awards
Comics A.M. | Archie Comics experiences book-market boom
The Best of Archie Comics, Vol. 1
Publishing | Calvin Reid looks at Archie Comics’ growing book-market presence, which has exploded since the publisher signed Random House as its distributor in 2010. [Publishers Weekly]
Creators | Matt Kindt, author of Red-Handed, writes about how becoming a comics creator has made it impossible for him to enjoy reading comics for their own sake. [The Huffington Post]
Awards | Animal Land, by Zatch Bell creator Makoto Raiku, took the Best Children’s Manga honors in Kodansha’s 37th annual manga awards. The sports manga Gurazeni won the overall award for best manga. [Anime News Network]
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.
Comics A.M. | Silver Age artist Dan Adkins passes away
Art by Dan Adkins
Passings | Silver Age artist Dan Adkins died earlier this month at the age of 76. Adkins, who began with self-published zines before becoming a freelance illustrator, served as Wally Wood’s assistant. As a member of Wood’s studio, he was one of the original artists for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. Adkins was a prolific penciller and inker for numerous publishers, from DC Comics and Warren Publishing to Harvey Comics and Marvel, notably drawing 132 covers for the latter. He talked in detail about his career, and working with Wood, in this interview with Alter Ego. [News from ME]
Kickstarter | Jeff Yang analyzes why Jonathan Coulton and Greg Pak’s Code Monkey Save World Kickstarter, which started with a single Tweet, was destined for success, and he talks to both creators about how it came to be. [Speakeasy]
Comics A.M. | Inaugural 9th Art Award accepting entries
9th Art Award
Awards | Graphic Scotland and the Edinburgh International Book Festival has established the 9th Art Award for graphic fiction, which will be presented in August during the festival. Submissions are being accepted through July 31. [9th Art Award, via The Beat]
Creators | Howard Chaykin remembers Carmine Infantino. [The Los Angeles Review of Books]
Creators | Art Spiegelman talks about his long-lived classic Maus, his thoughts on Israel, and being a New Yorker. [Haaretz]
Is Superheroes vs. the Rest of Comics still a thing?
I know I still get hammered via e-mail when I suggest something like, say, that there aren’t any superhero comics in any one of my year’s top ten, with a line of thinking that things should somehow be balanced between that particular form of expression and others. I kind of thought most fans were past this …
– Tom Spurgeon, wondering whether the quantity of superhero comics in this year’s Eisner nominees is an issue
It wasn’t too many years ago that this definitely was an issue, at least for me. I thought of the stages in my comics life in terms of how much each involved superheroes. My childhood years were all about Harvey, Walt Disney and Looney Tunes until I discovered Marvel and DC and put away “childish things.” That lasted well into my 20s, until companies like Dark Horse and Vertigo opened the gate to other genres.
Comics A.M. | Rick Perry at odds with newspaper over cartoon
Editorial cartoons | Michael Cavna interviews Sacramento Bee editorial cartoonist Jack Ohman about Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s demand that the newspaper apologize for an April 25 cartoon in which the politician is depicted boasting that “Business is booming in Texas!” beneath a banner that reads, “Low Tax! Low Regs!,” juxtaposed with an image of the deadly fertilizer-plant explosion in West, Texas. “It was with extreme disgust and disappointment I viewed your recent cartoon,” Perry wrote in a letter to the editor. “While I will always welcome healthy policy debate, I won’t stand for someone mocking the tragic deaths of my fellow Texans and our fellow Americans.” Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has reportedly called for Ohman to be fired.
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
Comics A.M. | ‘Building Stories’ wins Lynd Ward Prize
Building Stories
Awards | The 2013 Lynd Ward Prize for Graphic Novel of the Year, presented by Penn State University Libraries and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, has been awarded to Chris Ware’s Building Stories. The jury’s comment: “Ware’s astute and precise renderings, composed with a tender yet unblinking clinical eye and fleshed out with pristine and evocative coloring, trace the mundane routines and moments of small crisis that his characters inhabit. In so doing, he produces not a document but a monument, a work whose narrative logic is architectural rather than chronological: a set of lives to be encountered, traversed, and returned to as the rooms and floors of a building might be over the years, still sequentially but not in a limited or decided-upon sequence. Stories, here, are meant not to be told but to be built, explored, inhabited—not merely visited but lived in.” [Pennsylvania Center for the Book]
Comics A.M. | Calgary Comic Expo grapples with growing pains
Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo
Conventions | The University of Calgary’s student newspaper looks at the rapid growth of the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, and the problems that go with it: Last year, ticket holders had to be turned away because the event was over capacity. “Last year it was really a shame that people had so much trouble,” says Lyndsay Peters, owner of Dragon Chow Dice Bags. “We saw a lot of frustrated customers and we talked to a lot of frustrated people. I know there are some people who won’t be coming back this year. But everything we have been told as vendors and everything that has been communicated to us shows that they are taking it very seriously this year.” This year’s convention will be held April 26-28. [The Gauntlet]
Awards | The jury has been announced for the Doug Wright Awards. [Doug Wright Awards Blog]
‘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.
Comics A.M. | SPX apologizes for registration meltdown
SPX
Conventions | Small Press Expo organizers apologized to exhibitors for the problems they experienced trying to register for the show. Despite several server upgrades ahead of time, the site went down when the “tsunami” of applications hit on Sunday morning. They then opened up PayPal to take the table orders, but they were unable to shut it down when all the tables were sold. They are sorting it out now, and if the tables were oversold, refunds will be issued. Roger Langridge depicted his registration experience on his blog. [SPX Tumblr]
Publishing | After 13 years of publishing and promoting yuri manga, Erica Friedman is stepping down as Yuricon events chair and giving up on publishing: “I can’t afford print, you don’t want digital, the JP companies won’t talk to me and all the many differences between JP publishers and US fans are so huge and insurmountable. I don’t have the energy or clout or money to bridge the gap.” [Okazu]
Comics A.M. | Lexington convention draws 10,000 in second year
Lexington Comic & Toy Convention
Conventions | Nearly 10,000 people flocked to the Lexington (Kentucky) Comic and Toy Convention over the weekend, far exceeding expectations. [Kentucky.com]
Piracy | This is about movies and music more than comics, but it’s an interesting perspective: Thorin Klosowski explains why he gave up on illegal downloads. The short answer: It’s now easier to stay legit. [Lifehacker]
Commentary | Julian Darius takes a hard look at last week’s removal of Persepolis from Chicago classrooms and what that says about our society’s attitude toward torture. [Sequart]
Awards | Dave Brown received the Cartoonist of the Year award at the Society of Editors’ UK Press Awards. [The Independent]
Comics A.M. | Ware, Stevenson win Cartoonist Studio Prize
Nimona
Awards | Slate Book Review and the Center for Cartoon Studies have awarded the Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Graphic Novel of 2012 to Chris Ware for Building Stories, and the prize for Best Web Comic to Noelle Stevenson for Nimona. Each winner receives $1,000. [Salon.com]
Comics | Tom Spurgeon talks at length to Gary Groth, co-founder of Fantagraphics and editor-in-chief of The Comics Journal, about the prospects for young creators today versus years ago, changes at The Comics Journal, and Groth’s own interview with Maurice Sendak, which runs in the latest issue of TCJ. [The Comics Reporter]
Comics A.M. | JMS on ‘Ten Grand’ and the return of Joe’s Comics
Ten Grand
Publishing | J. Michael Straczynski discusses the revival of Joe’s Comics, which returns in May with the Image Comics release of Ten Grand, illustrated by Ben Templesmith. Top Cow was home to the imprint from 1999 to 2004, publishing such series as Delicate Creatures, Midnight Nation and Rising Stars. A preview of Ten Grant will be available in April at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. [MTV Geek]
Creators | Ryan North, creator of Dinosaur Comics and the writer for the Adventure Time comic, talks about his work habits. [Lifehacker]
Creators | Penny Arcade co-creator Mike Krahulik talks about Strip Search, the reality TV-style webseries they will launch on Friday. [IGN]
Comics A.M. | Tom Tomorrow wins Herblock Prize
This Modern World
Awards | Dan Perkins, better known to his readers as Tom Tomorrow, is the winner of this year’s Herblock Prize for excellence in editorial cartooning. Panelist Matt Bors cited his “consistently hilarious takedowns of women-bashers, gun culture and the president’s abuse of executive power.” The finalist was Sacramento Bee editorial cartoonist Jack Ohman. The award includes cash prizes of $15,000 (after taxes!) for the winner and $5,000 for the finalist. [The Daily Cartoonist]
Publishing | Dark Horse founder Mike Richardson explains how the company develops licensed properties, specifically “expanded universes” that build on the world of a movie or video game: “So we came up with the idea that we could approach these licensed properties as sequels, particularly in the early days when we focused primarily on film. We’d sit down like fanboys and say ‘Okay, that was great, what can we do next?’” [Forbes]