The 2025 edition of the Angoulême comics awards took place with Luz graphic novel Deux Filles Nues [tr. ‘Two Girls Nude’] grabbing the Fauve d’Or for book of the year. Among the (many) other categories, mangaka Shintaro Kago was presented the series prize for the French edition of Dementia 21, Lynda Barry collection Come Over Come Over received the Heritage Award, and John Romita Jr. was presented an honorary Fauve for his contributions to comics.
Deux Filles Nues, published by Albin Michel, is the latest graphic novel by former Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Luz (real name Renald Luzier). The story follows the fate of a painting by German expressionist Otto Mueller through the tumultuous 20th century – with the reader in the perspective of the painting itself.
“‘It was a logical progression to offer the experience of being at the heart of the story and having to see it head-on. At a time when the far right is on the rise just about everywhere, it is perhaps useful to ask ourselves the question of our powerlessness or the ability to get round our powerlessness to act’.
Two books received a Special Jury nod this year: Carole Lobel‘s intimate exploration of another side of extremism, En Territoire Ennemi [‘In Enemy Territory‘], published by L’Association; as well as Jean-Christophe Deveney & Tommy Redolfi‘s Les Météores: Histoires de ceux que ne font que passer [‘Meteors: Stories of those just passing through‘], published by Delcourt. The latter looks at the lives of people during the end times and, unusually, the book is published in landscape.
The late underground cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb was the subject of a tribute anthology that co-won the Alternative prize at Angoulême ’25. Fanatic Female Frustration, was coordinated by Lucile Ourvouai, Morgane Somville and Elsa Klée and had contributions from ten other women alternative cartoonists.
The Crime Thriller award (Fauve Polar), as voted by passengers of French rail went to Revoir Comanche [tr. ‘Return to Comanche‘], by Romain Renard (Le Lombard). The story is a sequel to classic western series Comanche by Greg & Hermann that debuted in Tintin magazine in 1969 and ended in 2002. While the original Comanche series is set around a family ranch of the same name in the 19th century, this story takes place decades later (in the early 20th) with one of it’s lead cast members in old age being brought back from retirement. The nostalgia factor – as well as the quality of the story – would likely have easily earned it the vote. It beat familiar names in the category like the French editions of Jeff Lemire & Gabriel Hernandez Walta‘s Phantom Road (Panini Comics) and Pornsak Pichetshote & Alexandre Tefengki‘s The Good Asian (Komiks Initiative).
For all the Angoulême awards plus translated synopses of books, scroll on.
Note: all synopses are translated via DeepL and have sample pages provided apart from those available in English.
Fauve D’Or for Best Book: Deux Filles Nues [tr. ‘Two Girls Nude‘], by Luz (Albin Michel)
Translated synopsis:
“A century of history seen through the eyes of a painting.
“It all began in 1919 in a forest on the outskirts of Berlin. Otto Mueller painted Zwei Mädchen – Halbakte.
“From the artist’s studio to the walls of its first owner’s office, the painting observes everyday life before being swept away by the turbulance of this dark period: Hitler’s arrival to power, state anti-Semitism, modern art described as ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis, the despoilment of Jewish families, exhibitions, sales, pyres…
“A passive player in a world beyond its control, Zwei Mädchen – Halbakte is a survivor.
“The fruit of an investigation by Luz, this graphic and historical novel calls for the utmost vigilance in the face of all forms of political and cultural censorship.”
Special Jury Prize [2 books]:
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En Territoire Ennemi [tr. ‘In Enemy Territory‘], by Carole Lobel (L’Association)
Translated synopsis:
“While still in her teens, Carole distanced herself from her Catholic family and its traditional values. Lonely and withdrawn, she went to art school in Nantes, where she gradually regained her self-confidence. That’s when she met Stéphane. Stéphane was handsome, confident and, above all, interested in her. Carole fell under his spell and invested herself in the relationship. But she soon finds herself isolated, cut off from others and the world, as Stéphane, led by militant rhetoric found on the Internet, transforms himself…
“Carried along by minimalist, expressive drawings, En territoire ennemi aptly exposes the mechanisms that gradually lead to isolation for Carole and to the extreme right for Stéphane. A poignant, brutal and courageous tale of male domination in its most insidious and radical forms.”
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Les Météores: Histoires de ceux que ne font que passer [tr. ‘Meteors: Stories of those just passing through’], by Jean-Christophe Deveney & Tommy Redolfi (Delcourt)
Translated synopsis:
“A meteorite is heading for Earth. But there’s no question of heroes saving humanity. Rather, it’s a story of intertwined crooked lives. Floyd goes through life with his big, lumbering body, his habits and his ‘whites’. And then there are Gary, Casey, Charlie and Hollie, all drawn in his wake… All characters who reveal their strengths and vulnerabilities in the face of the imminent end.”
Heritage Prize (Prix du Patrimoine): Come Over Come Over, by Lynda Barry; translated from English by Fanny Soubiran (Çà et Là) — collection first published by Drawn & Quarterly in 2022
Prix Révélation: Ballades [tr. ‘Ballads‘], by Camille Potte (Atrabile)
Translated synopsis:
“Prince Gourignot de Fouët is very unhappy, and for good reason: he has been turned into a frog. Nothing had prepared him for this state of affairs, nor for the plot hatched behind his back to depose him. Meanwhile, the valiant Gounelle, a knight by trade, sets off to rescue the alabaster-skinned Princess Patin and confront the dragon guarding her. But for both of them, the return journey will be long and winding, full of pitfalls and discoveries. Add a hallucinating salamander, a cantankerous witch, an insufferable minstrel and music-loving frogs, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of the sheer madness that is Ballades, Camille Potte’s first book, and we’ll tell you like we mean it: definitely one of the funniest and most engaging books of the year.”
Series Prize (Prix de la Série): Dementia 21 vol 2, by Shintaro Kago; translated from Japanese by Baptiste Neveux (Huber) — both books are available in English from Fantagraphics in a tidy box set.
Crime Thriller Prize (Fauve Polar SNCF): Revoir Comanche [tr. ‘Return to Comanche‘], by Romain Renard (Le Lombard) — spiritual sequel to beloved Franco Belgian western series Comanche by Greg & Hermann.
Translated synopsis:
“Somewhere deep in California at the beginning of the 20th century, Cole Hupp lives apart from the world, waiting for the end. But when it comes to the Grim Reaper, it’s Vivienne, a librarian curious about the reality of the Wild West, who knocks on his door. She knows his real name: Red Dust, a legend written in the dust and blood of Wyoming. Vivienne is the bearer of disturbing news. The Triple 6 ranch, the scene of Red’s many feats of arms, has gone quiet. The old cowboy has no choice but to return to his past. A journey into the past strewn with ghosts and regrets, at the end of which he hopes to see again the woman he has never been able to forget, Comanche.”
Eco Prize (Prix Éco-Fauve): Vert de Rage: Les Enfants du Plumb [tr. ‘Green with Rage: Lead Children‘], by Martin Boudot & Sébastien Piquet (Michel Lafon)
Translated synopsis:
“Investigation into the heart of the most polluted area in France. Hundreds of children in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region suffer from lead poisoning, a condition that causes irreversible neurological damage. How is this possible twenty years after the closure of the factory that polluted the region? Martin Boudot, an investigative journalist, is leading an enquiry into this region, dubbed the largest polluted area in France. Between testimonies and revelations, Martin and his Vert de Rage team force open the doors of town halls, courts and multinationals to lift the veil on one of the biggest health and environmental scandals of our time.”
Kids Prize (Prix Jeunesse): Retour à Tomioka [tr. ‘Return to Tomioka‘], by Laurent Galandon & Michaël Crouzat (Jungle)
Translated synopsis:
“Osamu shares his grandmother’s taste for the fantastic. A close friend of the yôkai, those magical, mischievous creatures, he has stayed away from humans ever since they fled Tomioka after the Fukushima nuclear accident.
But when Bâ-chan dies, Osamu can’t bring himself to bury her far from their home. So he persuades his sister, Akiko, to run away and lay her ashes at the foot of the family altar in the heart of the forbidden zone…”
High Schoolers’ Choice Award (Fauve de Lycéens) : Contes de la Mansarde [tr. ‘Tales from the Attic‘], by Elizabeth Holleville & Iris Pouy (L’Employé du moi)
Translated synopsis:
“Bastien needs to know the exact date of his death. He calls in the services of a strange laboratory that says he should die the day after from choking. Since her girlfriend inherited her grandmother’s collection of primitive art, nothing has been the same for Miriam. Barbara is a comic strip author. One evening, she enters the small cupboard hidden behind her desk to discover a hidden room in the attic. This exploration will turn her daily life upside down. Each of the three chapters in Contes de la Mansarde takes place in the same flat, on the seventh and top floor of a Paris building, over the course of three scorching summers. In these goosebump-inducing stories, love, often thwarted, always plays an important role. And while the frightening appears in supernatural manifestations, it also lurks in the recesses of our modern neuroses: depression, loneliness, obsession and anxiety. In their macabre tales, Elizabeth Holleville and Iris Pouy evoke their childhood reading, the fairy tales of Perrault and Marcel Aymé, genre films and the American comic strips of the pre-comic code era.”
French TV Audience Prize (Prix du Public France Télévisions): Impénétrable [tr. ‘Impenetrable‘], by Alix Garin (Le Lombard)
Translated synopsis:
“In a deeply intimate and moving story, Alix Garin recounts her liberating journey through the twists and turns of sexual dysfunction. How the struggle to regain control of her body and her desire, and to save her relationship, is transformed into a moving quest for healing, emancipation and love.
“Through ups and downs, failures and victories, she explores the depths of her psyche, the links between the physical and the mental, and the complexity of sexuality. With courage and honesty, Alix delivers a sincere, beautiful and moving account of the difficulties associated with sexuality, which are still too little known and often taboo.”
Alternative Comics Prize (Prix de la Bande Dessinée Alternative) — 2 books/tied result:
Fanatic Female Frustration, produced by Lucile Ourvouai, Morgane Somville and Elsa Klée with Alice Bienassis, Valentine Gallardo, Claire Malissen, Karla Paloma, Mireille Nyangono Ebene, Marthe Pequignot, Margot Preham, Caroline Sury & Mélanie Utzmann-North— a small press anthology tribute to the late Aline Kominsky-Crumb
Hairspray Magazine, edited and published by Karla Paloma with Elsa Klée, Rikke Villadsen, Martina Sarritzu, Vera Bekema, Noémie Barsolle, Juliette Collet, Simone F. Baumann, Esther Samuels-Davis, Jo ßüsmann — a new international, Berlin-based anthology featuring women artists. Work featuring in this debut issue comes from France, Finland, Germany, and the USA.
Prix René Goscinny (Best Writer): Serge Lehman for Les navigateurs [‘The Navigators‘], illustrated by Stéphane de Caneva; published by Delcourt
Starting out as a science fiction and fantasy novelist in the 1990s, in the 2000s Frenchman Serge Lehman switched to comics writing. Some of Lehman’s collaborations have been made available in English via Titan Comics – including Chimera Brigade with Fabrice Colin, Gess, and Céline Bessonneau; The Season of the Snake with Jean-Marie Michaud; and Masked with Stéphane Créty, Julien Hugonnard-Bert & Gaétan Georges). The recently completed Saint-Elme quintet (not yet in English) with Frederik Peeters has drawn great critical acclaim.
Translated book synopsis for Les navigateurs:
“An expatriate for 20 years, Neige Agopian decides to return to Paris and reconnect with her childhood friends Max, Arthur and Sébastien. But after a few days, she disappears under strange circumstances. The boys investigate and come face to face with a triple mystery: an urban legend, an artistic enigma, and a fabulous lost world watched over since time immemorial by the ‘Navigators’.”
Prix René Goscinny (Young Writer): Élizabeth Holleville for Contes de la mansarde [tr.Tales from the Attic’ ] illustrated by Iris Pouy; published by L’Employé du moi
Cartoonist Holleville might be familiar to Anglophones for her 2020 graphic novel Summer Spirit (Nobrow), their debut solo book which was published in France by Glénat in 2018. This appears to be her first turn as comics script writer.
Prix Konishi (manga translation award): Yohan Leclerc for Kan Takahama’s seinen series Les saisons d’Ohgishima (tr. ‘The Seasons of Ohgishima’), released in French by Glénat.
The final part of Takahama’s Nagasaki trilogy, only one instalment – Flight of the Butterflies – was released in English (digitally) by her Japanese publisher LEED in 2018.
Synopsis (translated from French):
“1866, Nagasaki, on the eve of the Meiji revolution. In this estuary where foreign influences mingle with Japanese culture, Tamao, a child from the pleasure district, goes to work with the courtesan she is apprenticed to at a Dutch merchant’s in Dejima, the western quarter. Through the seasons and encounters with a host of colourful characters, she glimpses the vast world beyond her cage, but the march of time inexorably reminds her of the fate that awaits her, just like the society around her.”
Discovery Prize, formerly the Special Kids Jury Prize (Prix Découvertes) — 3 books :
Elementary School (École) Pick: Léonarde – La barbe du Houéran [tr. ‘Léonarde – The Houéran’s Beard’], by Anne-Catherine Ott & Isabelle Bauthian (Drakoo)
A kids story based on French folktales from the Vosges region in Eastern France (a Houéran is a protector of the forest). Synopsis:
“Intrepid, goofy but a promising warrior, Léonarde dreams of adventures in which she drags along her best friend Princess Eldorise. Transformed into a Goupile (fox-person) by a deceptive magic formula, she is chased out of the castle and, to regain her appearance, has to improvise as an emissary to enemies, each more stubborn than the last! Just then, the Houéran appears, a giant with a horned buttocks, who likes to warm his beard by the fire but resents his forest being turned into a battlefield. How will the young girl – or the young fox – manage to avoid a war between all these knuckleheads?”
Middle School (Collège) Pick: Mardival, by Yann Cozic (Glénat)
Translated synopsis:
“Like her mother before her, Moira is a servant at Mardival Castle, where the great lord is holding a ceremony this evening in honour of his illustrious ancestor, Count Albinus de Mardival. But during the festivities, Moira accidentally comes into contact with the sacred relics of her ancestor. Bad luck! A curse falls upon her. Thrown out of the castle, Moira is left to fend for herself, rejected not only by the squires but also by the villagers, who are too afraid of the monster that is now stalking her. By chance, in her forced exile, Moira crosses paths with Grégoire. This deserter soldier, wanted by the guard, may have an idea for warding off fate… This is the start of an expedition during which these two characters will become close friends. This unexpected friendship could enable Moira to discover what really links her to this legendary beast. As for Grégoire, he could finally free himself from a weighty state secret that he has been keeping for far too long. In the light of all these revelations, the power of the crown could be shaken…”
High School (Lycéen) Pick: Bobigny 1972, by Marie Bardiaux-Vaïente & Carole Maurel (Glénat)
Translated synopsis:
“My body, my choice: a historic trial. In 1972, Marie-Claire Chevalier, pregnant as a result of rape, was denounced for illegal abortion by her own attacker. At that time, not so long ago, abortion was still an offence punishable by a heavy fine and even imprisonment. Her mother, who had done everything in her power to help her, and other women who had been involved, were also brought to trial as accomplices. This sadly banal dramatic case became one of the great historical trials thanks to the help of Gisèle Halimi, lawyer for all the great feminist and anti-racist causes. She seized on the story of Marie-Claire and her mother to create an electroshock in the media, the public and society at large. She no longer defended a young woman ‘guilty’ of abortion, but attacked the anti-abortion laws and policies that were rampant in France. Backed by major French stars, actresses, intellectuals, journalists and political figures, Maître Halimi’s aim is to set a precedent for the Bobigny court.”
