It may have been the award that this year no one wanted to win. But Belgian comic creator of, amongst many other works, the long-running Jeremiah comic book series has won the Angoulême Grand Prix, the most prestigious award in the comic book medium.

Initially attacked for an all-male thirty-string nominee list, the decision of twelve nominees to withdraw from the list made it impractical to continue with it. Initially six female names were added to the list, before the whole nominee longlist system were withdrawn and those eligible asked to vote for whoever they liked, reflecting their life's work in comics. Both Alan Moore and Hermann, who had previously expressed a desire to decline previous Grand Prix awards, and Claire Wendling, who asked people not to vote for her.

But Hermann relented, after lobbying from friends and, tonight, was the winner of the Grand Prix. The next President of the Festival as a result of the prize, with his reputation for being somewhat of a misanthrope, it should make for an even more interesting Angoulême in 2017.

For some it's about time. He was already famous at the time of the first Angoulême Festival and had to wait 43 years for such recognition…

UPDATE: Thanks to Lars for the typo change…