The Wendy Award

by Walter Scott

Everybody’s favorite party girl Wendy is so back

When Wendy is nominated for the coveted National FoodHut Contemporary Art Prize alongside her friend Winona, all of her millennial dreams seem to be coming true. She lives a post-pandemic, polyamorous fine artist’s lifestyle in the big city and basks in the glory of national attention with the success of her popular comic strip, “Wanda.”

But not even achieving bona fide art star fame can hide the truth: a never-ending struggle with imposter syndrome. After she cracks in an online interview and gets dragged in the comments section, she heads straight to a local watering hole to drown her sorrows. Several lines of coke, too many drinks, and one all night rager with fans later, Wendy is ready to curse Gen Z and confront her addictions. All the while, she and Winona drift apart as a younger Indigenous artist wedges herself between them. Will Wendy’s commitment to change wind up short-lived?

The Wendy Award incisively skewers the art world with its corporate overlords, performative activism, generational wealth, and weaponized therapy speak. A showcase of Walter Scott’s deft wit and social commentary, The Wendy Award asks the hard questions, like Do they still give awards to men? Should we be grateful for the exposure? and What exactly is Big Auntie Energy?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Art, Canada, Comix

248 pages, Paperback

Published July 9, 2024

About the author

Walter Scott is an interdisciplinary artist working with writing, illustration, performance and sculpture. In 2011 while living in Montreal, he began a comic book series, Wendy, exploring the narrative of a fictional young woman living in an urban centre, who aspires to global success and art stardom but whose dreams are perpetually derailed. The position of the outsider and shape shifter is central to this body of work and the influence of feminist icons such as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde or artist, punk poet, experimental novelist and filmmaker Kathy Acker lingers. Recent exhibitions include Fictive Communities, Koganecho Bazaar, Yokohama, Japan 2014, Pre-Existing Work, Macaulay & Co. Fine Art, Vancouver 2015, and Stopping the Sun in Its Course, Francois Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles 2015.

Based on research in the AGO’s archives, Scott wrote fictions around the works in the collection to create new performances and installations during his residency.

Reviews

[suzanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wendy !!!!!!!!!

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent entry in the Wendy series. One of the funniest comics around. Wendy has had some success with her autobiographical comic art series and is apart of an award committee doing some talks. Dealing with her drinking habits. Lots of fun jokes about "elder" millennials and clash with the more hip gen xers.

[Annie-Claude Boulianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wendy is the millennial hero we deserve.

[Greg S · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first Wendy book I’ve read, despite it being the final part in a trilogy. Wendy is a messy, alcoholic, depressed, lonely artist. She mines her real life to put into her artwork, sometimes alienating friends along the way. When she gets put up for an art award she struggles for inspiration and spirals into a binge-drinking, drug-taking hole.

I quite liked this. But it sort of dances over some of the bigger themes at play here without giving them enough weight. And as such I found it hard to really relate or care about Wendy or anyone else.

[Sam Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never has a simple (and so politely Canadian) “thank you” brought me so close to tears.

Wendy you will always be famous! Go be free!

[Kaitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the final instalment to his beloved Wendy series, Walter Scott manages to keep his finger on the pulse of all too human contradictions. While hilariously skewering the self-importance of both the art world and virtue signalling leftists, his empathy for humanity never wavers. Even when dealing with passive aggressive studio mates, hapless fellow prize nominees, resentful frenemies and other archetypes, Wendy still fumbles forward, and perhaps even falls towards the most elusive award of all — self-acceptance.

You can't help but root for her in all of her binge-drinking, procrastinating from her practice glory. I read Scott's first book when I was a depressed drawing student, and now I'm some kind of art-worker-artist adult. I came into my adulthood with Wendy, and in some ways she feels like the perfect companion to all of those years of trying and failing but still getting on with it anyway.

I will miss her and her friends, especially Winona and Screamo. They brought humour and absurdity to some very dark times.

[michal k-c · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manages to wring out some humour out of topics I haven’t found very funny elsewhere (mostly because other people aren’t very good at it), and a genuinely moving ending ! Wendy can do it all!

[Matt Matt Tobin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Equal parts hilarious and upsetting. Meta, real, zany, contemporary, poignant, and totally silly. In other words, this slay had me gagged sis

[Jackie]

ha ha. ha. ha :(

[Pierre-Alexandre Buisson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comme une vieille amie un peu névrosée qu'il nous fait plaisir de recroiser épisodiquement, les romans graphiques mettant en vedette Wendy m'accompagnent depuis plusieurs années.

Dans le plus récent volume, que j'ai attendu presque un an dans mes réservations à la bibliothèque, Wendy est encore parfois profondément égarée, mais fait preuve d'un peu plus de zénitude et, étonnamment, de quelque chose qui ressemble à de la sagesse?

Ne vous inquiétez pas: il y a encore des épisodes où elle perd la carte au bar, mais ses aventures dans ce quatrième tome sont majoritairement chastes et nourrissantes. Screamo aussi semble se calmer, ce qui me chagrine légèrement, mais il n'est jamais de bon ton de se réjouir du malheur des autres.

[Eva Roskelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 maybe 🤔

[Sarah Jeane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ça fait tellement du bien de retrouver Wendy 🫶

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am Wendy. We are Wendy. Wendy is us.

[Aria · Rating 5 out of 5]

no one else illustrates a fucked up bender better

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

En me promenant tout à fait par hasard sur la rue Saint-Denis, je suis tombée sur le Festival de la BD de Montréal. Et quel heureux bonheur de tomber sur le nouveau tome de notre Wendy adorée! Le livre sortira seulement cet été, mais il était en prévente pour le festival! Quelle chance! Je peux maintenant dire que je lis de la BD, en anglais! ;)

L’histoire était franchement bonne ! J’ai adoré retrouvé Sreamo, toujours juste assez cringe pour rester attachant haha!

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wendy, pour toujours ma préf!

[Freya Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 really. Really love the expressive drawings, and overall concept but the lack of cohesion between scenes make it a bit difficult to take in.

[Sally Elhennawy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection

[Jessie Posthumus]

My first Wendy :)

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a dark, lively and quirky collection of short strips which give a mischievously tongue in cheek view of the Canadian visual art scene, as the protagonist negotiates a series of social landmines and faux pas in between battling alcohol addiction. The art work didn't too much for me personally, but I can see its appeal and its certainly effective enough to make its point.

[Sabrina Gaggino · Rating 5 out of 5]

C’est tellement bon les Wendy! L’humour est tellement bon, c’est subtil, mais très drôle!!

[Sofía · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our girl is growing up! Hilarious, incisive, and fun as always. I've seen a couple of reviews where folks said that they would have maybe appreciated it more had they read the previous instalments, so I'm here to tell you that, YES, of course the book is more enjoyable when you already know and - almost goes without saying, how could you not? - love Wendy. Hope those readers are now hooked and will do their due diligence by reading the first three books. There is a special pleasure that comes from watching characters make the exact wrong decisions, while knowing it is fiction and they are/will be okay, buuut also, we all know people who are a little like Wendy or Screamo, so that's fun too. Long live Wendy!!!

[Jordan Rahberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no clue there was a fourth installment to the Wendy series until I happened to come across it in the library. I love Wendy because I feel that she is one of the most relatable people in a graphic novel I have ever seen. The Wendy Award not only felt so incredibly natural as an evolution for Wendy’s character but I found myself looking in a mirror and realizing that my life is just a couple bad or good decisions away from being completely different. My favorite part has to be when she is at her lowest moment and goes to see a movie about herself. I love Wendy even though it is the most millennial humor and story I have ever experienced which I think works perfectly for this story in particular.

[Jb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting, weird, abrasive graphic novel. It's basically a send-up of the Millennial-Gen Z generation gap, as well as the modern art world. The satire is razor-sharp, and the visual style is stripped-down but has a ton of personality. My biggest complaint was that the characters are basically caricatures, a stereotypical whirl of angst, neuroses, and self-destruction. Some moments let more of their humanity shine through, but I found these a little too rare. Overall, it's a good book, but I was a little underwhelmed.

[s.e · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of my most timely terrors: ficto-memoir and alcoholics
I loved the cartoon-power this was able to wield. I liked when their eyes and speech bubbles blacked out. It was sooo painfully real life, and made me feel bad for all the millennials I know whose real life was churned out by covid and now have to pretend to the enjoy the company of gen z who are just getting started and don't know yet how obnoxious and loving they are.

I love everything it tried to say about art, and said, in art. I liked that Wendy sucked and her friends sucked. But I liked the Wendy Award.

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wendy's back! This is the 4th volume in the epic misadventures of Wendy and quite welcome. This time out, Wendy is on a short list for an arts award sponsored by FingerHut (slogan: "Because you gotta eat sometime") and her continuing faux pas among the art scene of Toronto. Quite enjoyable, if you're a fan of Walter Scott's previous graphic novels.

[Megan Kirby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a Wendy head, but this installment wasn't my favorite! Scott gives us a peek into characters' inner selves more than usual via the thought bubble, and I thought this strategy stepped on some punchlines. Still luv that crazy bitch, tho. The Screamo plotlines were a highlight.

[Jamie Yonker · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am devastated that i have read all of the wendy books that currently exist!!! MORE I NEED MORE!!!

y’know how sometimes you need to learn the word for something to name how you feel?

i needed to find this series to know what i was even looking for.

[Odrée Rousseau · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai tout aimé! Là j’ai envie de lire tous les autres albums de Wendy <3

[jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love wendy