JULIA POTT graduated from London’s Royal College of Art just last year, making the film “Belly” while pursuing her master’s in animation.

On Thursday, that student film won the Special Jury Award for Animation at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles.

That’s major recognition for the Brooklyn-based artist, who says she “employs awkward animated characters to act out her inner confusions.”

The AFI jury praised “Belly” for “its personal touch to technique and playful storytelling that is a welcome addition to the pantheon of animation.”

Comic Riffs echoes the praise. You can see the film for yourself here:

“BELLY”:

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The festival also honored Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels’s film ”Oh Willy,” which received the Grand Jury Award for Animated Short.

The judges lauded the warm stop-motion film — featuring characters made from textile — for “melding a dynamic narrative with innovative animation style that leads the viewer to pure wonderment.”

De Swaef, who studied animation in Belgium, has said spent a year on the film (from Beast Animation, Polaris Film Production & Finance, Vivement Lundi!, il Luster Films) — completing it this past January.

Here’s the trailer:

“OH WILLY”:

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To read about all the AFI winners Thursday, you can CLICK HERE.

THIS IS the tale of a one-sip wonder.

Perhaps it’s blasphemous to say so, like driving a stake through his art, because Abraham “Bram” Stoker wrote numerous novels (many now read as dated) and short stories (some hold up fine) and nonfiction (noted) and theater reviews (incisive enough to win a vital friendship). But Stoker never again concocted the exquisite literary elixir quite the way he did with his sublime story of “Dracula.”

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“NOSFERATU” (1922) :

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The 1897 novel was originally titled “The Undead” before a late title change, according to lore, and how perfectly apt is that image, since Stoker’s delicious wonder -- adjudged “merely” a Gothic horror tale upon his death exactly a century ago -- has spawned endless and eternal artistic mutation in pop culture. So deeply rooted in our social consciousness now is “Dracula” that the damned seductive thing, unlike the Count itself, will never die. Thank goodness.

For it is on that one wonder that rests Stoker’s secure perch as a towering figure. Bloody genius, that.

It is as if so many elements of Stoker’s life congealed and coagulated precisely to birth his best work.

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“DRACULA” TRAILER (1931):

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. (courtesy of GOOGLE 2012 - .)

NOT ALL CARTOONISTS could be as absolutely confident about the presidential outcome as Nate Silver. Unlike the FiftyThirtyEight polling prognosticator, they waited as precincts reported, and drew live as networks and newspapers projected.

Making concessions only to tight deadlines, some editorial cartoonists turned around quick takes on President Obama’s victory over former governor Mitt Romney — rendering the reactions of the candidates and voters alike.

Here are 6 “Election 2012” Cartoons drawn live in the heat of the night:

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CLAY BENNETT:

. (CLAY BENNETT / Chattanooga Times Free Press / WPWG - .) ROB TORNOE:

. (ROB TORNOE / Digital First Media - .) CAMERON CARDOW:

. (CAMERON CARDOW / Ottawa Citizen - .) .

IN RECENT DAYS, the nation’s political cartoonists have been making their own closing arguments about the presidential election.

Whether training their sights on Obama or Romney, on polling or Ohio precincts, here are 10 Election Day Cartoons that caught Comic Riffs’ eye.

If you have a favorite, feel free to vote for it in the Comments field ; and if there’s another cartoon you like, you can share the link in Comments, too.

NEXT MEDIA ANIMATION :

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MIKE LUCKOVICH:

. (MIKE LUCKOVICH / Atlanta Journal Constitution - .) ROB ROGERS:

. (ROB ROGERS / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - .) STEVE BREEN:

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FROM CHRISTIAN BALE to Stephen Amell, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment know a little something about finding stars. But for a new Superman story, it was a well-known astrophysicist who launched the mission to locate one.

“When I gave the story to my editor, Wil Moss, [he] suggested that maybe we could contact Neil DeGrasse Tyson, since he's deeply interested in getting science out to the public,” writer Sholly Fisch tells Comic Riffs on Monday.

“Having worked in that area myself for many years,” continues Fisch, a veteran in the field of educational media, “I thought it was a great idea.”

So DC Comics reached out to the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. The response turned out to be even better than they’d hoped.

“Originally, we just planned to ask him for help in making the science realistic, but when we spoke to him on the phone, he also asked if we'd like him to find a real-life star that could be Krypton's,” Fisch tells ‘Riffs, referring to the Man of Steel’s home planet. “Since we're not fools, Wil and I immediately said, ‘Sure!’

“And the rest is soon to be history.”

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STAR TURN: Neil deGrasse Tyson makes a cameo in a new Superman backup story. (DC Comics - .)