Veles hosts record-breaking 23rd International Comic Salon

The 23rd International Comic Salon and traditional comic colony, organized by the Strip Center of Macedonia (SCM-Veles), has achieved record-breaking participation. The event saw a significant surge in entries, surpassing last year's 497 submissions and reaching a historical peak of global artist involvement.

While Macedonian authors remain a dominant force, the competition maintains a strong international character with participants from the Balkans, Asia, Poland, and Nigeria. The salon focuses on comic art as an independent ninth medium, distinct from related pop-culture fields like gaming or animation.

The main awards for the ‘Golden Strip’ were announced on August 19 at the European House in Veles. The first prize was awarded to ‘Vechno’ (Eternal), featuring script by Marko Stojanović (Serbia), drawing by Milorad Vicanović Maza (BiH), and coloring by Aljoša Tomić (BiH). The second prize went to ‘Winter of the Arapahos’ by Kristijan Sekulić (Serbia).