Les Galons de la BD, a prize created in 2021, aims to reward comic books devoted to military matters. This fourth edition dedicated the historical fresco War Photographers: Hans Namuth and Georg Reisner, 1936-1940, by Raynal Pellicer for the script and Titwane for the drawing. It follows the album A General of Generals, a brilliant satirical comedy in comics, signed by the duo Nicolas Juncker and François Boucq, evoking the historic events of May 13, 1958, in Algiers.
“War Photographers magnificently describes the civil war in Spain through the journey of two anti-fascist German photographers,” greets the grand jury, chaired by Gilles Ciment, deputy director of the Defense Communication and Audiovisual Production Establishment (ECPAD) . The distinction is worth 6,000 euros.
In this graphic novel that is at once profound, pugnacious and tragic, it all begins on July 18, 1936 while Barcelona is preparing the Popular Olympics, a pacifist and anti-fascist response to the Berlin Olympics. However, dark clouds are already gathering at the city gates. The nationalist army rises against the Republic… Two young Germans recently arrived in Spain, Hans Namuth and Georg Reisner, witness the first clashes. They are still unaware that this is only the beginning of a long fratricidal war, and that they will cover the conflict with all their strength and all their soul. With a beautiful visual breadth coupled with indisputable graphic virtuosity, each page of this war story put into images by Titwane allows the story to spread its wings. An exceptional comic strip without a doubt…
Among the other awards, the History Prize, amounting to 3,000 euros, was awarded to Séra for L’Âme au bord des coiffures. Published by Delcourt in February 2023. “This autobiographical work traces the complexity of the events which led to the fall of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975,” specifies a press release. “It links great History and personal history; it represents the culmination of years of research which combines quasi-university rigor and intimate commitment,” believes the jury.
The Youth Prize, also worth 3,000 euros, was awarded to Aurore d’Hondt, for Ginette Kolinka – the story of a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Published by Editions Des Ronds dans l’O, this work was born from the author’s meeting with Ginette Kolinka during one of her testimonies in a school. “A touching and moving book, for the jury, which provides another perspective on the horror of extermination. We gradually enter a dark world. The scenes are hard, shocking, sometimes difficult to understand but the very round, very gentle drawing invites you not to close the book and to continue reading.
Also read: Ginette Kolinka, the “survivor”
Finally, to complete these two prizes, the jury awarded a special mention to José-Louis Bocquet, Jean-Luc Fromental (screenplay) and Floc’h (drawing) for The Art of War – An Adventure of Blake and Mortimer in New York, published by Blake and Mortimer in October 2023. The jury praised a work which “reappropriates Jacobs’ universe in an original way, with surprising graphics, by tackling rare themes in comics.”