This Sunday (5th November), British newspaper The Observer is celebrating 10 years of the Observer / Jonathan Cape / Comica graphic short story prize with a graphic novel special section as part of its New Review section.
This year’s winner and runner-up will be announced inside, and the special supplement features a cover by Chris Ware and an interview with comic creator Alison Bechdel, author of the long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, who came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir Fun Home, which was subsequently adapted as a musical which won a Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015.
This year’s finalists entries are currently being exhibited at London’s Orbital Comics until tomorrow.
Below is a list of the finalists and their respective graphic short story. The first prize is £1,000 and the publication of the four-page story in The Observer New Review.
The runner-up will receive £250 and their work will appear on guardian.co.uk
- 4.42AM – Peter Cline
- Dennis and June – Emily Bob
- Greedy Guts – Tom Eaton
- Haunted – Andi Watson
- I Think Collin has Dementia – Author Unknown
- If You’re so Wise, How Come You’re Dead? – Tor Freeman
- Madame and Me – James Albon
- Mister-e Car Wash – Oliver Elliott
- My Father in Berlin – Astrid and Jonathan Goldsmith
- On a Friday – Panosbaros
- Plop – Stref
- Prim – Andy Hixon
- Sea Change – Ginny Shinnel
- The Slug Finger – Lily Shaul
- Start Up – Peter Duggan
- The Three Ravens – Alé Mercado
- Tom and Gerry – Jessica Barrah
- Varicose Veins – Jessika Green
The quality of the entries, many from already-established creators, is impressive and I’m sure it can’t have been easy deciding this year’s short list. It will be interesting to see who the winners are.
• Orbital Comics: www.orbitalcomics.com
• Observer/Cape/Comica graphic short story prize Page
• Artist Myfanwy Tristram has found some entries that didn’t make the short list, noted here
With thanks to Richard Sheaf
Categories: Comics Competitions, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News