Antonio Altarriba and Sergio García Sánchez’ graphic novel Le ciel dans la tête [tr. ‘The Sky’s The Limit’] was introduced the winner of the Association of French-language Comics Critics (ACBD) Grand Critics Prize 2024 this week. The ebook – translated from Spanish by Alexandra Carrasco and revealed by Denoël Graphic, prevailed in opposition to stiff competitors – together with the French-translation of Kate Beaton’s Ducks(!) – to land the highest prize. The authors and writer will obtain the award at a proper ceremony on the Angoulême Comics Museum on January 25, 2024.
The Sky’s The Limit covers territory plucked from right this moment’s information, wanting on the life and risks confronted by a younger migrant who braves the damaging Mediterranean sea route hoping for a greater life in Europe.
The DeepL-translated writer synopsis for the ebook:
“From the mines of Kivu to the wonders of Europe, Nivek, the child soldier plucked from the clutches of poverty by the call of a better life, crosses a magical and tragic Africa of breathtaking violence and beauty. The trials of this voyage of initiation prepare him for the perils of the Mediterranean, but not for the disappointments that await him on its privileged shore. In the shadow of Cervantes and Mark Twain, an epic tale carried by Altarriba’s hallucinatory visions and Sergio García’s sumptuous images.”
Spaniards Altarriba and Sánchez are award winners in France and Spain. Altarriba is a earlier recipient of the ACBD Grand Critics Prize, having acquired it in 2015 for Moi, Assassin [tr. ‘I, Assassin’] with artist Keko, additionally revealed by Denoël Graphic. His solely work to have been translated into English, nevertheless, is his 2009 graphic novel El Arte de Volar (The Art of Flying) which was revealed in English by Jonathan Cape with a translation by Adrian Nathan West in 2015. Sánchez is an internationally award successful illustrator and cartoonist who is probably better-known within the US for his New Yorker cowl work and the Nadja Spiegelman-written Lost in NYC (Toon Books, 2015).
The ACBD verdict on the ebook [translated by DeepL]:
“Already an award-winner for Moi, assassin (Grand Prix 2015), Spanish screenwriter Antonio Altarriba once again paints an uncompromising portrait of humanity’s dark soul. The chaos of our world is both tempered and exaggerated by Sergio Garcia Sanchez’s ingenious plasticity of drawing, which plays with perspective and proportion in a particularly inventive setting.”
The finalists for the award contained some acquainted names. We already talked about Kate Beaton’s Ducks: Two Years within the Oil Sands (which was revealed in French earlier this yr) however the shortlist additionally contained the latest work from Jordi Lafebre, Matthias Lehman, and Guillaume Singelin – who all have work lately translated to English – Always Never (Dark Horse, 2022), Parallel (Oni, 2023) and PTSD (First Second, 2019). Of the finalists, Singelin’s Frontier was lately crowdfunded for launch by Magnetic Press and Lafebre’s I Am Their Silence (Je suis leur silence) will obtain a digital English language launch from Europe Comics within the new yr.
The Association des Critiques et Journalistes de Bande Dessinée (or Association of Comics Critics and Journalists) – ACBD – is a French-language collective of those that cowl comics within the media (print, on-line, TV, radio and many others). Formed in 1984, it has over 100 members worldwide, predominantly from France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada. Annually it fingers out 5 awards celebrating the medium – together with their youngsters market award (Prix Jeunesse), work from French-Canada (Prix Québécoise), translated work from the English-language (Prix Comics), translated work from throughout Asia (Prix Asie). Its highest honour is the Grand Prix de la Critique (Grand Critics Prize) which is as outdated because the organisation itself. Awards are determined by poll of all members with a number of rounds of voting to resolve shortlist, finalist and successful books. The winner of the Grand Critics Prize in 2023 was Swiss graphic novel La Couleur des choses [tr. ‘The Color of Things’] by Martin Panchaud (çà et là). It went on to win the highest prize on the 2023 Angoulême Festival – a significant award in French (and worldwide) comics.
ACBD GRAND PRIX DE LA CRITIQUE 2023 [Grand Critics Prize 2023]
– Finalists & Winner –
- WINNER: Le ciel dans la tête [tr. ‘The Sky’s The Limit’], by author Antonio Altarriba, artist Sergio Garcia Sanchez, colourist Lola Moral, Spanish-French translation by Alexandra Carrasco (Denoël Graphic)
- Chumbo, by Matthias Lehmann (Casterman)
- Environnement toxique [tr. ‘Toxic Environment’, original English title: Ducks: Two Years on the Oil Sands], by Kate Beaton, French-translation by Alice Marchand (Casterman)
- Frontier, Guillaume Singelin (Rue de Sèvres, Label 619) — English version lately concluded crowdfunding marketing campaign, large launch anticipated 2024 from Magnetic Press
- Je suis leur silence [‘I Am Their Silence’], by Jordi Lafebre (Dargaud) — digital-exclusive preliminary English launch through Europe Comics deliberate early 2024
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