Awards
Paolo Rivera, David Petersen win Spectrum Fantastic Art Awards
Paolo Rivera and David Petersen received gold and silver honors, respectively, in the comics category of the 20th Spectrum Fantastic Art Awards, presented Saturday during Spectrum Live in Kansas City. The awards recognize the best in fantasy, science fiction and horror art.
Rivera won for this cover for Daredevil #10, while Petersen won for Mouse Guard: The Black Axe #4, Page 19.
Tor.com has the complete list of winners, which includes a number of names familiar to comics readers: Dan Dos Santos, Charles Vess, Sam Weber and Brom.
Steve Gerber, Don Rosa receive 2013 Bill Finger Award
Steve Gerber, left, and Don Rosa
Don Rosa and the late Steve Gerber have been named the recipients of the 2013 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing, Comic-Con International announced. The award is named in honor of the uncredited co-creator of Batman/
Gerber, who passed away in 2008 at age 60, was the influential writer of such Marvel comics as The Defenders, Daredevil and Man-Thing who co-created Howard the Duck and Omega the Unknown. He also created the animated series Thundarr the Barbarian and worked on such properties as The Transformers, G.I. Joe and Dungeons & Dragons.
‘Kevin Keller’ wins GLAAD Media Award
Dan Parent, backstage at the 24th annual GLAAD Media Awards (courtesy of GLAAD)
Kevin Keller cartoonist Dan Parent accepted the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s 24th annual Media Award for outstanding comic book, presented Saturday in San Francisco. The awards honor outstanding portrayals of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
This was the second nomination and first win for the Archie Comics series, which beat out Astonishing X-Men, Batwoman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Earth 2. Introduced in 2010 in Veronica #202, Kevin was the publisher’s first gay character. After a four-issue miniseries, the character received debuted in his own ongoing series in February 2012.
Doug Wright Awards winner announced
The winners of the ninth annual Doug Wright Awards, which recognize the best in English-language comics by Canadians, were announced Saturday in conjunction with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. This year’s recipients were:
Best Book: The Song of Roland, by Michel Rabagliati
The Spotlight Award (aka “The Nipper”): Nina Bunjevac for Heartless
Pigskin Peters Award: Hamilton Illustrated, by David Collier
In addition, Albert Chartier, the late creator of the comic strip Onésime, was inducted into the Giants of the North, the Canadian Cartoonists Hall of Fame.
The awards are named for Doug Wright, the late cartoonist whose strip Doug Wright’s Family appeared for more than 30 years in newspapers across the country.
Russ Manning Award nominees announced
Russ Manning by Milton Caniff
Comic-Con International has announced this year’s nominees for the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award, which is given to a comic artist “who, early in his or her career, shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics.” This year’s nominees are:
• Rem Broo, artist of The End Times of Bram and Ben (published by Image)
• Craig Cermak, artist of Voltron, Year One (published by Dynamite)
• Bryan Coyle, artist of Babble (published by Com.x)
• Paul Roman Martinez, writer/artist of The Adventures of the 19XX (self-published)
• Russell Roeling, artist of Wasteland (published by Oni)
Both Cermak and Martinez are previous nominees.
The award is named for Russ Manning, the prolific artist who worked on Tarzan and Star Wars, and created the classic comic series Magnus, Robot Fighter. Started in 1982 as a joint presentation of Comic-Con International and the West Coast Comics Club, this award honors a comics artist who, early in his or her career, shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics. Previous winners of the award include Dave Stevens, the first winner in 1982, as well as Art Adams, Jeff Smith, Gene Ha, Jerome Opeña, Steve Rude, David Petersen, R. Kikuo Johnson, Marian Churchland, Nate Simpson and Tyler Crook.
The winner will be announced July 13 during the Eisner Awards ceremony at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
Winners announced for 2013 Stumptown Comic Arts Awards
The Stumptown Comic Arts Awards were presented Saturday during the 10th annual Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, Oregon. Although organizers have yet to post the winners on the event’s website, here’s the breakdown, courtesy of Jen Vaughn and Johanna Draper Carlson:
Best Writer: Leia Weathington (The Legend of Bold Riley)
Best Artist: Juanjo Guarnido (Blacksad: A Silent Hell)
Best Webcomic: Evan Dahm (Vattu)
Best Small Press: Poorcraft: The Funnybook Fundamentals of Living Well on Less by C. Spike Trotman and Diana Nock
Best New Talent: Kory Bing (Skin Deep: Exchanges)
Best Letterer: Carla Speed McNeil (Finder: Talisman)
Best Colorist: Kory Bing (Skin Deep: Exchanges)
Best Cartoonist: Carla Speed McNeil (Finder: Talisman)
Best Anthology: Smut Peddler, published by Iron Circus Comics
Best Publication Design: Blacksad: A Silent Hell, designed by Cary Grazzini
Readers’ Choice Award: E.K. Weaver
The nominees were chosen by a panel of judges consisting of comics industry professionals, journalists and retailers, and then voted on by the public.
Vote now for the Stumptown Comic Arts Awards
Voting is now open for the annual Stumptown Comic Arts Awards, which are presented in conjunction with the yearly Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, Ore.
Categories for this year’s awards include Best Artist, Best Writer, Best Cartoonist, Best Letterer, Best Colorist, Best Publication Design, Best Small Press, Best Anthology, and Best New Talent, as well as a new category, Best Webcomic. Nominees were chosen by a jury of industry professionals, and the awards also include a “Reader’s Choice” category.
The 2013 nominees are:
Best Writer
Cullen Bunn — The Sixth Gun: Sons of the Gun
Greg Rucka — Stumptown
Leia Weathington — The Legend of Bold Riley
Joshua Williamson — Sketch Monsters
Nunzio Defilippis and Christina Weir — Bad Medicine, Vol. 1: New Moon
There’s no blacklist in the Eisner judging room
A heated Twitter conversation that began Wednesday with Jimmy Palmiotti saying it was “a crime” Amanda Conner didn’t receive an Eisner Award nomination for her work on Silk Spectre took an unexpected turn when Landry Walker pointed to a blog post by Eisner judge Frank Santoro in which he lists all the creators who contributed to Before Watchmen and says, “I refuse to buy or read anything by these folks.”
“HOLY SHIT… how could he be a judge then??” Palmiotti replied.
The easy answer is that if everyone who expressed an opinion was eliminated from consideration, there would be no one left to be an Eisner judge. However, Josh Flanagan of iFanboy went straight to Santoro for a response:
Robot 6 nominated for Eisner Award
ROBOT 6 is honored to be nominated for the 2013 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Publication/Journalism. We’re in excellent company, alongside Alter Ego, ComicsAlliance, The Comics Reporter and TCJ.com. That’s stiff competition.
As anyone who visits the blog recognizes, it’s a group effort, the work of a dozen daily and weekly contributors: JK Parkin, Brigid Alverson, Chris Arrant, Corey Blake, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman, Mark Kardwell, Chris Mautner, Michael May, J. Caleb Mozzocco, Tim O’Shea and myself. It’s a good team whose varied tastes and opinions help keep our coverage diverse.
However, ROBOT 6 is also the product of a larger site, Comic Book Resources, and many more people whose bylines rarely, if ever, appear on the blog, yet who help shape its content by contributing story ideas, offering advice and lending a hand when needed: Executive Producer Jonah Weiland, Senior Editor Stephen Gerding, News Editor Kiel Phegley, Reviews Editor Steve Sunu, Assistant Editor Rob Levin, Assistant Editor Andy Liegl, Lead Designer Matt Brett and the writers of Comic Book Resources, Brian Cronin and the staff of Comics Should Be Good, and the staff of Spinoff Online.
Thanks to everyone who makes ROBOT 6 possible, and to the Eisner judges for the recognition, and to you, our readers.
‘Building Stories,’ ‘Fatale’ & ‘Hawkeye’ lead Eisner nominations
The nominees were announced today for the 2013 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, Chris Ware’s Building Stories, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Fatale, and Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye, with five nods each. Fantagraphics led with publishers with 24 nominations, followed by Image Comics with 17, plus one shared. ROBOT 6 was nominated for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism.
All comics industry professionals are eligible to vote. The winners will be announced July 19 during Comic-Con International. The full list of nominees are:
Best Short Story
- “A Birdsong Shatters the Still,” by Jeff Wilson and Ted May, in Injury #4 (Ted May/Alternative)
- “Elmview” by Jon McNaught, in Dockwood (Nobrow)
- “Moon 1969: The True Story of the 1969 Moon Launch,” by Michael Kupperman, in Tales Designed to Thrizzle #8 (Fantagraphics)
- “Moving Forward,” by drewscape, in Monsters, Miracles, & Mayonnaise (Epigram Books)
- “Rainbow Moment,” by Lilli Carré, in Heads or Tails (Fantagraphics)
Glyph Comics Awards announces 2013 nominees
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6
The nominees have been announced for the 2013 Glyph Comics Awards, which recognize “the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color from the preceding calendar year.” The winners will be announced May 17 at the 12th annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention in Philadelphia.
The nominees are:
‘Saucer Country,’ ‘Saga’ and more nominated for Hugo Awards
Saucer Country
Nominees for the 2013 Hugo Awards have been released, with five comics competing in the “Best Graphic Story” category. In addition, Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them was nominated in the “Best Related Work” category, while The Avengers film was nominated in the “Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form” category.
Nominees for the “Best Graphic Story” category include:
• Grandville Bête Noire, written and illustrated by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse Comics, Jonathan Cape)
• Locke & Key Volume 5: Clockworks, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
• Saga, Volume One, written by Brian K. Vaughn, illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
• Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler, colors by Travis Walton (Hypernode Media)
• Saucer Country, Volume 1: Run, written by Paul Cornell, illustrated by Ryan Kelly, Jimmy Broxton and Goran Sudžuka (Vertigo)
The awards will be presented at LoneStarCon 3, in San Antonio, Texas, Aug. 29-Sept. 2, where Cornell will serve as the toastmaster. You can find the complete list of nominees on the Hugo Awards site.
National Cartoonists Society announces Reuben nominees
“Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre” #3, by Amanda Conner
The National Cartoonists Society has announced the divisional nominees for the 67th annual Reuben Awards. They join the finalists for the Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year Award — Brian Crane (Pickles), Rick Kirkman (Baby Blues) and Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine) — who were revealed last month.
The winners will be announced May 25 at the Reuben Awards dinner in Pittsburgh.
Finalists announced for 2013 Doug Wright Awards
The finalists have been announced for the 2013 Doug Wright Awards, which recognize the best in English-language comics by Canadians. The awards are named for Doug Wright, the late cartoonist whose strip Doug Wright’s Family appeared for more than 30 years in newspapers across the country.
What’s more, organizers have released Ethan Rilly‘s poster for the ninth annual awards ceremony, which will be held May 11 in conjunction with the Toronto Comics Art Festival. Rilly, who won the 2012 award for best book, is nominated again this year in that category. The finalists are:
Best Book
- Lose #4 by Michael DeForge (Koyama Press)
- By This Shall You Know Him by Jesse Jacobs (Koyama Press)
- The Song of Roland by Michel Rabagliati (Conundrum Press)
- Pope Hats #3 by Ethan Rilly (AdHouse Books)
- Wax Cross by Tin Can Forest (Koyama Press
Ware, Bechdel make the cut for LA Times Book Prizes
The finalists for this year’s Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were announced late last week, and the five graphic novel nominees are
- Alison Bechdel’s Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama
- Leela Corman’s Unterzakhn
- Sammy Harkham’s Everything Together: Collected Stories
- Spain Rodriguez’s Cruisin’ With the Hound: The Life and Times of Fred Toote
- Chris Ware’s Building Stories
The winner will be announced April 19. This is the fourth year that graphic novels have been included, and not surprisingly, given that this is a book award, the selections generally have an artistic/literary bent.
Unlike the Eisners, the LA Times awards do not accept nominations from the field; the three judges in each category are responsible for making the selections. Unlike the Eisners and other comics awards, the LA Times doesn’t make a big deal over who the judges are; I couldn’t find a list anywhere, although past judges get a mention here and there.
Anyway, given that any set of awards nominations is really just a starting point for discussion, feel free to comment on what books should — and shouldn’t — have made the shortlist.