Award winners and finalists
Comic Book Prize 2016
Oesterle, who was born in Karlsruhe in 1966 and now lives in Munich with his wife and two children, has written his application as a fictional biography of his father and as a story about reparation.
About the award winner
Oesterle, who was born in Karlsruhe in 1966 and now lives in Munich with his wife and two children, wrote his application as a fictional biography of his father and as a story about reparation. His father left the family in the 1970s when Oesterle was seven years old. During his father's thirty-year absence, there was much speculation about his whereabouts. It was only after his death that the artist learned of his father's serious illness, Korsakov's syndrome, which mainly affects long-term alcoholics. Oesterle filled in the large gaps in his father's life with invented events and researched the homeless milieu in Munich. Vatermilch will probably be published in two volumes in 2018 and 2019.
"Vatermilch" tells of fathers who disappear and of sons who become unreliable fathers, shows life paths that lead into darkness and others that allow for an unexpected new beginning. The subject is difficult and universal, but Uli Oesterle tackles it in a multi-layered, very personal way and with a refreshing lightness in the pictorial narrative. The story is set in Munich and aims for a global format; the submitted materials show the project at a point where completion is tangible. The jury awards the Comic Book Prize 2016 with great confidence to an endeavor that has aroused our curiosity, especially in its stylistic/narrative willingness to break new ground."
The finalists of the Comic Book Prize 2016 are:
Max Baitinger. "Röhner"
"Max Baitinger's comic chamber play convinced us with its rigor and consistency: limited to a narrow three-person setting, in a reduced and clear drawing style, with concise texts, tremendous wit and original imagery, he tells the story of "Röhner". Like an intruder, he breaks into the balanced everyday structure and private sphere of a neurotic man and his neighbor and becomes a psychotic imposition."
- Dr. Stefanie Stegmann
Nele Bunjes. "Nepenthes"
"Nepenthes" is the title of the comic book by Neele Bunjes. Nepenthes are actually carnivorous plants. As a gift from her mother, they are supposed to bring color into the life of the protagonist, who has a dull job in a large company. In the middle of the company, surrounded by a metropolis, she therefore creates a forest clearing as an alternative world. The plot and the skillful graphic design convinced the jury to nominate Neele Bunjes for the Comic Book Prize."
- Professor Dr. Frank Druffner
Sheree Domingo: "Like in paradise"
"Like in Paradise" is a comic that could hardly be more topical. The social and economic grievances that set global migration in motion, but also the consequences of migration, are illustrated here using the example of a Filipina woman working in Germany as a geriatric nurse, her young daughter and an elderly nursing home resident. The mutual conflicts of interest of this triangle of characters are supported by a deliberately open visual language that makes masterful use of color and form.
- Andreas Platthaus
Franziska Ruflair: "A day without yesterday"
"A dog is kidnapped, a scribbler is told to change her nature, a character in a novel becomes a blackmailer... The quiet eccentricity of the plot of "A Day Without Yesterday" is a joy. The few completed picture pages show a confident handling of panel layout and picture narrative and speak of an artist who has mastered her craft with great skill."
- Dr. Brigitte Helbling
Simon Schwartz: "IKON"
"A double biography of the 20th century that is unparalleled in its curiosity. He: illustrator, writer and church founder. She: the "false Anastasia", the alleged youngest daughter of the tsar. Gleb Botkin and Franziska Schanzkowska. Masterfully drawn and intelligently narrated by Simon Schwartz."
- Dr. Thomas von Steinaecker
James J. Turek: "The Shangr-la Motel"
"The Shangri-la Motel" is aesthetically in the tradition of the funny animal comic and yet narratively very contemporary. Melancholy and humor form a close bond, which is subtly reinforced by the characteristic animal figures. The setting in an archetypal desert region of the Wild West becomes a foil for a wide variety of aberrations - geographical, religious and social. The United States is presented with an amusing and explosive distorting mirror by an American living in Germany."
- Andreas Platthaus
Burcu Türker: "Sweet lemons"
"Sweet Lemons" tells the story of the relationship between mother and daughter in two storylines: The everyday life of the daughter, in this case the author herself, on the one hand and, on the other, flashbacks to the life of the mother, an actress. This loving and impressive homage to the recently deceased mother is not only convincing in terms of content, but also formally. By omitting the lines around the panels, a light, airy narrative style is created that harmonizes well with the author's beautiful line and colouring."
- David Basler
Nacha Vollenweider: "Footnotes"
"Germany through the eyes of a young Argentinian woman. A train journey provides the framework for a series of virtuously choreographed "footnotes", be they personal memories or social observations. German and Argentinian realities overlap - just like the floor plans of Argentinian cities and the pattern of Deutsche Bahn seat covers."
- Dr. Florian Höllerer
Florian Winter: "XES"
"XES" is ambiguous: read phonetically as the English word "excess" or deciphered as "sex" spelled backwards, the title points ahead to the twisted world of a man who suffers from sex addiction. The comic is a clever mixture of fictional story and guidebook, as the fate of the protagonist is given exemplary traits. The cartoon-like design, combined with red as the only additional color, creates strong effects to accentuate the events."
- Andreas Platthaus
