The Montreal Comic Arts Festival (MCAF) has launched the 25th Bédélys Awards on March 27 with the announcement of the finalists in its six categories.
Bédélys Québec, Bédélys Youth Québec, Bédélys Independent Francophone, Bédélys Independent Anglophone, Bédélys Youth, and the Bédélys International! The winners of the 25th Bédélys Awards will be announced on Thursday May 23, 2024 as part of the 13th annual Montreal Comic Arts Festival.
BÉDÉLYS QUÉBEC AWARD
Best comic book created and published in Quebec. The winner will receive a $1,000 grant from Planète BD bookstore, an additional $500 grant from Copibec, a copy of Antidote+ Personal from Druide informatique and a unique trophy created by artist Karl Dupéré-Richer. The finalists are:
Are You Willing to Die for the Cause?, by Chris Oliveros (Drawn & Quarterly)
Botanica drama, by Thom (Pow Pow)
Les inconvénients de la félicité, by François Donatien (Nouvelle Adresse)
Passages secrets, T.1, by Axelle Lenoir (Pow Pow)
Shérif Junior, T.1, by Samuel Cantin (Pow Pow)
BÉDÉLYS YOUTH QUÉBEC AWARD
Best comic book for an audience aged 14 and under by a Québec artist published in Québec. The winner will receive a $1,000 grant from Télé-Québec, an additional $500 grant from Copibec, a copy of Antidote+ Personal from Druide informatique and a unique trophy created by artist Karl Dupéré-Richer. A video featuring the winner will be produced by La Fabrique Culturelle, Télé-Québec’s digital platform dedicated entirely to Québec culture. The finalists are:
Gervais et Conrad, by Iris Boudreau (Les 400 coups)
J’aime pas ta robe, by Danielle Chaperon, & Samuel Cantin (Monsieur Ed)
La soupe au lait, by Émilie Leduc (Monsieur Ed)
Le tiroir des bas tout seuls, by Orbie (Les 400 coups)
L’univers est un ninja, Le livre blanc, by Alex A. (Presses aventure)
BÉDÉLYS INDEPENDENT FRANCOPHONE AWARD
Best self-published francophone comic book created in Quebec. The winner will receive a $1,000 grant from the Montreal Comic Arts Festival, as well as a half-table at the 2025 edition of the MCAF, a copy of Antidote+ Personal from Druide informatique and a unique trophy created by artist Karl Dupéré-Richer. The finalists are:
Astra, by Annabelle Brazeau
Cahier Dollorama, by Richard Suicide
RPG Maker Mag numéro 1, by Saturnome
Crépuscule, by Catherine de Gongre
Toutes les nuances de bruit, by Sandra Breault
BÉDÉLYS INDEPENDENT ANGLOPHONE AWARD
Best self-published anglophone comic book created in Quebec. The winner will receive a $1,000 grant from the Montreal Comic Arts Festival, as well as a half-table at the 2025 edition of the MCAF, a copy of Antidote+ Personal from Druide informatique and a unique trophy created by artist Karl Dupéré-Richer. The finalists are:
Augustine, Vol. 1, by Winter Jay Kiakas, & Tas Mukanik
Barb: Bloodbath & Beyond, by Jonathan Burrello
Hell of a Night, by Geneviève Bigué
Softy, by Sarah Gysin
Spores, by Joshua Barkman
BÉDÉLYS YOUTH AWARD
Best French-language comic book for an audience of 7 to 14 years of age. The winner will receive a unique trophy created by artist Karl Dupéré-Richer. The finalists are:
Frizzy, by Claribel A. Ortega, Rose Bousamra (Jungle)
L’échappée belle, by Faith Erin Hicks (Rue de Sèvres)
L’été du vertige, by Adlynn Fischer (La Ville Brûle)
La malédiction de Mamo, by Sas Milledge (Jungle)
La cité des dragons : N° 1 – La tempête de l’éveil, by Jaimal Yogis, Vivian Truong (Scholastic)
BÉDÉLYS INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Best comic book published in French-language outside of Québec. The winner will receive a unique trophy created by artist Karl Dupéré-Richer. The finalists are:
Astra Nova, by Lisa Blumen (L’employé du moi)
Chumbo, by Matthias Lehmann (Casterman)
Creuser, voguer, by Delphine Panique (Cornelius)
Des maux à dire, by Bea Lema (Sarbacane)
Do A Power bomb, by Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer (Urban comics)
Dum Dum, by Lukasz Wojciechowski (Éditions çà et là)
Frontier, by Guillaume Singelin (Rue de Sèvres)
Ils brûlent, T.1, by Aniss El Hamouri (6 pieds sous terre)
Le ciel dans la tête, by Antonio Altarriba, Sergio García Sánchez, Lola Moral (Denoël)
Le visage de Pavil, by Jeremy Perrodeau (2024)
JURY MEMBERS
MCAF would like to thank the volunteer jury members, without whom the Bédélys Awards couldn’t happen and who read over 560 works in 2023: Adrian Desbiens-Benn, Alexis Robin-Brisebois, Alyssa Favreau, Annie Bacon, Audrey Bluteau, Blaise Cronimus, Boris Nonveillier, Catherine Racicot, Charlotte Delwaide, David Choquette, Emilie Chastel, Francine Yulo, François Forest, François Vigneault, Hélène Brosseau, Hélène Lépinay-Thomas, Jean-Michel Berthiaume, Jimmy Leiser, Johanne Desrochers, Julien Clément, Karim Talbi, Leander Mora, Magalie Lapointe-Libier, Marie-Ève Benoit, Marie-Josée Gonthier, Maxime Beaulieu, Mélina Lopez-Racine, Michel Chénier, Olivier Lirette Teoli, Pauline Laurent, Pierre Brissette, Roxane Cayer Tardif, Sébastien Richard, Stéphanie Lamothe, Valérie Lampron