Czech Comics Celebrate a Golden Year with the Muriel Awards

Prague played host to the 19th annual Muriel Awards, recognizing excellence in the Czech comic book scene. Branko Jelinek’s Oskar Ed – My Best Friend took home the top prize for Best Comic Book, alongside awards for Drawing, Screenplay, and the Czech Academy of Comics Award. The ceremony, held at Prague’s Atlas cinema and moderated by Tomáš Chlud, highlighted a diverse range of talent and innovation within the industry.

Award Highlights

Best Comic Book

Branko Jelinek: Oskar Ed – My Best Friend – Published by Lipnik, this winning comic follows the author’s established operate, depicting Oskar Ed’s journey through a strange hotel and underground landscapes. The narrative explores themes of isolation, anxiety, and the search for meaning, delving into the hero’s subconscious. Jelinek, who balances his comic work with a regular job, expressed gratitude to his wife for her years of patience.

Best Short Comic

Tereza Verecká & Mikuláš Podprocký: Jaromíra Kočnarová (in Difficult Decisions) – This short comic, created for the Memory of the Nation project, tells the story of Jaromíra Kočnarová, a member of a resistance family in the Beskydy Mountains who sheltered a Soviet partisan during the war. The comic focuses on the experience of an eight-year-old girl navigating a world still touched by the remnants of fairy tales.

Best Comic for Kids

Kateřina Šardická, Dan Krátký & Tomáš Kopecký: Stella and the Guardians of the Veil – The first volume of this series was recognized for its originality, engaging plot, and lyrical artwork. The story centers on a girl who discovers that the statues of Prague come alive through her grandfather’s magic glasses.

Best Translated Comic

Mikael Ross: Nirvana is Here – Published by Centrala, this graphic novel, translated by Michaela Škultéty, blends manga aesthetics with film noir to tell the story of two Vietnamese immigrants in Berlin who uncover a mystery involving a severed finger.

Best Translation

Martin Svoboda: Monika by Daniel Clowes – Svoboda’s translation, published by Trystero, offers a glimpse into the 1960s and 70s through the story of Monika, who seeks to uncover the truth about her father and mother. Svoboda used the occasion to advocate for the importance of editors and cautioned against relying on artificial intelligence for translation, stating, “The AI translation doesn’t work either. And if it does, it won’t create you happy.”

Magnesia Award for Best Student Comic

Maxmilián Hrstka: Ulrich – Hrstka, a student at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, received the award for his dark story blending magic, urban fantasy, and romance. The comic follows an alchemy student’s obsession with transformation and its disastrous consequences.

Contribution to Czech Comics

Roman Šantora & the Scout Foundation of Jaroslav Foglar – This award recognized their work in restoring the magazine Rychlé šípy and reviving the series for new readers.

Hall of Fame Induction

Cartoonist, screenwriter, and director Lubomír Hlavsa, with six decades of experience in the field, was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Hlavsa expressed his gratitude and humorously suggested he might switch to hatched line drawings if his hands began to shake too much, or even direct comics if artificial intelligence advances sufficiently.

The Muriel Awards and the Czech Academy of Comics

Established in 2007, the Muriel Awards have been presented by the Czech Academy of Comics since 2018. The Academy, currently comprised of 77 members and chaired by Pavel Kořínek, selected this year’s winners based on the recommendations of a five-member jury including theorist Michal Jareš, translator Jitka Jeníková, illustrator Karel Jerie, writer Marek Toman, and editor of the Frame comics festival Klára Vörösová.