With lodgings, accreditation and train all dealt with, it’s time to start really preparing for the Smorgasbord of comics that is the Angoulême Festival. In this post I’ll be highlighting some of the more surprising or noteworthy titles on the several short lists, honour lists or other sélections that the Festival has.
On the Sélection Officielle short list, we find a number of usual suspects that were originally published in English : Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes, Craigh Thompson’s Habibi and the Alec giant by Eddie Campbell and a collection of reporting comics by Joe Sacco, but also, quite surprisingly, Lars Martinson’s Tonoharu – not surprisingly in that it’s not worthy of being on the list, but rather that it’s not that well-known a comic, even though it deverves a very wide recognition (agreed, lovely little gem of a book, beautiful edition too from Top Shelf – Joe). In terms of BD, there’s Polina by Bastien Vives (look out for this one, we’ve been flagging it up a lot, wonderful work), a new Enki Bilal (Julia & Roem), Chroniques de Jérusalem by Guy Delisle (coming in English this spring from D&Q, I’m glad to say – Joe), the new Jason (L’Île aux Cent Mille Morts, with Fabien Vehlmann), and, as one of the only books on the list that are part of a continuing series, the new Jonathan by Cosey.
For me personally, the Séléction short list is also a good pointer towards books that seem to have passed me by during the year. I’m quite looking forward to the first part of L’Année du Lièvre by Cambodian creator Tian, which reminds me a little of Belle Yang’s Forget Sorrow, one of the best books I read last year. En Route pour le Goncourt by Jean-François Kierzkowski and Mathieu Ephrem, about a hopeful aspiring writer starting out, is also quite intriguing. Les Ignorants by Etienne Davodeau brings together two things that are close to my heart : literature and wine, and the hard work it takes to create the two. And finally, Pendant Ce Temps A White River Junction is the collection of comics that belgian cartoonist Max De Radigues created about his time at the Center for Cartoon Studies.
The Sélection Patrimoine honours publications that aim to preserve important classic titles for future generations of readers. This year, we find the first volume of the French super-hero comic Fantax (originally published in the late 1940′s) the second volume in French of Terry And The Pirates and the twelfth of Snoopy & Les Peanuts.
It has been quite a good year for all-ages comics, and the Sélection Jeunesse offers some good titles. The latest adventure of Jules by Emile Bravo and the latest Paul by Michel Rabagliati spring to mind, but also the second volume of the very endearing Les Souvenirs de Mamette by Nob (in itself a spin-off of the comic Mamette,one of the best comics about older people) and the third part already of Le Royaume, a very funny “medieval” comic by Benoît Feroumont. I’m also quite looking forward to Ulysse by Christine Palluy and Benjamin Adam and to Grenadine et Mentalo, the latest brain child of the wonderful Colonel Moutarde, both of which were published by BD Kids, the new comics imprint by magazines publishers Bayard and Milan.
Finally, the Séléction Polar, celebrating the best crime comics of the year. There’s the new Canardo by Sokal (still the best crime comic featuring a duck) and Ô Dingos, ô châteaux, the new book by Jacques Tardi (together with Jean-patrick Manchette). Quite surprisingly, there’s also an Association publication on the list, La Bande à Foster by South African creators Conrad Botes and Ryk Hattingh. Le Perroquet des Batignolles ties it all together : created as a radio serial for France Inter in the mid-1990′s by Tardi (and Michel Boujut),it now returns as a comic by Association co-founder Stanislas.
Besides these four “official” ones, Angoulême boasts more sélections than you can shake a stick at, with the Schools’ prize (five books selected by the pupils in the schools of the city), the High School’s prize (who have nominated, amongst others, the new book by Vincent Bailly, Un Sac de Billes, based on the autobiographical novel by Joseph Joffo), de Sélection BD Alternative (which every year salutes a particularly good fanzine) and the Révelation Blog, for the best new online comics (check out the comics by Pierre Bunk – they are quite hilarious).
Next time, more on the exhibitions and other events that await us in a couple of weeks time. Stay tuned !
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