hey, sorry I didn’t reply earlier — back from a short vacation.

Could you drop me an e-mail with all the info so we could t”talk” privately? I’d rather take it off a message board, esp. since I’m behind on work and a forgetful sob. E-mail me at evandorkin at gmail dot com.

And for the record, I’m not “mad” at the nominees or personally upset with them as a fan or creator (if that matters to anyone, I’ve been getting some flack, so, I want to put that out there) I’m depressed by the Harveys and how they’ve deteriorated, not worked to garner participation and support, and have become a mess. I used to emcee the awards for several yrs, I’ve dealt with the program and have a bit of an understanding about the problems they’ve faced, and faced poorly, imo.

Anyway, I’d be happy to discuss your work, drop me a line and we’ll talk.

I’m Peter Timony, one of the creators of NIGHT OWLS, one of the Zuda strips nominated. I’m big fan of you and Milk and Cheese in particular. I read it in college, and to this day, “Booze up and Riot!” has been my war cry. I read it in your comic.

Anyway, my twin brother and I work hard on our comic, and we think it shows. I invite you to give it a look and then tell me if you think we deserved a nomination. As a person whose work I respect and admire, I really value your opinion, and would hate to be written off as a “ballot-stuffer” so quickly. Here’s the link, free to read: http://zudacomics.com/the_night_owls

You can reach both of us at twincomics@gmail.com

Peter

Here’s another elitist comment for you to chew on — I emceed the Harveys for 4 yrs and was associated with the awards program for 5. I also worked with them on material and ideas for the various events I was part of. I have had some experience with the Harveys and some insight about how it works. or doesn’t, more’s the point. I’ve also won 4 Harveys, and I to this day don’t feel I necessarily deserved either of them.The program has been troubled for quite some time, in that relatively few people vote. This means concentrated or groundswell movements can skew the results. This is nothing new, and nothing wrong, really. Crossgen infamously pushed hard several yrs ago and garnered an outsized number of noms in relation to their following and general regard, Disney/Gemstone had a banner yr, Mad had a slew of noms one year out of the blue, this happens with several lesser known titles every year. This year it is rife with this sort of thing. No, I haven’t read Nascar Whatever #5. That’s one example, and really, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s week-old dogshit compared to, say, last yrs output by Los Bros, Ware, Grant Morrison, my dead grandmother, a seapod. I’m joking, of course. About the last two. And I don’t even like Morrison’s work much. But give me a fucking break, as the kids say. The noms are a mess, the problem with the award system has been long apparent, and while I haven’t read Nascar #5, you apparently haven’t read this Robot 6 article thoroughly, or gone and looked at the other comments floating around, or you just wanted to take a shot at “elitist” indie comics snobs or whatever.

For the record, I am kind of elitist, even though I like pro wrestling and Godzilla movies. I just don’t think they deserve awards. I’m not cliquish (wtf?) or conceited (WTFWTF?). Do you think that group of people got together and made a united stand agaisnt the Harveys? Grow up.

I do wonder, though, how John Gallagher would have that much popularity or clout to have people stuff the ballot for him.

Are there any other comics awards that are recognized as being better/more prestigious/more objective than the Harveys?

As long as there have been awards, and as long as there will be awards, there will be arguments about how those awards are chosen.

Doesn’t this happen every year? No, seriously, every time the Harvey Award nominations are announced, there’s a lot of head-scratching and, “What the…?” comments. The only difference is which group of cartoonists all sat down and filled out ballots; in past years there were ballots dominated by the Disney Ducks, the Mad Magazine guys, and (most infamously) CrossGen. Sometimes it’s an individual creator; I remember one a few years ago who mysteriously ended up on the Best Writer category with a book that no one went on record as ever having seen or read.

By having a completely open ballot for anyone and everyone to submit, it’s going to happen every year. It’s a lot of work to think back through the last year’s worth of comics (and I say this as someone who was a former Eisner Judge and is the current Ignatz Award chair), and when it’s a complete blank slate waiting to be filled in, it’s daunting. The end result is a remarkably low number of people who are filling out ballots, and then even less in the way of overlap from one person’s ballot to the next save for the most obvious (All-Star Superman).

Years ago I remember when Kim Thompson would put together — with help — a list of all the indy publications of the year on TCJ’s message board, to at least serve as a form of guidance. That’s a LOT of work, though. Maybe if there was some sort of central database so that interested creators and/or publishers could submit it?

Personally, I’m just sad that a dozen or so creators didn’t all decide to submit the “haunted vagina” issue of Tarot. Because really, a dozen creators is probably all it would take to put it onto the ballot. Less than a dozen, most likely. It’s really not that hard.

It’s not ballot-stuffing if no one else bothers to vote. I bet you couldn’t find 100 creators who filled out a full Harvey ballot. Certainly not ones where it’s for items other than themselves. So long as the Harvey Awards continue to generate a final ballot like this, it’s going to happen over and over again.

Just kidding about NASCAR Heroes #5 being an amazing issue — the fact is I don’t know because I didn’t read it.

But I really doubt that Dorkin to Hicks to Wegener to Aoki can honestly say they actually read the issue either, but instead made a “look before you leap” assumption based upon the title. I’ll gladly take back and eat my words if I’m wrong about this. Their comments sound conceited and cliquish and elitist.

I think the integrity of the Harvey Awards [including NASCAR Heroes #5] should be given the benefit of the doubt for now.

And for the record, I like and enjoy Buzzboy and Zuda comics more than a lot of “indie” titles that I’ve read and which have been nominated for Eisner and Harvey awards.