The Forbidden Planet International Blog

(Photograph by Jonathan Brady from thetimes.co.uk.)

Over at the British Comic Awards website, Adam Cadwell has posted a heartfelt tribute to the very first Hall of Fame recipient Raymond Briggs.

Well worth a read over at the BCA website, but I’ll end with Adam’s closing words, as they sum it up perfectly, an award for a true great:

Raymond Briggs is an artist who has never been afraid to deal with sadness and death in either his books for adults or children, and he balances these darker aspects with the kindness, sweetness and common decency of his characters.

Whether he is making children howl with laughter at Father Christmas’ bum crack or making adults tear up at the pointless suffering of a lovely old couple, Briggs’ work never fails to have a deep emotional impact that stays with us for the rest of our lives.

He has been an uncompromising, daring, unique and generous cartoonist throughout his entire career and his stories, whether in book form or as animated films, have become treasured favourites of every generation all over Britain and across the globe.

Raymond Briggs is truly one of the greatest cartoonists our country has ever produced and we are very, very lucky indeed to have him.

(Father Christmas, 1973)

(Fungus The Bogeyman, 1977)

(Ethel & Ernest, 1998)