Jordi Giol, alumni of the Master in Illustration, wins the Fnac-Salamandra Graphic award with the comic ‘Eslabón débil’
Jordi Giol, alumni of the Master in Illustration and Visual Narrative, wins the Fnac-Salamandra Graphic Novel International Award for his comic Eslabón débil. His work addresses urban precariousness with topics such as high housing prices, real estate pressures, and gentrification.
Eslabón débil explains Teresa’s story, a neighbor from the Raval neighborhood in Barcelona who shares a flat with her two adult sons who cannot afford a flat for themselves. The family tries to get ahead despite the crises and real estate pressures, and, as a desperate solution, Teresa joins an unusual boxing tournament, dreaming of getting a monetary prize that would change their lives. This graphic novel depicts the daily fight of many families, while it explores the dignity, strength, and courage of a woman willing to fight for a better future.
The jury, composed of six experts in the field of comics, has awarded Giol’s graphic novel among 72 comics by authors from around the world because of “the strength of his social portrait, its main character’s charisma, and the way he uses graphic language to give voice to those who become invisible in big cities.”
This is the second time a graduate of Elisava’s Master in Illustration wins this prize of 20,000 euros to make the project and publish the work, in this case, at the end of 2026 on Salamandra Graphic. The winner of the 2023 edition was the alumni David Sancho with the project Barbecho.