974 exhibition, however, was given to the subject of women in comics, both as main characters and as authors. This show was an enormous success, drawing attention from the mass media. Special guests
Oriana Fallaci and
Natalia Aspesi wrote articles in their respective newspapers, and
RAI (Italy's national public broadcasting company) reported on the exhibition on national television. Later shows continued similarly, with various themes being chosen for the exhibition. One was dedicated to
Corriere dei Piccoli; two to publishing house (
Edizioni Alpe and
Edizioni Bianconi), two to
Cristoforo Colombo; three to comic schools: the Connecticut School (
Mort Walker,
Dik Browne and many others) and to Italian schools Strisce di Terra ("Strips of Earth") and Strisce di Mare ("Strips of the Sea"); one to the cartoon heroes of the
western world; one to
satire; one to the topic of Christmas, made in
Milan and
Rapallo, connected to fundraising for the charity Francesca Rava N.P.H. that helps children of
Haiti and of other
Caribbean countries; five dedicated to famous characters:
Martin Mystère,
Ken Parker,
Paperinik,
Julia, and
Dylan Dog; two to the sea:
Nuvole d’acqua salata ("Clouds of saltwater") and
Mare a strisce ("Sea of comic strips"); one to
Magie e Incantesimi ("Spells and Enchantments"); one to
W.I.T.C.H.; and one to the music, with the title
Note a fumetti (loosely "music to comics"). Finally, six shows were dedicated to different authors:
Luciano Bottaro,
Ivo Milazzo,
Silver,
Ro Marcenaro, and
Carl Barks. For the first time, one was dedicated to
Idee e Creatività ("ideas and creativity"), to demonstrate that without an idea, story, or screenplay, cartoons cannot exist: the four writers celebrated were
Tiziano Sclavi,
Giancarlo Berardi,
Carlo Chendi, and
François Corteggiani. The 2022 edition celebrated the 50th anniversary of Rapalloonia. The 2023 edition, held 30 September to 8 October 2023, celebrated 30 years of the U Giancu Prize. ; 2006 The 34th edition was held in November 2006, and it had as theme
Comics Schools, in which the main Italian and foreign comics schools participated. ; 2010 The 38th edition, held from September 25 to October 10, 2010, was dedicated to women in comics. The focus was on the fictional criminologist
Julia Kendall, created by
Giancarlo Berardi, creator of the famous
Ken Parker. Julia, who aesthetically resembles
Audrey Hepburn, lives and works in Garden City, a fictional American metropolis. She is a criminology teacher at Hollyhock University but often assists the police with investigations that require her expertise. Given the importance of the theme, a debate on women was organized, including a lesson on stalkers, a real issue affecting women. For the first time, the Rapalloonia Prize was awarded to someone outside the comics world:
Alessandra Bucci, the deputy superintendent of state police and head of the Homicide police headquarters in Genoa, for her parallel life with Julia. ; 2011 The 39th edition, held from October 1 to 16, 2011, was marked by a sad event: the death of
Sergio Bonelli shortly before the exhibition. Bonelli was the editor of
Dylan Dog and
Tex Willer from 1986, originally created by his father,
Gian Luigi Bonelli. This edition also paid tribute to
Sergio Cofferati, former secretary of
CGIL and current MEP, with a contribution to his literature. The exhibition concluded with a press review in honor of Bonelli, and it was named
Happy Birthday, Dylan Dog after the main character of the horror comic Dylan Dog. Created by writer
Tiziano Sclavi and inspired by actor
Rupert Everett, Dylan Dog's stories are set in London, where he lives at 7 Craven Road. In his career, Bonelli inherited Tex from his father, started Dylan Dog, and created two characters:
Zagor and
Mister No. Zagor is similar to
Tarzan, featuring elements such as the West, mysterious forests, Indians, and wilderness; while Mister No shares Bonelli's traits as an avid traveler and dreamer, a Yankee who said no to war and progress, siding with the weak. ; 2012 The 40th edition, held from November 10 to 25, 2012, was one of the most significant. Despite a weather alert during that period, the opening day took place at the Teatro Auditorium delle Clarisse, with a special presentation by Rudy Zerbi and Luigi Maio, and the screening of a documentary by Giancarlo Sordi in memory of
Sergio Bonelli, who had died a year earlier. The documentary was titled
Come Tex nessuno mai. The significance of that edition didn't end there. It marked the 40th anniversary of the exhibition with displays of original drawings and classic comics from the first edition. ; 2017 The 2017 edition, held September 30 to October 8, featured such guests as
Alessandro Bilotta,
Giuseppe Camuncoli,
Mirka Andolfo,
Corrado Mastantuono,
Carmine Di Giandomenico,
Enrico Marini, and
Riccardo Burchielli. ; 2022 The
COVID-19 pandemic prevented Rapalloonia from happening in 2019, 2020, and 2021; the festival returned in 2022 (from Oct. 1 to Oct 9) to celebrate its 50th anniversary. That year's exhibition was known as "A World of Comics – The Incredible Adventure of the Bierrecì Group." == U Giancu's Prize ==