Pavel Ryska's book co-published by FaVU won the Muriel 2024 Award

Book by Czech graphic artist and multimedia creator Pavel Ryška Háček + Čárka, published in co-edition by FFA Publishing and Paseka, has won the Muriel 2024 Award for its contribution to Czech comics. 

The comic series Háček + Čárka was published on the last page of Sluníčko magazine between 1972 and 1974. Although Sluníčko was a magazine for preschoolers, the experimental comic by Jaroslav Malák was not an ordinary picture story for young children. It introduced a pair of children who were aware that they were “in some kind of series.” Their adventures can therefore be read in multiple ways – as a cheerful picture comic, as an exploration of the expressive tools of the comics medium, and even as an unexpected perspective on Czechoslovak society at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. In any case, it is a unique testament to the level of sophistication that Czech comics had already reached fifty years ago. The complete book edition of Háček + Čárka is accompanied by an extensive study by Pavel Ryška on Malák’s work, richly illustrated with visual materials.

Jaroslav Malák (1928–2012) was a painter and illustrator, as well as the author of several comic series. He collaborated with children's magazines Mateřídouška and Sluníčko, contributed to Dikobraz and Mladý svět, and created the popular comic Polda a Olda, published in Čtyřlístek. In the magazine Ahoj na sobotu, he illustrated the romantic comic novel Břetislav and Jitka.

Muriel Awards, which have been presented under this name since 2007 by the Czech Academy of Comics, announced their 2024 winners on Wednesday at Prague’s Atlas cinema. Other awarded works included the comics Winton nebyl sám and Hubert & Hugo 3.

Source: Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology

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Author	Mgr. Tímea Vitázková
Published	2025-02-28 14:06
Link	https://www.vut.cz/en/but/f19528/d282109