Winner - Rouge signal - Laurie Agusti (Éditions 2042)
Shortlist -
-Barrio Negro - José-Louis Bocquet et Javi Rey (Dargaud, collection Simenon)
-Une obsession - Nine Antico (Dargaud, collection Charivari)
-Rouge signal - Laurie Agusti (Éditions 2042)
What the jury said - By awarding Rouge Signal, the jury of the first Galaxies BD Atomium Prize recognises not only the power of its artwork, through its composition, colour palette and panel layout, but also the remarkable craftsmanship of its screenplay. The album achieves a striking balancing act between thriller and documentary, without resorting to an overbearing authorial commentary. Through the accuracy of its perspective and the strength of its narrative framework, Rouge Signal reveals the mechanisms of contemporary violence without ever reducing their complexity.
Synopsis - Rouge signal, the name of a nail polish shade that enhances women’s nails flashes like a warning light, igniting frustrations and desires for revenge, heralding a violent crime. Alexandre is a white, cisgender, middle-class man. Unlucky in love, bored at work, and left to brood over his resentment alone at home, he moves between his fridge and his phone, compulsively scrolling the internet in search of ready-made answers. Across the street, four women talk and work in a nail salon. From his window, he watches them. Under the influence of an online community of men, his anger grows and hardens into hatred towards all those whom he believes have seized power and now threaten society.
Laurie Agusti is best known for her work for younger readers. With this first graphic novel for adults, she chooses to inhabit the mind of a violent man, dissecting with almost surgical precision the process of radicalisation and the mechanics of the very worst human impulses.
This chilling thriller follows the logic of misogynistic violence and, through rigorous documentary research, lays bare a terrifying reality. The pace accelerates relentlessly. Painted in gouache, the play of light reveals murderous impulses while drawing on a palette of vibrant nail-polish colours, a tribute to the femininity that the protagonist despises.
Against death and destruction, life endures in the portrait of these four women, each with a distinct personality. A graphic novel that seeks to warn, to prevent, and, through beauty and intelligence, to extinguish the flames before they spread.
Subject - This prize is presented by the editorial team of Galaxies BD, the only radio programme in Belgium entirely dedicated to comics (every Saturday from 17:00 to 18:00 on La Première). The editorial team collectively selects the Album of the Year from among the titles presented during the previous season (from September to June) by the seven Galaxies BD reviewers, as well as the titles featured by the programme's host, Thierry Bellefroid, including both the albums he recommended and those whose creators were invited onto the programme.
Dotation - €20,000 worth of advertising space across RTBF’s media channels, together with substantial editorial support on La Première.
Partner - La Première - RTBF (Belgian Radio-Television of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation).
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