It’s not exactly pirates vs. ninjas, but there has been, shall we say, some ill feeling between webcomics creators and the National Cartoonists Society over the years. But there comes a time to put away childish things, including feuds, and this year the NCS actually invited three webcomics creators—Kate Beaton, Randall Munroe, and Dave Kellett—to present a panel at their annual meeting, which was held this past weekend in Boston. Naturally, Kellett worked this event, along with some of the high points of the evening, into his daily webcomic, Sheldon.

The big news of the evening was that Richard Thompson won the award for outstanding cartoonist of the year, an honor that anyone who reads Cul de Sac can tell you was well deserved. The award for best newspaper strip went to Jeff Parker and Steve Kelley’s Dustin, Jill Thompson won the Best Comic Book Award for Beast of Burden, and Joyce Farmer took Best Graphic Novel honors for Special Exits.

Too hot for Toronto?

Another Toronto Comic Arts Festival has come and gone, leaving in its wake a lot of broke-but-smiling comics fans, a couple of artists with a new cause celebre, and some interesting reading.

As we reported on Friday, Canadian customs seized all five copies of the Black Eye comics anthology that creator Tom Neely was trying to bring to TCAF. The news was originally reported by Ryan Standfest, editor and publisher of Rotland Press + Comic Works, at The Comics Journal, and Ryan adds in comments that Blaise Larmee’s Young Lions was also seized from Sparkplug publisher Dylan Williams. (For those who are curious about what’s too hot for Canada, here is a preview.) Standfest posted his reaction to the Black Eye confiscation at the Rotland blog; I’m sure there will be more to say about this soon.

The winners of the Doug Wright Awards were announced on Saturday night: Pascal Girard’s Bigfoot won the award for Best Book, Alex Fellows won the Best Emerging Talent award for Spain and Morocco, and the Pigskin Peters Award, given to non-traditional and avant-garde comics, went to Michael DeForge’s Spotting Deer.

Meanwhile, the folks at the Canadian comcs news blog Sequential have posted a special TCAF edition of Sequential Pulp, which you can download as a PDF or read via Issu, with lots of good stuff, including interviews with Jillian Tamaki and Mark Laliberte, books reviews by Tom Spurgeon, Salgood Sam, and others, and pages and pages of original comics. It’s all free, so go, browse.

Matt Fraction and friend

That’s the Award-Winning Iron Man to you, pal: Invincible Iron Man, Uncanny X-Men, Casanova and Thor scribe Matt Fraction has won the 2010 PEN USA Literary Award for Graphic Literature. The award, given for the very first time this year, is part of a slate awarded annually by the California-based PEN Center USA, the West Coast branch of the prestigious writers’ organization and free-speech advocacy group International PEN. Fraction received the award, according to PEN USA’s press release, “for his outstanding body of work.”

The PEN USA Literary Awards also cover fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, research nonfiction, children’s/young adult literature, journalism, translation, drama, screenplay and teleplay, as well as granting The University of California Press Exceptional First Book Award. Each winner receives a prize of $1,000.

To give you some idea of the company Fraction’s keeping, past winners include Woody Allen, Rudolfo Anaya, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ray Bradbury, T.C. Boyle, Sandra Cisneros, George Clooney, Cameron Crowe, Ariel & Will Durant, Carrie Fisher, Betty Friedan, Matt Groening, Vaclav Havel, Charlie Kaufman, Barbara Kingsolver, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ursula K. Le Guin, Dan Savage, Neil Simon, Oliver Stone, Michael Tolkin, Gus Van Sant, Gore Vidal, Alice Walker, Billy Wilder, and Steven Zaillian.

(via Fraction’s Twitter)

Voting for the Lulu Awards is now open to the public, and the online ballot is here. The winners will be announced at the Long Beach Comic Con on October 29.

This has been a tough year for the Friends of Lulu, but they seem to be getting off to a fresh start with a new Board of Directors, and the fact that they were able to pull the awards together so quickly is a good sign.

(Full disclosure: I was a judge for last year’s Lulu Awards.)

Hit the jump for a full list of awards and nominees. Then pick your favorites and VOTE!!

Leah Adezio Award for Best Kid-Friendly Work:

Leah, who passed away in 2007, was very active in Friends of Lulu and was also comics creator in her own right. She had a passion for children’s comics and this award is in memory of her. This award is for a kid-friendly work that best exemplifies the Friends of Lulu motto “Comics Are For Everyone.”

• Jennifer L. Holm &; Matthew Holm:  Babymouse: The Musical and Babymouse: Dragonslayer
• Tory Woollcott: Mirror Mind
• Diana Nock: The Intrepid Girlbot
• Teddy Riawen, Phuong Hong Au Nguyen, and Malcolm Harris: Witch Girls Tales Issue 1 Volume 2
• David Petersen: Mouse Guard: Winter 1152
• Roger Langridge: The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson
• Art Balthazar and Franco Aureliani: Tiny Titans

Best Female Character:

For a lead female character from an ongoing or limited comic book series or comic strip, original graphic novel or novella. Whether in print or online.

• Marie Levesque: The Road To God Knows by Von Allan
• Ramona Flowers: Scott Pilgrim, Bryan Lee O’Malley
• Creepy Carly: Creepy Carly, Carly Mizzou
• Girlbot: The Intrepid Girlbot, Diana Nock
• Ivy: Ivy, Sarah Oleksyk
• Mot Fleishman: Eros Inc., Michael Jonathan
• Hannelore Ellicott-Chatham: Questionable Content, Jeph Jacques
• Gemma: Nurse Nurse, Katie Skelly
• Mindy Markus: The Night Owls, Peter and Bobby Timony
• Fusella Mierter: Galaxion, Tara Tallan

Kim Yale Award for Most Talented Newcomer:

Nominees must have published work, whether self-published, company-published, or net-published. Nominees must be nominated for this category within two years of their first professionally published work or three years of their first self published work. An individual may not be nominated more than twice and cannot win more than once.

• Von Allan: The Road To God Knows
• Tory Woollcott: Mirror Mind
• Diana Nock: The Intrepid Girlbot
• Athena Currier: Action Athena
• Kathryn Immonen: The Runaways
• Lisa Hanawalt: I Want You
• Carolyn Belefski: Curls

Lulu of the Year:

For the creator, book or other entity whose work best exemplifies Friends of Lulu’s mission statement. Nominees must have published work, whether self-published, company-published, or net-published.

• Hope Larson
• The Road To God Knows by Von Allan
• Tara Tallan
• Kate Beaton
• Mirror Mind, Tory Woollcott
• Channel M Publishing
• Raina Telgemeier
• Jill Thompson
• Miss Lasko-Gross
• Katie Skelly
• Françoise Mouly
• Carol Tyler

Woman of Distinction:

For outstanding achievement within the comic book industry in non-creator roles, such as editing, publishing, reporting, or retail.

• Amy Adams: co-proprietor of Bergen Street Comics
• Sam (Samantha) Boswell: assisted on Von Allan’s The Road To God Knows
• Laura Hudson: Comics Alliance
• Katie Merrit: retailer, Green Brain Comics
• Lauren Sankovitch: editor, Marvel Comics
• Elizabeth Dingmann: Lerner Publishing publicist
• Jenette Kahn: Former Publisher, DC Comics
• Peggy Burns: Associate Publisher, Marketing & Sales, Drawn & Quarterly
• Françoise Mouly: Publisher/Editorial Director TOON Books

The Female Cartoonists Hall Of Fame:

Nominees must have published work, whether self-published, company-published, or net-published. An individual cannot win more than once.

• Carla Speed McNeil
• Louise Simonson
• Devin Grayson
• Zelda Mavin Jackson aka Jackie Ormes
• Diana Nock
• Athena Currier
• Roz Chast
• Dori Seda
• Alison Bechdel

Superman

Artist Francis Manapul shares this absolutely stunning image of the Golden Age Superman he drew for the poster promoting this year’s Joe Shuster Awards. Check out his blog to see the full design process.

Via Dean Trippe

Check out the full list of nominees in the press release after the jump.

*****

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2009 JOE SHUSTER AWARDS

Toronto, Canada — April 2, 2009. From coast to coast, Canada is home to many of the comic book industry’s top talents. The JOE SHUSTER AWARDS are a way of recognizing and celebrating the achievements of these Canadian creators – past, present and future. Since their establishment in 2004, the JOE SHUSTER CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CREATOR AWARDS have been Canada’s national awards program for recognizing the outstanding achievements of Canadian comic book creators, publishers and retailers. The awards are named after pioneering Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster who, along with writer Jerry Siegel, created the iconic super-powered hero, Superman.

Between January and March 2009, the Nominees were selected from master lists of eligible works originally published in English and/or French in 2008. Canadian citizens living at home or abroad, as well as permanent residents were eligible for consideration. Now that the list of nominees has been finalized, nominated creators will have their work reviewed by a jury, who will ultimately decide the winners. Winners will be announced at a public ceremony in Toronto on June 27th, 2009.

JOE SHUSTER AWARDS 2009 NOMINEES for Work Published in 2008

Artist/Dessinateur

• Marc Delafontaine – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Dale Eaglesham – Justice Society of America #12, 14-15, 18-22 (DC Comics)
• David Finch – Ultimatum #1-2 (Marvel Comics)
• Karl Kerschl & Serge LaPointe – Teen Titans: Year One #1-6 (DC Comics)
• Jacques Lamontagne – Les Druides, Tome 4 : La Ronde des Géants (Soleil Productions)
• Steve McNiven – Amazing Spider-Man #546-548, Wolverine #66-70 (Marvel Comics)
• Steve Rolston – Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx), “Familiar” – House of Mystery #4 (DC/Vertigo), You Ain’t No Dancer #3 (New Reliable Press)
• Stephen Sadowski – Avengers/Invaders #1-7 (Marvel Comics/Dynamite Entertainment), Superpowers #0 (Dynamite Entertainment), Jack the Lantern: Ghosts #2 (Castle Rain Entertainment)

Cartoonist/Créateur

• Grégoire Bouchard – Vers les Mondes Lointains (Paquet)
• Darwyn Cooke – “Chapter X: The Greater Good” Justice League: The New Frontier Special #1, The Spirit #12 (DC Comics)
• Francis Descharnais – Burquette (Les 400 coups)
• Jean-Paul Eid – Des tondeuses et des hommes (La Pastèque)
• Michel Gagne – “The Saga of Rex” Chapter 4 – Flight Vol. 5 (Ballantyne Books)
• Faith Erin Hicks – The War at Ellsmere (Slave Labor Graphics)
• Jeff Lemire – Essex County Vol. 3: The Country Nurse (Top Shelf)
• Seth – “Thoreau MacDonald” Kramer’s Ergot 7 (Buenaventura Press)
• Dave Sim – Glamourpuss #1-4, Judenhaas (Aardvark-Vanaheim)

Colourist/Dessinateur Couleur

• Jean-Francois Beaulieu – G.I. Joe: America’s Elite 31-36, Voltron: A Legend Forged 1 (Devil’s Due), Marvel Zombies 3 #1-3, Wonderful Wizard of OZ #1, X-Men: Divided We Stand #1, X-Men Legacy #215 (Marvel Comics)
• Blond – Team 14 #1 (Digital Webbing), Freshman: Summer Vacation Special #1, Magdalena/Daredevil #1, True Blood: The Great Revelation NN, Witchblade: Takeru Manga #11-12 (image/Top Cow), Ultimate Fantastic Four #50-59 (Marvel Comics), Beyond Wonderland #4, Grimm Fairy Tales 2008 Annual (Zenoscope)
• Chris Chuckry – Brave and the Bold #17-18, Countdown to Mystery #4-8, Simon Dark #4-7, Two Face: Year One #1-2 (DC Comics), Air 1-5 (DC/Vertigo), G.I. Joe #0 (Devil’s Due), Comic Book Tattoo (image), Amazing Spider-Man #546, 565-567, newuniversal: Shockfront #1-2, The Twelve #1-8 (Marvel Comics)
• Maryse Dubuc – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Nathan Fairbairn – Fear Agent 21 (Dark Horse), Pilot Season: The Core #1 (image/Top Cow), Civil War: House of M #3, Guardians of the Galaxy #1-3, Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? NN, Wolverine: Origins #31, X-Men: Divided We Stand #2, X-Men: Kingbreaker #1, X-Men Legacy #217, X-Men: Manifest Destiny #1, 3, Young Avengers Presents #1 (Marvel Comics), Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #3 (Oni Press)
• Lovern Kindzierski – Sandman: The Dream Hunters #1-2 (DC Comics), The Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons #1-2Coraline (HarperCollins), Giant-Size Incredible Hulk #1 (Marvel Comics) (Devil’s Due),
• François Lapierre – “Gédéon et la bête du lac” Contes et légendes du Québec (Glénat Québec), Magasin général 4 (Casterman)
• Dave McCaig – Star Wars: Dark Times #11-12 (Dark Horse), Action Comics #861-863, Final Crisis: Rogue’s Revenge #1-3. Joker’s Asylum: The Penguin #1, JSA Classified #35-37 (DC Comics), Family Dynamic #1-2 House of Mystery #4, Northlanders #2-8, 11-2 (DC/Vertigo), Broken Trinity: Angelus #1, First Born: Aftermath #1, Pilot Season: The Core #1 (image/Top Cow), Fantastic Four Cosmic Size Special #1, Secret Invasion X-Men #1-4, Ultimate Iron Man II #3-5 (Marvel Comics), Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #2 (Oni Press) (DC/Johnny DC),

Writer/Écrivain

• Ian Boothby – Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #14, Bongo Comics Free-For-All 2008, Futurama #35-39, Simpsons Comics #136, 141, 148, Simpsons Summer Shindig #1, Simpsons Super Spectacular #7 (Bongo Comics)
• Cecil Castellucci – Janes in Love (DC/Minx)
• Darwyn Cooke – “Dragster Riot starring Robin the Boy Wonder”, “Wonder Woman and Black Canary” Justice League: The New Frontier Special #1, Superman Confidential 11 (DC Comics)
• Maryse Dubuc – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Ray Fawkes – The Apocalipstix (Oni Press)
• François Lapierre – “Gédéon et la bête du lac” Contes et légendes du Québec (Glénat Québec)
• Mariko Tamaki – Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx), Skim (Groundwood Books)
• J. Torres – The Family Dynamic #1-3, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #11, 13, 17-19, Teen Titans Go! #51-55 (DC/Johnny DC), Wonder Girl #5-6 (DC Comics)

Cover/Couverture

• Adrian Alphona – Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane Season Two #1 Variant (Marvel Comics)
• Darwyn Cooke – The Spirit #12 (DC Comics)
• Marc Delafontaine – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Dale Eaglesham – Justice Society of America #14 Variant (DC Comics)
• David Finch -Amazing Spider-Man #572 Variant (Marvel Comics)
• Philippe Girard – Les Ravins (Mécanique Générale)
• Niko Henrichon – Hostile Tome 1 (Dupuis)
• Steve McNiven – Kick-Ass #1 Variant (Marvel Comics)
• Dean Motter – Mister X: The Condemned #1 (Dark Horse)
• David Sim – Glamourpuss #4 Zombie Variant (Aardvark-Vanaheim)

Webcomics/Bandes Dessinées Web

• Kate Beaton – Hark! A Vagrant
• Michael Cho – Papercut
• Lar De Souza & Ryan Sohmer – Least I Could Do / Looking for Group
• Kathryn & Stuart Immonen – Moving Pictures
• Karl Kerschl – The Abominable Charles Christopher
• Gisele Lagace – Menage A 3
• Ramón K. Pérez– Kukuburi / Butternut Squash (w/Robert Coughler)
• Cameron Stewart – Sin Titulo

Publisher/Éditeur

• Aardvark-Vanaheim
• Arcana Studio
• Conundrum Press
• Drawn & Quarterly
• La Pastèque
• Les 400 Coups/Mécanique Générale
• Red 5 Comics
• Udon Entertainment

Artist, Cartoonist, Colourist & Writer Nominees selected by: Jay Bardyla (Happy Harbor Comics), Éric Bouchard (Librarie Monet), Laurent Boutin (Librarie Planète BD), Ty Buttars (blogger and collector), Martin Dubé (Librarie Fichtre!), Rachelle Goguen (Strange Adventures, Living Between Wednesdays), Francis Hervieux (journalist and collector), Jonathan Kuehlein (The Toronto Star), Robin McConnell (Inkstuds podcast), Shawna Roe (Happy Harbor Comics) and the Vincent Massey College Comic Book Club (Montreal) under the direction of Mr. Steven Bakos. Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd (English publications) and Francis Hervieux (French publications).

Cover Nominees selected by Éric Bouchard (Librarie Monet), Laurent Boutin (Librarie Planète BD), Kevin A. Boyd, Martin Dubé (Librarie Fichtre!), Peter Fisico (All New Comics), Robert Haines, Francis Hervieux (journalist and collector), Jason Truong and James Waley. Additional input provided by Ty Buttars (blogger and collector), and Rachelle Goguen (Strange Adventures, Living Between Wednesdays). Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd (English publications) and Francis Hervieux (French publications).

Webcomics Nominees selected by the CCBCAA Executive. Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd and Scott Townsend.

Publisher Nominees selected by Éric Bouchard (Librarie Monet), Laurent Boutin (Librarie Planète BD), Kevin A. Boyd, Allison Covey, Martin Dubé (Librarie Fichtre!), Peter Fisico (All New Comics), Francis Hervieux (journalist and collector), Jason Truong and James Waley. Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd (English publications) and Francis Hervieux (French publications).

Comics for Kids / Bandes Dessinées pour Enfants

Nominees will be announced in early May 2009.

Gene Day Award for Canadian Self-Publishers / Le Prix Gene Day pour Éditeurs Direct Canadian de Bandes Dessinées

Submissions from self-publishers will be accepted until May 18, 2009. Please visit http://joeshusterawards.com/2009-awards-sat-june-27/gene-day-award-for-canadian-self-publishers/ for full details. The winner of the Gene Day Award also receives a $500 Bursary.

The Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Retailer /Le Prix Harry Kremer pour Détaillant Exceptionnel Canadien de Bandes Dessinées

Nominations from retailers and the general public will be accepted until May 18, 2009.

Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame / Temple de la renommée Créateur Canadien de Bandes Dessinées

Four inductees will be announced in early May 2009.

Congratulations to all of the nominees and all of the eligible creators for another memorable year of great comics, both in print and online!

About Joe Shuster (1914 – 1992)
With the permission of his estate, the Joe Shuster Awards are named in honor of the great artist, JOE SHUSTER (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and Siegel, which electrified the industry 71 years ago and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon that endures to this day.

About The Joe Shuster Awards
The Joe Shuster Awards are Canada’s first national achievement awards for Canadians working on comic books, graphic novels and webcomics and the only awards without restrictions on language, content and/or genre. The Joe Shuster Awards honour the people who create comics, publish comics and sell comics. Creator nominees are nominated for their BODY OF WORK during the previous calendar year, not just for one specific work (except for cover art).

The Hall of Fame, Harry Kremer Retailer Award and the new Gene Day Award for self-publishers are selected by individual committees after a review and discussion of eligible and/or submitted candidates. Four Hall of Fame candidates will be initiated into the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame in 2009. Aside from the retailer and self-publisher award committee, active creators can only act as advisors so as not to influence a bias in any of the creative awards categories.

The Joe Shuster Awards are run by the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association (CCBCAA), a not-for-profit organization that relies on sponsorship, eBay and convention sales of art donations, prints and memorabilia as well as private donations. 2009 sponsors include: Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), Sipps Publishing, Diamond Distributors, Quebecor World, and comicspriceguide.com and all of the artists that donated pieces to last year’s Visions of an Icon: Superman art show and sale.

For more information please contact info@joeshusterawards.com or visit www.joeshusterawards.com

Eisner Awards

Awards | Nominations for the 2009 Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards are due today. [Eisner Awards]

Webcomics | Cartoonist Jane Irwin is rethinking her earlier decision to end her historical webcomic Clockwork Comics because of her concerns over the depiction of racial stereotypes: “… I’m reconsidering my stance on permanently ending the book. Let’s call it a hiatus for now; the end of the first chapter’s a good stopping point. In any event, I need to pull back and do a lot more reading and researching, then re-evaluate the first half of the book to see if it’s something I can fix to better match the much darker tone of the second half.” [Clockwork Comics, via Johanna Draper Carlson]

Creators | Kevin Huizenga, Ted May and Dan Zettwoch, creators of the recently canceled Amazing Facts … and Beyond! with Leon Beyond, are seeking commissions and donations to keep the strip alive online. [Amazing Facts, via FLOG!]

Awards | Don MacPherson questions the legitimacy of ForeWord Magazine‘s Book of the Year Awards, which charges an entry fee. [Eye on Comics]

Blogosphere | Robot 6 contributors Lisa Fortuner and Melissa Krause are looking for someone to take over their linkblog When Fangirls Attack. [When Fangirls Attack]

Process | Artist Ben Templesmith and writer Chris Ryall provides glimpses behind the scenes of IDW Publishing’s Groom Lake#2. [Templesmith's blog, Ryall's blog]

Comics | A primer for DC Comics’ “Blackest Night” event. [IGN.com]

Comics | Eight miraculous superhero resurrections. [Mental Floss]