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COMICS - Young Adult 2023

Planetarium Ghost Travel The Art of Sakatsuki Sakana

Planetarium Ghost Travel The Art of Sakatsuki Sakana

WINNER

坂月さかな作品集 プラネタリウム・ゴースト・トラベル (Planetarium Ghost Travel The Art of Sakatsuki Sakana)

Text and Art by Sakana Sakatsuki
PIE International Inc., Japan, 2021

What the jury said:

Sakana Sakatsuki stands at the forefront of a new wave of fantastic narrative that adapt the tropes of science fiction to process the subtle sentiments of an uncertain present. Surprising in its delicacy and innovation, Sakatsuki synthesizes stylistic elements of manga with elements of western culture to recount the restlessness and loneliness of a young space traveler. Simultaneously epic and intimate, Ghost Travel expresses and re-expresses the tonal heart of its narrative conceit in a variety of visual styles and and aesthetic languages. These include color illustrations accompanied by small poetic texts and monochrome comics sequences which introduce his narrative world. We are proud to award the BRAW Comics Prize for Young Adults to this innovative breakthrough work which signals the start of Sakatsuki’s Star Tripper series of narrative manga, the first volume of which has also recently been published. 

 

 

Aujourd'hui

Aujourd'hui

SPECIAL MENTION

Aujourd'hui (Today)

Text and art by Loïc Froissart
L'Articho, France, 2021

What the jury said:

Aujourd’hui (“Today”) takes the reader chronologically through a school day, recording events that take place between 8h15 — when the children arrive at school — and 17h, when the school day is finally over. The author uses his own experiences as a teacher to recount the tiny events — dramatic, silly, funny, and always relatable — that make up the living organism of an educational community over the course of a day. Populated by brightly colored, stylized characters, each page and sequence covers just a few minutes in time to compile a precisely observed narrative that feels as if it has been overheard rather than told. 

 

Avant l'oubli

Avant l'oubli

SPECIAL MENTION

Avant l'oubli

Text and art by Lisa Blumen
L'employé du moi, Belgium, 2021

What the jury said:

Bittersweet reflection and a longing for meaning and connection pervade this stunning pre-apocalyptic novel. Each intimate chapter pauses over the private drama of individual characters forced to chose what to do with the rest of their lives when the end of the world may be no further away than the end of the week. Connections both chosen and unknown are revealed to the reader as each chapter coheres into an abstractly interlinked narrative. Throughout, Blumen’s graphite artwork is as unfussy over details as it is precise in its depiction of body language and its visual exposition. 

Night Night

Night Night

SPECIAL MENTION

Night Night

Text and art by Chivas Leung
Studio Mary, Hong Kong, China 2022

What the jury said:

This story of life under eternal darkness is understated and richly emotional throughout. Style and format combine to support a gentle but sophisticated emotional narrative. The book’s graphite linework, printed on rough, newsprint paper, makes the book feel like a journal or a visual letter from a friend. Inventive use of limited spot color — yellow and blue — enrich the narrative at moments precisely calibrated for maximum impact and further promote an empathetic connection between the reader and the story.