In what (to this distant observer) seems like a surprise, Anouk Ricard won the Grand Prix at Angoulême yesterday. It was Ricard’s first time as a finalist, beating out Catherine Meurisse, who had been a finalist five times, and two time finalist Alison Bechdel.
Whatever the amount of surprise, Ricard, 54, was a popular choice. She debuted in 2004 with Anna et Froga, the humorous adventures of Anna, a human girl, and Froga, a frog, along with their pals, who include a worm, a cat and a dog. The series was an international hit and was later turned into an animated series.
Her later work includes Coucous Bouzon (Benson’s Cuckoos) starring a duck who makes watches, and her new book, Ducky Coco, which stars a cowboy duck in the Old West. Ricard’s work has been compared to Richard Scarry with a sharper, weirder edge…basically wonderful, old fashioned funny books. She’s an original.
The Anna and Froga series is available in English from Drawn & Quarterly, as is Benson’s Cuckoos.
While much can be made of Ricard’s win following on Posy Simmonds last year – marking the first time two women cartoonists have won back to back – I think it’s also notable that her work is a lot more overtly cartoony than typical Grand Prix winners. But I’ll leave the in depth analysis to our reporter on the scene, Dean Simons.
For more information on Ricard I direct you to French language sources (found on an Ai generated piece.) There’s a paywalled English version from Le Monde.
Angoulême International Comics Festival crowns Anouk Ricard, queen of the absurd
Anouk Ricard remporte le Grand Prix du Festival de la Bande Dessinée d’Angoulême 2025
Festival de la BD d’Angoulême 2025: Anouk Ricard sacrée Grand Prix
Bande dessinée. Anouk Ricard, Grand Prix d’Angoulême 2025 : « J’ai tout appris » à Strasbourg
Bande dessinée. Anouk Ricard remporte le grand prix du festival d’Angoulême
Anouk Ricard obtient le grand prix 2025 du Festival d’Angoulême
Anouk Ricard sacrée Grand Prix du Festival BD d’Angoulême 2025 : “C’est la consécration !”
And this cartoon from BSky – which says basically “They hadn’t already given it to her?”
— Nawak (@nawak.bsky.social) 2025-01-29T20:07:05.155Z
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