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Serpieri, Tradd Moore, Kate Beaton, Hope Larson Win Lucca 2024 Awards

Serpieri, Tradd Moore, Kate Beaton, Hope Larson, Keigo Shinzo, Antoine Cossé and Rebecca Mock Win Lucca Comics 2024 Awards

Last night saw Lucca Comics And Games 2024 in Italy give out their comic book awards, including The Yellow Kid Awards and the Gran Guinigi, among others.

The Yellow Kid Author of the Year

Taiyo Matsumoto for Tokyo These Days, translated as Tokyo Higoro from J-POP Manga. "A behind the scenes of the world of Japanese comics. The publishing machine, editors and artists who are like workers. A complex structure like an assembly line where everyone works incessantly seeking success more than their own authenticity. The editor who quits after a fiasco is like a samurai, a noble figure, a proud fighter. A mature man with a lot of experience who manages to realize his most sincere desire. Through a work of sartorial writing, Matsumoto gives us an unforgettable, tragic and funny human gallery, between Wit Wenders, Paul Auster and Murakami Haruki, alive but decadent, tragic but with a light step, arriving at an urban poem impossible to forget.

Yellow Kid Comic of the year

Metax by Antoine Cossé (add editore) "A fantastic and intriguing story with drawings that perfectly follow the atmosphere. An original universe with great inventions, a future where the characters unite with nature through a mineral called Metax. The drawing, rich in frames and very narrative, manages to make the story understandable even just visually. A visionary journey of endless, yet contracted, minimal lands, Jodorowski and his opposite, the gigantism of a Moebius chewed over like a brilliant, infantile naive nightmare."

Yellow Kid Master Of Comics

Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri "his self-portrait, previewed, will be exhibited in the Uffizi Galleries in the gallery of self-portraits of some of the most important names in world comics."

Gran Guinigi Best Artist

Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise by Tradd Moore, published by Marvel Comics in the USA and translated into Italian as Alba e Tramonto (Sunrise and Sunset) by Panini Comics for "the novelty and authenticity in the visual form, knowing how to unite with the text/theme of the story, style of narration through images, invention, formal beauty, beauty of content, excellent translation of the text. A superhero classic told in a very original deco-psychedelic form. Pages that fascinate with the drawings and colors. Visual inventions in the action scenes turned into a simple and pop form. Beautiful and empathetic the beginning in which Doctor Strange does not know if he is alive or dead, immediately takes us into this neo-mythological universe."

Gran Guinigi Best Writer

Ducks – Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton published by Bao Publishing for "A precise and detailed story that combines well with the clean and very simple drawing. The characters and their psychological characteristics are well described. Subtle humor and funny jokes in the dialogues between the sisters. In this diary we discover hard and unhealthy jobs and places, purely male, where women are not contemplated except as objects of desire. Kate Beaton experiences this world first hand and a violence that she describes in a detached and sincere way, arriving to show us the reasons why this society, based on the exploitation of the land and people, can lead to a regression of human impulses. She does so without ever justifying, with the understanding of a woman, the highest intellectual strength of a human."

Gran Guinigi Best Serialised Comic

Hirayasumi by Keigo Shinzo published by J-POP Manga for "a work not only well written but above all characterized by dilated times and calm tones, both in the drawings and in the script, it is an artistically radical act and anything but obvious". Hirayasumi is a manga that follows the lives of Hiroto Ikuta and his eighteen-year-old cousin Natsumi Kobayashi, who moves in with him after the death of an elderly woman, from whom Hiroto inherited the house. A story that invites us to reflect on the importance of human relationships, kindness and small daily joys, suggesting that, beyond social expectations, what really matters is the bond with others. A reading that, with its sweet and nostalgic tone, manages to touch the deepest chords of the human soul.

Gran Guinigi Best Short Comic

Odio l'estate by Kalina Muhova published by Rulez, for "a story that encompasses a few months in the life of two people, highlighting the deep, complicated and precious bond between mother and daughter. During the narration, one learns not to be ashamed, to let oneself go to tears, not to fear hugs, but also to recognize fear. The plot captures the reader immediately, flowing with the intensity and rhythm almost of a short film. A painful autobiographical journey, however animated by a painful and resigned irony, sometimes naive, that illuminates each table with colors suspended between laughter, discomfort and emotion, as is typical of Muhova's style, who for the occasion reduces her drawing technique to the minimum terms to highlight, through a bare sign, the heart of the story. A trembling drawing, that almost would not like to be born, and reluctantly exposes itself to the eyes of the reader, destined, in the end, to be loved. I Hate Summer manages to speak with depth about generational and filial relationships, alternative medicine, cultures and religions, without showing it, with the enlightened pace of incomprehension."

Gran Guinigi Best Newcomer

Valentine Cuny-Le Callet, author of Perpendicolare al sole published by Coconino Press. "There is great human strength in the author," reads the award motivation. "Her comic is a strong testimony that tells of the inhumanity of our organized systems, of what should be done. It gives voice to those who cannot speak, a man condemned to death. A story that does not justify, that does not use such a drama to create a book as an end in itself. The testimony of a brave girl who does what we all believe should be done but that we rarely put into practice: trying to communicate and understand a person who is suffering and using her art to tell it. Perpendicular to the Sun is a meticulous, journalistic, yet also disjointed tale, which proceeds by fits and starts, mixes styles and designs, takes its time, does not shout but whispers, patiently waiting for the reader, who ultimately remains enchanted by its profound, rare, narrative integrity".

The Stefano Beani Award: Best Publishing Initiative

Aula alla deriva by Kazuo Umezz published by Star Comics as "The publication in Italy of a Japanese classic from the 70s that revolutionized manga. A science fiction-horror story, capable of creating great suspense. Two parallel worlds separated in time and space. On one side our current one in which a school has suddenly disappeared, on the other an empty world in the future, where the school has finished with all the students and teachers. The idea shows how the change of reality, finding oneself in nothingness, affects human behavior. A sort of Lord of the Flies, where people who give in to fear or superstition lose the ability to be human."

Self Publishing Award

Storiebrute with La Testa del Principe Nero." In addition to the recognition as Guest of Honor at the next edition of the festival with a stand offered by Lucca Crea, the group will also have the opportunity to create the advertising artwork for Self Area 2025 and an exhibition of the winning volume."

Lucca Project Contest 2024 for Best Newcomer

Vertice Estremo by Lorenzo Fantini. "This project has demonstrated considerable maturity, standing out for its strong character, both from a visual (aesthetics and composition) and narrative point of view. The combination of storytelling and subject is well structured and engaging. The tables are extremely pleasant to read and guide the reader forward with naturalness and intelligence. Two special mentions: the first for the extraordinary teamwork at Susu by Davide Balugani, Domenico Somma, Giacomo Benedini, Alessandro Ruggiero and Christian Lasquite. The project shows maturity in every component, from the layout to the coloring. Special praise goes to the management of the work, clear and well distributed among the team members, which contributed to the harmony and overall quality of the project. And again, Airin by Valentina Cogo, which stands out for the great attention in defining the main and secondary characters and for a worldbuilding taken care of in the smallest details. The intelligent combination of original ideas and classic stylistic elements of the fantasy genre makes Airin a proposal capable of involving and entertaining those who read it."

Generazioni Award For 8-12 Year Olds

Salt Magic by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock, originally published by Margaret Ferguson Books, and translated and published as Magia di sale by Tunué "For the great novel-like strength of plot and staging, and the clever division into chapters, which mark the story like a metronome, allowing for narrative ellipses of great class. For the mastery of the dialogues, pervaded by screwball brilliance, capable of outlining a character in a simple exchange. For the beauty of the illustrations, from the direction to the acting to the coloring, which never show a weakness, always maintaining levels of absolute excellence. And for the dreamy atmosphere of the story, warm and alive, served, among other things, in an editorial format of notable elegance." The special mention went to La mia amica strana by Alice Coppini (Tunué) "for the brilliance of the script which, while remaining exquisitely simple (but nothing is more complex than simplicity) carves out living and credible characters: characters in constant evolution, enhanced, moreover, by the author's darting stroke, which gives the acting an indomitable vivacity, outlining credible, ordinary yet magical sets, lit up by a pastel palette that highlights the reassuring but alienating atmosphere of a story suspended between dream and reality. The obviousness of the ending, which can be guessed well in advance, is in my opinion a strong point: being aware that Lina is none other than her grandmother as a child allows the reader to elaborate the generational comparison during fruition, and not just by thinking about it afterwards. Finally, another non-trivial fact, the book brings out a surprising amount of smiles. And smiles are a rare commodity." Three titles recommended: Kaya (vol. 1 and 2) by Wes Craig (Edizioni BD) "For the explosive power of Craig's drawings, made of brutal and elegant syntheses, functional breaks from the cage, hyper-narrative chromatic tones, character designs that are never banal. And for the structure of the story, perhaps not innovative, perhaps based on over-visited imaginaries, yet compelling and kinetic, in perpetual movement. Here, Kaya is a graphic novel 'of movement', from the literal movement of the characters to that which, for the aforementioned reasons, it manages to convey to the reader. Furthermore, trivially, it is a very entertaining product, and with a transversal target."

The Place of the Girls by Yamaji Ebine published by Doku. "There was a risk, in this story, and it was that, very dangerous for children's publishing, of incurring in the 'message'. The story of six girls from countries that are not ours is told with realism, as regards the life of young women, and with due harshness, but also with poetry and grace."

Raowl – The Beauty and the Brute by Tebo published by Logos, "A light and fun story, artfully done, told with classic but truly disruptive drawings and storytelling. Tebo is a master of dynamism and also in this comic the poses of the characters and the direction help to make the story 'move' well beyond the page, giving real animations in the white space between one panel and another".

Special Mention

In memory of Mahasen Al-Khatib "for the universality and humanity of his artistic and cultural message, an award born from the joint initiative with over 300 artists who in an open letter expressed the desire – welcomed by Lucca Comics & Games and proposed to the Jury who immediately accepted – to commemorate the artist during the festival. On October 18, the cartoonist, illustrator and artist Mahasen Al-Khatib tragically lost her life during a bombing in Jabaliya, in the Gaza Strip. At just 31 years old, Mahasen was a powerful and courageous voice who used comics as a means to tell the suffering of the Palestinian people and her social commitment. Through his art he gave shape to stories of resistance, hope and survival, giving voice to those who too often remain unheard."

Best Translation From Japanese

Manuela Capriati for Asadora! by Naoki Urasawa published byPanini Comics / Planet Manga.

Best Translation From English

 Veronica Raimo for Monica by Daniel Clowes published by Coconino Press.

Best Translation From French

Stefano Andrea Cresti for Diario di Fabrice Neaud from Tunué, "a monumental graphic novel of about 850 pages."

Best Packaging award

Deep it / Deep me diptych by Marc-Antoine Mathieu from Coconino Press "for a use of glossy black and iridescent white that reached the maximum production, totally immersing readers in the perfect chromatic dualism desired by the author."

Best Lettering

Paola Cannatella "for her valuable work of visual transformation of the different forms of writing in Diventa qualcuno by Daniel Blancou from Rizzoli Lizard."

Best Cover

Lovesick by Luana Vecchio from Edizioni BD "so direct, full of content, impactful and impossible to forget "

Best Colour

Michele Peroncini for I moti celesti from Coconino Press.

The Lucca Comics Awards jury was of Francesca Ghermandi, author and winner of the Gran Guinigi for best drawing in 2023; Marco Nucci, author and winner of the Gran Guinigi for best short comic or collection in 2023; Michela "Sonno" Rossi, author and winner of the Gran Guinigi for an editorial initiative – "Premio Stefano Beani" in 2023; Ilaria Ravarino, journalist for Il Messaggero; Pio Corveddu, member of the festival's Cultural Staff.

The Gran Guinigi Awards were judged by Loredana Lipperini, writer, radio host, cultural activist; Marco Nucci, novelist, screenwriter, editor, teacher, with publications in Panini, Edizioni BD, Tunuè, Bonelli and Giunti and winner in 2023 of the Lucca Award for Best Short Story; GUD, cartoonist, illustrator and teacher, founder of ARF! The Rome Comics Festival and Art Director of Book on a Tree.

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