(Angoulême) The Swiss Martin Panchaud won the Fauve d’or for the best album of the year on Saturday with The color of thingsannounced the jury of the Angoulême Comics Festival.
This Genevan by birth signs a story in a very original form, which takes up the codes of the video game and the technical diagram, which had initially been published in German.
“It’s just amazing. I want to say that I can’t believe it […] It’s my first festival, I’m discovering, I’ve been in a tunnel since I arrived, ”said the author on Saturday evening on the stage of the Angoulême Theater.
“It’s a book that was conceived in Geneva ten years ago, which was finished in Zurich, where I live […] Zurich is a sort of crossroads for comics where a lot of influences mingle,” he said.
A “Special Fawn 50e edition” was given to the Japanese Hajime Isayama, the author of the world bestseller The attack of the Titans.
“There is a museum of The attack of the Titans in my hometown, and I’m going to display this trophy there,” he said, after being presented with a trophy that he called a “cute cat.”
“The exhibition was truly extraordinary. I was really moved and once again thank you very much,” he added.
Fauves d’honneur were awarded to two other Japanese mangakas who came to Angoulême on the occasion of exhibitions dedicated to them, Ryoichi Ikegami and Junji Ito.
The Angoulême Festival closes its doors on Sunday evening, after having succeeded in reviving attendance which had been at half mast in 2022. Despite seasonal weather, cold and overcast, the public was there.
The Festival’s most prestigious award, the Grand Prix, was presented on Wednesday to Franco-Syrian Riad Sattouf, known for his saga The Arab of the future.
Comics have never done so well in France. According to the GfK institute, it had its second best historical years in 2021 and 2022, and last year exceeded 25% of the book market for the first time.