Stalowa Wola - The City of Comicsis a project which, for a few summer weeks, transforms Stalowa Wola into a hub of comic book activity. A national contest for the best short comic form, workshops led by the best trainers from Poland and abroad, an open-air gallery of comics displayed at key points around the town, and the publication of an extraordinary comic-style guidebook to the Stalowa Wola of memories are but some of the most important actions carried out during the 3rd edition of the project in 2011.

Special guests included Marzena Sowa and SylvainSavoia, the authors of the world-famous comic book series entitled Marzi, which recounts the story of a little girl from Stalowa Wola, looking at the reality of the Polish communist era through the eyes of a child.

“Sylvain found it hard to understand that there used to be shops with only vinegar and mustard on the shelves”, recollects Marzena Sowa as she talks about their collaboration on the famous comic. Because Marzi is the record of Marzena’s memories from childhood and the school years spent in Poland (she now lives in France and Belgium), the theme of memories was also selected for this year’s edition of Stalowa Wola - The City of Comics. The workshops focused mainly on script-writing.“The script is critical in a comic book. It is not enough to be able to draw. Even perfect, beautiful comics, when drawn (told) without adequate forethought, can become illegible and plain boring”, remarks Marzena.

The final fifteen contestants, who participated in the workshops, set out to create a comic-style guidebook to the Stalowa Wola of memories, paying particular attention to those places that the Ambassadors of Stalowa Wola hold particularly dear and of which they have especially fond memories. The Ambassadors of Stalowa Wola include Maciej Zakościelny, Izabela Sowa, Grzegorz Rosiński, Konrad Mastyło, and Edward Durda; this year, the title was also awarded to Marzena Sowa.

On Sunday, the 10th of July, we summed up the workshops for comic book authors conducted in the framework of the 3rd edition of the project entitled Stalowa Wola - The City of Comics. For 10 days, we had worked on comics linked to places around the city, which are particularly important for the Ambassadors of Stalowa Wola. The Ambassadors include, among others, Maciej Zakościelny, Izabela Sowa, Grzegorz Rosiński, Konrad Mastyło, and Edward Durda; on the 10th of July, their ranks were joined by Marzena Sowa.