Jamie Smart

By any measure, Jamie Smart had a remarkable 12 months. Sales of his books grew 84% in 2023, making Smart one of the biggest-selling graphic novelists, outpacing (in growth terms) even last year’s Illustrator of the Year, Alice Oseman. Sales of his breakthrough series, Bunny vs Monkey - first published a decade ago - rose 81% year on year.

Bunny vs Monkey 7: Multiverse Mix-up! (the Children’s Illustrated Book of the Year) marked a step change too; it sold a third more than its predecessor. It topped the indie bookshop charts in the UK, and in Ireland. Published by David Fickling Books for 10 years, Smart’s work contributed £3.5m of DFB’s £4.3m coffers.

But is it not just about the numbers. Smart has been working in the weeds of this sector for more than two decades, his first weekly children’s comic was in the Sunday Times’ children’s supplement the Funday Times, before spending a decade at the Dandy. He developed his work at DFB’s weekly The Phoenix and continues to draw for it, viewing it as the heartbeat of the UK comics scene, holding events and workshops at the annual sold-out Phoenix Fest.In an interview with The Bookseller, Smart said: "There’s a kind of renaissance happening... I really hope it grows even more and that publishers put their faith in comic creators." They seem to be: of the six titles shortlisted for the Children’s Illustrated award in 2024, three were comics.