The very first British Comic Awards was held on Saturday 17 November as part of the Thought Bubble Festival in Leeds. The categories were streamlined and the nominees of an incredible standard. As one of this year’s judges, I found it a very difficult decision choosing between some wonderfully inspiring books. The ceremony was hosted by the founder of the BCAs, cartoonist Adam Cadwell,and was a simple but lovely affair. The nominees and winners (pictured) were:
Best Book
Don Quixote: Volume 1 – Rob Davis
Published by Self Made Hero, September 2011.
Goliath – Tom Gauld
Published by Drawn and Quarterly, February 2012.
Hilda And The Midnight Giant – Luke Pearson
Published by NoBrow Press, November 2011.
Nelson – Various
Published by Blank Slate Books, November 2011.
Science Tales – Darryl Cunningham
Published by Myriad Editions, April 2012.
The winner: Nelson
Best Comic
Accidental Salad – Joe Decie
Published by Blank Slate Books (Chalk Marks), October 2011.
Bad Machinery – John Allison
Published online at http://scarygoround.com
Girl & Boy – Andrew Tunney
Self published, November 2011.
Hemlock – Josceline Fenton
Published online at http://hemlock.smackjeeves.com
Volume 3 self published, October 2011.
Tuk Tuk – Will Kirkby
Self published, September 201
The winner: Bad Machinery
Emerging Talent
Kristyna Baczynski – http://www.kristyna.co.uk
Josceline Fenton – http://www.mildtarantula.com
Will Kirkby – http://chamonkee.livejournal.com
Louis Roskosch – http://www.louisroskosch.com
Jack Teagle - http://jackteagle.co.uk
The winner: Josceline Fenton
The Young Peoples Comic Award
(judged by actual young people!)
Bad Machinery: The Case Of The Fire Inside by John Allison
Published online at http://scarygoround.com , 9 January – 28 June 2012
Dinopopolous by Nick Edwards
Published by Blank Slate Publishing (Chalk Marks), October 2011
Gum Girl volume 1: Catastrophe Calling by Andi Watson
Published by Walker Books, March 2012
Hilda And The Midnight Giant by Luke Pearson
Published by Nobrow Press, November 2011
The Lost Boy by Kate Brown
Published in ‘The Phoenix’ by David Fickling Books, 7 January – 1 September 2012
The winner: Hilda And The Midnight Giant by Luke Pearson
British Comic Awards Hall Of Fame
Raymond Briggs
The awards provided a wonderful ending to a spectacular day of comic festival goodness. My heartiest congratulations to all of the winners and nominees! I also congratulate the Committee, the other judges but particularly Adam Cadwell for a difficult job well done.
