Tag: angouleme 2015

An interview with the winners of this year's Prix de la Serie at Angoulême

Well, this is a bit of a wounder. I alluded in an earlier post on the Angoulême comics festival that the attendance was being disputed, and in a must read wrap-up of the 2015 festival Matthias Wivel covers everything and has a much more knowledgable breakdown of the dispute. In the past it has been a tenet of faith that 200,000 people attend the festival, which fills an entire medieval style town on a hill. This number has been cited as a reminder of how the French love their comics, how robust the European comics scene is, and in general how Angoulême is heaven on earth for comics lovers. While all of that remains true, it now seems that festival organizers may have been inflating the attendance a tad and it's more like...15,000-20,000.

A round-up of news from the FIBD in Angoulême, with a sale from Comixology, live reports on bomb sniffing dogs, a prize for LES ROYAUMES DU NORD, continued controversy over Sodastream, and questions over just how many people actually attend the festival.

Earlier this year, the selection of Bill Watterson as the Grand Prix winner at the Angoulême comics festival created quite a stir. The winner is traditionally the "grand marshal" of the whole festival, helping plan exhibits and appearing at official events. (Or, as in the case of Willem, last ear's winner, hanging out at Le Chat Noir until 1 am with everyone else.) It seemed a bit of a stretch for Watterson, but was it impossible? Although the once reclusive Calvin & Hobbes creator hasn't exactly turned into Taylor Swift, he makes occasional semi public appearances and is way more accessible in interviews. (If you call once or twice a year accessible.) When the win was announced, Watterson's editor Lee Salem said he would try to tell him how wonderful Angoulême is, so maybe Watterson would make an exception for this so not a comic-con event?

According to a French press release, and Google translate, manga master Jiro Taniguchi will be one of the main guests for the 42nd Festival du Angoulême in January and will have the first major...

Bill Watterson to draw the Angoulême Festival Poster. Confirmed by the Festival… Previous RT. — Thomas Ragon (@ThomasRagon) June 10, 2014 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js If they were to produce a remake of Field of Dreams, suffice to say Bill...