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Akira's Katsuhiro Otomo Nominated Again for Angoulême's Top Prize
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The 9emeArt.fr website and the French edition of The Huffington Post reported that the 42nd annual Angoulême International Comics Festival nominated Katsuhiro Ōtomo (Akira, Steamboy, Short Peace), Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), and Belgian comic artist Hermann (Jeremiah) for the event's top prize, the Grand Prix. The official website for the festival, which will take place from January 29 to February 1 in France, has not announced the nominees yet. If Otomo is selected, it will mark his second nomination in as many years. He ultimately lost the prize last year to Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson. Alan Moore was also nominated last year.
The festival's comic nominees include Mitsuru Nishimura and Takurō Kajikawa's A Chef of Nobunaga (Le Chef de Nobunaga), Suehiro Maruo's Binzume no Jigoku (Inferno in Bottles/L'Enfer en Boutille), and Taiyo Matsumoto's Sunny for Best Comic; Nakaba Suzuki's The Seven Deadly Sins (Nanatsu no Taizai) for best Youth Comic; Leiji Matsumoto's Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Capitain Albator) and Tarō Bonten's Sex & Fury for Best Heritage Comic; and Atsushi Kaneko's Wet Moon for best Crime Comic.
The festival launches on January 29, just weeks after 17 people, including five Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, were killed in terrorist attacks in France. More than three million people filled the streets of France this past weekend to march in unity against the attacks.
The festival launched in 1974 as an event celebrating comics from countries throughout the world. None of the manga nominees for 2014 received a prize. Manga creator Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump) won the Prix Spécial 40e anniversaire du Festival (Special 40th Anniversary Festival Award) at the festival in 2012. Kaoru Mori's A Bride's Story and Yoshihiro Tatsumi's A Drifting Life won the Prix Intergénérations (Intergenerational Award) and Prix Regards sur le monde (World Outlook Award), respectively, in 2012.
Sources: 9art.fr, The Huffington Post France via Robot6
