Last year, the Grand Prix des Galons de la BD (endowed with an amount of 6000 euros) rewarded the first volume of
Madeleine Résistante
by Dominique Bertail, Jean-David Morvan and Madeleine Riffaud.
A very wise choice.
Read alsoA general, generals, Charles de Gaulle and Algeria vaudeville style
This year, for its third edition, the reward created by the Ministry of the Armed Forces crowns
A general of generals
,
a brilliant satirical comedy in comic strip, signed by the tandem Nicolas Juncker and François Boucq, which looks back on the historical events of May 13, 1958, in Algiers (published in Lombard).
At the Hôtel de Brienne, rue Saint-Dominique, in the presence of Patricia Miralles, Secretary of State to the Minister for the Armed Forces, in charge of Veterans Affairs and Memory, the cartoonist François Boucq was delighted to receive his Grand Prix from the hands of of a general, which was not lacking in salt.
General Yann Gravêthe, acting director of Dicod (Defense Information and Communication Delegation), moreover pointed out, mischievously, in his speech that this comic strip "had spared neither
the generals, nor the institution, but that she was very funny.
Reading it again last night, I laughed!
»
François Boucq (Grand Prize) and Marcelino Truong (History Prize), respectively fifth and sixth from the left, receive their prizes at the Hôtel de Brienne, rue Saint-Dominique, in Paris.
© Gilles Cement
François Boucq, meanwhile, remembered having
“done everything, being young to be reformed during
“
the three days
”
.
I thought I would never receive a stripe in my life,
he continued.
But I must admit that I am very happy to receive these, since they are the stripes of comics!”
The other distinction awarded by Les Galons de la BD, The History Prize, (endowed with an amount of 3000 euros) was awarded to Marcelino Truong, for his album 40 men
and 12 guns
, (Denoël Graphic editions) retracing an intimate view of the Indochina War through the eyes of a young painter.
“This documented and balanced graphic novel
stages the
Indochinese tragedy with elegance, humor and beauty”,
considers the critic of the
Literary Figaro
Astrid de Larminat.
The Youth Prize (in the amount of 3000 euros) was awarded to Arnaud Delalande, Laurent Bidot and Joseph Weismann, for
After the Roundup
(published by Les Arènes. The book looks back on Joseph Weismann, one of the last survivors of the Vel d'Hiv' roundup, deported to a concentration camp from which he escaped at the age of nine.
“
Year after year, the Galons de la BD prove that the “Grande muette” knows how to speak and communicate her enthusiasm, including with regard to comics
”
Gilles Ciment, president of the jury of the Galons de la BD
In addition to these three prizes, the jury awarded a special mention to the album
The disappearance of Joseph Mengele,
by Matz and Jörg Mailliet, adapted from the book by Olivier Guez (Renaudot Prize 2017).
The tandem stages the flight and the hunt for the torturer doctor of Auschwitz.
This work was distinguished above all "
for its sense of story and its graphic qualities which accurately reflect the decline of one of the greatest criminals in history
".
As the president of the Galons de la BD jury, Gilles Ciment, points out:
“This third edition is settling smoothly into the landscape of comics.
I believe that the jury showed that it was important to reward good comic books above all.
Quality criteria prevailed.
This proves, if it were needed, the independence of the jury, and its desire to take a look without blinkers on the history and the conflicts of the world.
From year to year, the Galons de la BD prove that the
“Grande muette”
knows how to speak and communicate her enthusiasms, including with regard to comics
.