Slate and the Center for Cartoon Studies have announced the winners of the fifth annual Cartoonist Studio Prize.
In the print category, Eleanor Davis won for Libby’s Dad (Retrofit and Big Planet Comics) which won much praise among people who comment on indie comics. It’s a powerful exploration of the lines of childhood truth and fantasy, reputation, gossip and violence, all drawn in an elusive colored pencil style that captures the shifting narrative beautifully.
Libby’s Dad should be taught in short fiction classes everywhere. I’m serious. Retrofit, get on that!
The winner in the Best Web Comic Christina Tran for “On Beauty,” which explores Medical Tourism in South Korea. BE forewarned, the I read this, the server kept freezing up because traffic can be a blessing AND a curse. AT any rate it’s a strong multimedia story with a powerful shift in perspective.
The winners were selected by Slate’s Jacob Brogan; the faculty and students at the Center for Cartoon Studies, represented by Jarad Greene; and guest judge, Karen Green, curator for comics and cartoons at Columbia University’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. Each winner receives a $1,000 grant.
The other nominees are below and all are excellent – please try to check out a few of them.
Print:
Burt’s Way Home by John Martz. Koyama Press.
Canopy by Karine Bernadou. Retrofit and Big Planet Comics.
Hilda and the Stone Forest by Luke Pearson. Flying Eye Books.
March: Book 3 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. Top Shelf.
Rolling Blackouts by Sarah Glidden. Drawn and Quarterly.
Rosalie Lightning by Tom Hart. St. Martin’s Press.
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew. Pantheon.
The Longest Day of the Future by Lucas Varela. Fantagraphics.
We All Wish for Deadly Force by Leela Corman. Retrofit and Big Planet Comics.
Greek Diary by Glynnis Fawkes
“I Trained to Fight the Enemy” by Jess Ruliffson
Normel Person by Lauren Weinstein
On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
“Rejected Anthology Submission” by Meghan Lands
Riverbound by Päivi Niinikangas
“The Secrets in My Mother’s Nightstand” by Sophia Wiedeman
The Unofficial Cuckoo’s Nest by Luke Healy
Wonderlust by Diana Nock
