Of 30 finalists in major French comics fest, not a single one was a woman. [View all]

("The more things change, the more they remain the same."

Nine of the finalists then asked to be removed from consideration -- good for them.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/01/06/angouleme-fest-to-add-female-finalists-after-comics-legends-threaten-boycott/


On one hand, this is not a complete surprise, given that 41 of the 42 Grand Prix winners/presidents have been male. (The American winners, for the sake of noting the degree of stardom, have been Will Eisner, Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman and Bill Watterson.) It’s also worth noting that the judging process had been criticized in the past for being clubby and insular, as well as old-fashioned and obsolete.

On the other hand, given the wealth of great women comics creators, how do you manage to go for 0-for-30 in 2016?

Although the long list is replete with legends and A-listers, the shoddiness of the oversight was met with swift derision and backlash, and talk of boycotting spread like social-media wildfire. Nearly one-third of the 30 Grand Prix nominees have insisted that they be removed from the list and/or said they join a boycott.

(Those nine, according to cartoonist Matt Madden, are: Christophe Blain, Charles Burns, Pierre Christin, Dan Clowes, Etienne Davodeau, Milo Manars, Riad Sattouf, Joann Sfar and Chris Ware.)