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Michael Lomon Presented with Caliburn Prize at London Film & Comic Con

The Caliburn prize was awarded over the weekend to Michael Lomon for his planned graphic novel The Palace of Tears graphic novel,

Published Mon, 10 Jul 2023 05:42:12 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Tue, 11 Jul 2023 06:55:56 -0500

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Bleeding Cool previously reported that Michael Lomon had won the inaugural Caliburn Prize 2023 for unpublished comic book creators. The prize was awarded over the weekend at the London Film and Comic Con, in front of the Bleeding Cool booth, for the start of his planned graphic novel The Palace of Tears graphic novel. Well, I was one of the judges.

Michael Lomon Presented with Caliburn Prize at London Film & Comic Con — Tony Lee and Michael Lomon, photo/Rich

I am told that Michael Lomon only just made it onto the longlist by accident. Originally intended to be eight creators long, the list was made up from a wide array of opinions, and Lomon originally came tenth. But as the same amount of votes were shared by the final contenders, the shortlist was extended to ten. and it was the judges, presented with the work with all creator names removed, gave Lomon the overwhelming win.

Michael Lomon has received £2500 courtesy of Tony Lee, a free table and hotel at 2024 London Film and Comic Con courtesy of organisers Showmasters Events, a year's membership of both the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund (CBLDF) and the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and an hour-long zoom call with Oriana Leckert, Director of Publishing and Comics Outreach for Kickstarter.

During lockdown, comic book writer Tony Lee of Hooded Man Media became a bestselling novelist under a couple of pseudonyms. As a result, he set up The Hooded Man Caliburn Prize for Comic Creation, or The Caliburn Prize for short, a new UK comic-based literary grant, recognising fresh and unpublished voices in the world of comic and graphic novel creation.

"When I started in comics, it was a different world," Tony Lee explained. "I was able to walk into a publisher with experience in other media under my belt, but many of today's creators don't have the same advantages I did, as the industry has massively changed over the last twenty years, and the doors I entered through are now boarded up. The prize fund is a way to help the next generation of comic creators find their own route into the room where it happens."

"The quality of submissions was outstanding this year," Tony explained. "I'm genuinely not exaggerating when I say there was only a handful of points between all entries, and no obvious leader until the last two judges results came in." Judges on the panel included Kieron Gillen, David Leach, Rachael Smith, Oriana Leckert, James Wills, Harry Markos and me.

Here's a look at the Caliburn Prize-winning entry by Michael Lomon.