Taiwan Golden Comic Awards honor Richard Metson

台灣金漫獎表彰麥人杰（Richard Metson）

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Culture on Monday announced the nominees for the 17th Golden Comic Awards and named Taiwanese cartoonist Richard Metson, also known as Mai Ren-jie (麥人杰), as the recipient of the Special Contribution Award for his 40-year career.

A total of 185 works were submitted for this year's competition. Following a preliminary review, 24 works were shortlisted for the final round across categories including Best Newcomer, Best Comic Editor, and the Golden Comic Award. Total prize money is NT$2.75 million (US$85,500), per a press release.

The winners are expected to be announced at an awards ceremony in late October. A special exhibition featuring the shortlisted works will also be held at the National Taiwan Museum of Comics in Taichung.

The judging panel commended Metson for his decades of work across comics, animation, and design. Judges praised his distinctive and unrestrained artistic style, saying his work helped usher in a golden age for Taiwanese comics and successfully brought them to international audiences.

The panel also praised Metson's dedication to developing original intellectual properties, saying his work demonstrates the energy and pioneering spirit of Taiwanese comic artists and has made significant contributions to the development of the industry.

Last year, Metson released "Twin Crowns: Little Prince & Princess Saga," which chronicles the challenges and joys of raising twins with autism and ADHD. Born to a Taiwanese mother, Metson grew up in Taichung and later lost contact with his American father. He became a father at 51 after his wife underwent multiple rounds of in vitro fertilization.

Regarding this year's overall trends, the judging panel said entries demonstrated diverse styles and themes, with works covering local culture and everyday experiences. Mobile comics, or webtoons, stood out for their narrative and visual styles, while several noteworthy long-running comic series have emerged in recent years through the persistence and hard work of artists, publishers, and readers, the panel said.

In the cross-domain category, judges focused on the integration of comics with other industries and how print comics were interpreted through different formats. The works demonstrated the potential of original comic intellectual properties to reach wider audiences, they said.

For the comic editing category, judges emphasized editors' collaboration and communication with artists throughout the creative process, as well as their role in shaping the final product. Editors were also evaluated on their ability to serve as a bridge between artists and readers, per the press release.

The ministry said winners of the Best Newcomer and Golden Comic Award categories will be eligible to apply for a NT$600,000 grant to support their next work.

This year's awards also invited Langchi 9 (狼七), winner of the 16th Golden Comic Award, to collaborate with the curatorial team on the event's main visual. Additional information will be released on the official Golden Comic Awards website and Facebook page.