Oskar Ed named Czech comic book of the year at the Muriel Awards

This year’s Muriel Award for best comic book has gone to Oskar Ed: My Best Friend, a striking graphic novel by Slovak-born, Prague-based artist Branko Jelinek. The book didn’t just win the main prize — it collected four awards in total, including best script, best artwork and the Czech Academy of Comics Award. Radio Prague International discussed it with Pavel Kořínek, head of the Czech Academy of Comics.

Oskar Ed won four awards this year — what made it stand out so clearly from the other nominees?

"I mean, that would really be a question for the jury, but if I may presume from what they said about the book, it’s a brilliant graphic novel — an overwhelming, 300-plus-page book that, after nearly ten years of preparation, finally came to light and brought us a new adventure of Oskar Ed."

Branko Jelinek|Photo: Šárka Jančíková, Czech Radio Vltava

"The book is very complex. In some ways, it’s difficult to understand, but at the same time it’s extremely fascinating. When you start reading Oskar Ed: My Best Friend, you never know what awaits you on the next page — but you’re hooked. You keep reading until you reach the end, and then you want to start all over again, because you’re still trying to fully grasp what exactly was happening."

For those who haven’t seen the book, who exactly is Oskar Ed? Is he a fictional character or something more personal?

"Oskar Ed is a fictional character who is in many ways typical of Branko Jelinek’s work. He is a recurring figure, though not in the sense of sequels or traditional series volumes. Rather, Jelinek works with Oskar Ed almost like an actor, a character he places at the centre of different graphic novels."

"Oskar Ed is a nearly middle-aged man struggling with family issues and dissatisfaction at work."

"In this book, Oskar Ed is a nearly middle-aged man struggling with family issues and dissatisfaction at work, a corporate job that doesn’t truly fulfil him. He is no longer a young man. He is haunted by his insecurities and by his rather precarious personal situation."

What does this year’s Muriel Award tell us about the current state of Czech comics? Do you see any particular trend or direction?

"It’s always difficult to establish trends based on a single year of awards. But what really stood out for me from what we saw yesterday was the remarkable quality of the student comics."

"One of the awards recognises the best unpublished student comic — work created as part of school projects, sometimes even as bachelor’s or master’s theses. Over the years, even the most sceptical observers would admit that the quality of these comics keeps rising."

"They are getting better and better every year. This year, for example, all three nominees looked like fully finished professional books — comics that are simply waiting to be published and discovered by readers."

And finally, is there a chance that Oskar Ed will reach English-speaking readers? Do you think it could eventually be translated into English?

"Hopefully, yes. Previous books featuring Oskar Ed have already been published abroad — in France and in Poland, for example. The second book was translated into several other languages as well."

"I know there have been attempts to publish Oskar Ed in English. At one point, the well-known alternative comics publisher Fantagraphics in Seattle was considering it."

"I hope that the four Muriel Awards won by the latest Oskar Ed graphic novel will serve as another reminder that something truly exciting is happening in Czech comics, and that English-speaking readers may soon have the chance to encounter Oskar Ed in translation."