The winners and nominees for the 4th Annual British Comic Awards (2014/2015) in association with Page 45.
Best Book
WINNER:
The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis
SelfMadeHero,
Scarper Lee is two weeks away from his death day when the mysterious Vera Pike rings his doorbell in the middle of a knifestorm. Then his dad escapes from the shed. A beguiling and utterly unique graphic novel.
NOMINEES:
Comic Book Slumber Party: Fairytales for Bad Bitches – Hannah Chapman (Editor); Stephanie Ayres, Sarah Burgess, Emma Carlisle, Lucie Ebrey, Enoki, Lize Meddings, Becca Tobin, Donya Todd, Alice Urbino and Jenn Woodall.
Self published
Supercrash: How to Hijack the Global Economy by Darryl Cunningham
Myriad Editions
The Rabbit by Rachael Smith
Avery Hill Publishing
Tim Ginger by Julian Hanshaw
Top Shelf
Best Comic
Sponsored by Awesome Merchandise
WINNER:
Grey Area: From the City to the Sea by Tim Bird
Avery Hill Publishing
A seemingly simple journey along the Thames eloquently prompts the reader to consider their own journey through life and the paths of others. An exquisite use of the comics form to tell a subtle and moving story.
NOMINEES:
Beast Wagon #1 by Owen Michael Johnson, John Pearson and Colin Bell
Self published
Hand Me Down by Kristyna Baczynski
Self published
Lost Property by Andy Poyiadgi
Nobrow
Strip by Sarah Gordon
Self published
Young People’s Comic Award
In partnership with Leeds Libraries
WINNER:
Star Cat: Book 01 by James Turner
David Fickling Books
Meet the crew of the Star Cat, a spaceship shaped like a cat or is it a cat that’s a spaceship? Captain Spaceington leads his bumbling crew from one manic, gag filled adventure to the next. A rib-tickling journey through the stars for readers of all ages.
NOMINEES:
Cindy and Biscuit Vol 1: We Love Trouble by Dan White
Self published/Milk the Cat Comics
Gary’s Garden: Book 1 by Gary Northfield
David Fickling Books
Ghost Cat’s Pedigree Chums by Craig Conlan
Self published
Maleficium by EdieOP
Avery Hill Publishing
Emerging Talent
WINNER:
Rachael Stott
for her artwork in Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor – SDCC Exclusive (Titan Comics), Star Trek #46 and #47 (IDW) and Star Trek/Planet of the Apes #1-5 (IDW).
NOMINEES:
Sarah Graley for Our Super Adventure, Pizza Witch and Rent Quest (self published).
Matt Taylor for The Great Salt Lake (self published) and his artwork on Wolf #1 and #2 (Image Comics).
Adam Vian for Long Lost Lempi and Snippets: Extracts from 4 comics that don’t Exist (self published)
Christian Ward for his artwork on ODY-C Volume 1 and ODY-C #6 (Image Comics)
Hall of Fame
Dudley D Watkins
When the Scottish Government introduced their Commemorative Plaque Scheme in 2013 the very first person they chose was Scotland’s greatest cartoonist, an Englishman named Dudley D Watkins.
For 44 years, Watkins worked relentlessly for D.C. Thomson. He created The Dandy’s flagship character Desperate Dan and he co-created The Broons and Oor Wullie, the most beloved comics in Scotland. His talent and success led to the creation of the world’s longest running children’s comic, The Beano.
It is a testament to the quality and appeal of Watkins’ work that after his death D.C. Thomson continued to reprint Oor Wullie and The Broons strips in The Sunday Post for seven years before a replacement was found. Watkins’ Desperate Dan strips were reprinted in The Dandy for fourteen years.
Watkins’ black and white work may look safe and quaint to modern readers but a second look quickly reveals an absolute master of pacing, composition, expression and body language. His work is throughly charming and no matter how many panels or characters he’s drawing, his work always stands out as clean and appealing. He was a modest man with a natural talent who influenced almost everyone who came after him.
No list of cartooning greats, British or otherwise, would be complete without the name Dudley D Watkins.
Our full retrospective of Watkin’s career can be found here including rare images of his work from the DC Thomson archives.
