The Cartoon Museum Honours One Of Comics’ Finest With The Second Year Of The Alison Brown Young Comics Maestro Awards

by Richard Bruton

London’s Cartoon Museum announces the second year of its Young Comics Maestro Awards – now open and accepting entries from budding artists under 18.

The Cartoon Museums’ second annual Alison Brown Young Comics Maestro Award is now open and they’re looking for the next big comic artist!

If you’re under 18, all you have to do is send in your own comic strip, three pages maximum. It will go in front of an all-star judging panel including artists from The Beano and The Phoenix!

To enter, send a three-page comic strip to either:

The Cartoon Museum,

63 Wells Street,

London,

W1A 3AE

hello@cartoonmuseum.org. – include your name, age, and contact details. The deadline for entries is Monday 12th June 2023. They’re accepting either hand-drawn comics on paper and digital art, but they won’t be able to return physical entries.

Winners will be announced in July 2023 with the overall winner will get a £200 prize with two runners-up receiving £50 prizes.

You can have a look at the 2022 winners right here.

The Comics Maestro Award celebrates Cartoon Museum staff member Alison Brown, who tragically passed away from Covid in 2021 at the age of just 39. Alison, described as “the heart and soul of The Cartoon Museum”, was a great lover of comics, and championed young comic artists. You can read more of Alison’s life and legacy with this beautifully written obituary here.

The Judges for the 2023 Awards are Hannah Berry (Comics Laureate 2019-21, Cartoon Museum trustee), Martin Rowson (Cartoonist, The Guardian, The Daily Mirror), Tom Fickling (Editor/MD of The Phoenix), Steve Marchant (Learning Officer at The Cartoon Museum), Kate Owens (Collections Manager at The Cartoon Museum), and Matt Baxter (Artist, Baxter & Bailey, Monster Fun)

For more on the Cartoon Museum, go visit their website, follow them on Twitter, and definitely make plans to visit – it’s a magnificent resource for comic and cartoon lovers the world over!

For just a little idea of what they’re all about, this years’ major exhibitions include…

Gerry Anderson’s Century 21
Friday 3 March – Sunday 4 June 2023