COMICS - Middle Grade

WINNER

Un matin (One Morning) 

Text by Jérôme Dubois
Art by Laurie Agusti
La Partie, France, 2022

What the jury said

Un Matin begins with a dream into which the main character — and the reader — are gently pulled: all of the colours in the world — and thus the book — are mysteriously gone, and the world is reduced to black and white. In addition to the rigorous abstraction of the drawing, the book offers the reader an element of choice: at the end of every ‘section’, it’s up to us to choose from different narrative options as we decide which page to turn to. This playful and poetic story offers the reader a true element of interaction as we join the authors in determining the path this story will take. Immaculate visual storytelling weaves through richly detailed artwork that makes subtle nods to all kinds of (recognizable) references from pop culture, further inviting re-reading and re-experiencing. Every aspect of this book is designed to support a surprising, effective and ultimately unique reading experience that is both visually and narrative exciting (where did the colors go?). The jury is proud to award the BRAW Comics Prize for the Middle Grade to Un Matin

 

SPECIAL MENTION

그림자 극장 (The Shadow Theater)

Text and art by Kyu-Ah Kim
Bear Books Inc., South Korea, 2022

What the jury said:

Emotional relationships between family members can be as fragile as the ceramic rabbit that lies broken in the opening pages of Kyu-Ah Kim’s sensitive emotional narrative. An animal guide leads two embattled siblings into a parallel world of living shadows within which they can safely process the drama of their bruised emotions and reestablish the bonds that connect them to one another. The soft tones of Kyu-Ah Kim’s colored pencils lure the reader unsuspectingly into the shadow theater of this book, a story about loss, affection, pleasure, family ties, and all the things that follow us like our shadows. 

SPECIAL MENTION

House of Dracula

Text by 5unday
Art by Heedae Yun
Dogbooks, South Korea, 2022

What the jury said:

This modestly formatted comic book is a wonderful work of wordless storytelling enriched by a wise use of narrative framing and of graphic design. The author makes productive use of familiar horror-themed characters from popular culture, resituated here in a fresh, contemporary context. Colorfully psychedelic and full of humor, this book will challenge young readers to discover dozens of humorous, hidden details as they are irresistibly drawn by the beauty of the drawings to read this story again and again.

SPECIAL MENTION

Le monde des animaux perdus (The World of the Lost Animals)

Text and art by Noémie Weber
Gallimard Jeunesse, France, 2022

What the jury said:

This exemplary work depicts a dreamlike voyage that deals sensitively, poetically and engagingly with the loss of a pet and the challenge of forming early relationships. Weber’s virtuosic linework can be both restrained and exuberant, recalling the pen and ink linework of Tove Jansson. Her sense of offbeat fantasy and intelligent page design recalls make her character Elsa a descendent of Fred’s Philemon. Her use of constrained but variable color pallets throughout employs the four color press with the sensitivity of a silkscreen printmaker.