Angoulême

Conventions | Wim Lockefeer lines up the exhibits he’s looking forward to at the 39th Angoulême International Comics Festival, which begins today in Angoulême, France. [The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log]

Legal | Cartoonist Albert Lekgaba was sketching the proceedings of the Botswana Court of Appeal when security officers asked to step out of the courtroom, confiscated his work, and told him he could not draw in court, “especially if the judges were present.” When the judges learned of this, however, they informed the court registrar that sketching is indeed allowed, and they ordered that Lekgaba be readmitted to the courtroom and his sketches returned to him. [The Botswana Gazette]

Passings | California newspaper cartoonist John Lara has died at age 56. [Coastline Pilot]

Creators | Heidi MacDonald sums up a number of recent posts on piracy and the creative life in one mega-post, and a lively discussion follows in the comments section. [The Beat]

Eisner Awards

Creators | Tom Spurgeon cast his votes for the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame, and he urges other readers who are qualified (or who think they may be qualified) to do so as well: “The way I look at it, a Hall of Fame is a cultural document that has a chance of surviving decades into the future when things like our on-line text jeremiads and late-night hotel room conversations about what’s valuable in the medium will have long faded from memory. It’s worth having whatever small input one can have on something like that, particularly as time will also drive any objections we have from relevance.” [The Comics Reporter]

Creators | Frank Cho is so busy these days that he has decided to postpone the release of his miniseries Guns & Dinos: “I want to apologize to all my fans out there who were eagerly waiting for this book. But with only half the book done and no time to complete it, it’s only fair to reschedule the release date when the mini-series is completely finished. Fear not, I’m planning on releasing it before the year is out.” [Apes and Babes]

Retailing | Retailer Chris Brady, owner of 4 Color Fantasies in Rancho Cucamonga, California, explains why he embraces digital comics: It brings new readers to the medium, and his comiXology storefront pays him 15 to 30 percent of cover price without much effort on his part. [The Press-Enterprise]

Daredevil #8

Comics | Colin Smith sees Mark Waid’s Spider-Man/Daredevil crossover as everything a good comic should be — smartly written, accessible to new readers and grounded in reality despite the fantasy elements: “Waid’s super-people are always individuals before they’re crime-fighters, and for all the fun of the roof-running and the holographic illusions, it’s the moments of betrayal and sadness and self-deception which stay with the reader after the comics have been put away.” [Too Busy Thinking About My Comics]

Comics | Warren Ellis gets an advance copy of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga #1 — yes, the one with the breastfeeding on the cover — and finds it good. However, he also worries that the market may not be mature enough for the book, both because of its length and its juxtaposition of different types of elements. [Warren Ellis]

Creators | Sean T. Collins interviews horror comic creator Julia Gfrörer: “I’m most interested in making art about feelings and experiences that are hidden or obscure, uncomfortable to talk about, frightening to even think of. It should be challenging for me to create, and for you to consume. I guess that it often comes off as overwrought and melodramatic, but like the song says, I can’t come through half-stepping.” [The Comics Journal]

Comics | Larry Cruz celebrates Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant, which he admits has a “stodgy” feel but nonetheless boasts glorious art and a gripping story in an unusual format. [The Webcomic Overlook]

Review | Matthias Wivel takes a look at the Fantagraphics edition of Carl Barks’ Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes. [The Comics Journal]

Review | Philip Shropshire reviews the second volume of Ed Piskor’s phone-hacker comic Wizzywig, which takes the protagonist on a through-the-looking-glass trip through the criminal justice system. [Comics Forge]

The Captain and the Kids

The judges for the 2012 Eisner Awards have selected The Katzenjammer Kids cartoonist Rudolph Dirks and Archie artist Harry Lucey as this year’s automatic inductees into the Will Eisner Awards Hall of Fame.

Dirks created The Katzenjammer Kids in the late 19th century for William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal, and wrote and drew the comic strip until 1912, when he decided to take time off to travel around Europe. Hearst replaced Dirks with Harold H. Knerr, leading to a court battle between Dirks and the Hearst organization over who owned the characters. Hearst kept The Katzenjammer Kids, but Dirks was allowed to use the same characters elsewhere as long as he used a different title for the strip. Dirks moved to one of Hearst’s rivals, Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World, kicking off a half-century run on The Captain and the Kids. The Katzenjammer Kids, meanwhile, continues to run in newspapers worldwide today. Dirks passed away in 1968.

Harry Lucey began his comics career in the late 1930s, going on to draw Madam Satan, Magno, Crime Does Not Pay, Sam Hill and Captain America. From the 1950s until the 1970s, he was the primary artist for Archie, drawing not only the flagship title but also in-house ads, covers and various other comics for the publisher. His work went on to inspire many current artists, including Jaime Hernandez: “My favorite being Harry Lucey—he did the actual Archie title, while [Dan] DeCarlo did Betty & Veronica. I like them both, but Lucey just happens to be a personal favorite, because I think he was better at drawing natural characters—just their expressions taught me a lot about how I do my comics.” Lucey passed away in 1984.

Each year the judges typically choose two nominees who are automatically inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with a list of nominees who voters can select from. This year they’ve chosen 14 nominees, from which voters will choose four to go into the Hall of Fame: Bill Blackbeard, Howard Chaykin, Richard Corben, Carlos Ezquerra, Lee Falk, Bob Fujitani, Jesse Marsh, Tarpé Mills, Mort Meskin, Dennis O’Neil, Dan O’Neill, Katsuhiro Otomo, Trina Robbins and Gilbert Shelton. The judges were assisted by students at Vermont’s Center for Cartoon Studies, who made suggestions for Hall of Fame nominees and provided background information on the people they suggested.

The Eisner Awards will be presented during Comic-Con International in San Diego July 12-15.

Richard Alf

Passings | Richard Alf, who as a teenager fronted the money for the first three years of San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con, the annual event that later became Comic-Con International, passed away Wednesday from pancreatic cancer. He was 59. Alf, who co-chaired the first convention in 1970 and became chairman the following year, later opened Comic Kingdom in North Slope, a business he sold by the end of the decade. [U-T San Diego, Mark Evanier]

Conventions | iFanboy, San Francisco’s Isotope Comics and Grant Morrison are teaming up for MorrisonCon, which will feature “A once in a lifetime opportunity to see Grant Morrison and 9 hand picked comic creator superstars, all together for one weekend, one time only.” They’ve released few details so far, but the website says it’ll occur next fall. [MorrisonCon]

Awards | Comic-Con International is now accepting submissions for the 2012 Eisner Awards, which will be presented in San Diego in July. The deadline for submitting materials for consideration is March 6. [CCI]

Legal | Former comics retailer Michael George, who was convicted of the 1990 murder of his first wife and given a life sentence in November, has asked the judge to acquit him or order a new trial. George’s lawyer filed documents last week that claim there was weak evidence and improper tactics during his second trial. They also plan to appeal the case. [WDIV]

Dragon Lady Comics

Retailing | Toronto’s Dragon Lady Comics will close in early February after nearly 34 years in business, a move the store’s manager attributes to rising rent and slowing sales. [The Joe Shuster Awards, blogTO]

Creators | Brandon Graham delves into his process for Prophet, the upcoming Image Comics relaunch of the old Rob Liefeld property. [Warren Ellis]

Creators | Collaborators Shane Houghton and Matt Whitlock chat briefly about BOOM! Studios’ new Peanuts series. [LA Weekly]

Comics | Chad Nevett provides a supplemental reading list for the Joe Casey-written Vengeance, for anyone “wanting to know the background on various characters and concepts Joe Casey is using in that series.” [GraphiContent]

Atomic Comics inventory

Retailing | The inventory Arizona retail chain Atomic Comics, which abruptly closed its four locations in late August amid the bankruptcy of owner Michael Malve, will be sold at auction Jan. 3 Jan. 10 in Phoenix, both live and online. Known nationally for its in-store signings, innovative marketing and sheer size, the 23-year-old chain gained international exposure last year when its name and logo were featured prominently in Kick-Ass, the film adaptation of the comic by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Photos of the inventory to be liquidated can be found on the website of the auction company. Update: The date of the auction has changed to Jan. 10. [Sierra Auction Management]

Publishing | Tom Spurgeon continues his yearly holiday interview series by talking to Tom Neely, Emily Nilsson and Virginia Paine about the future of Sparkplug Comic Books. [The Comics Reporter]

Publishing | Tim Stroup, co-founder of the Grand Comics Database, recently dug up some old comics sales figures from the 1940s; John Jackson Miller analyzes them and reaches an interesting conclusion: “comics may be reaching far fewer eyeballs, but it’s a more profitable business to be in today.” [The Comichron]

comiXology

Digital | ComiXology CEO David Steinberger talks about the development of comiXology, including his initial inspiration, which was to create a way for people to see new releases and create pull lists via the internet. [Mashable Business]

Publishing | Tina Anderson, who publishes her own graphic novels, had a good year in 2011, and she provides an interesting view of the business end of self-publishing from the author’s perspective—not just how big a share of the sales she gets but also what it’s like dealing with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other distributors and retailers in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and benefit to the creator. [Gynocrat, Ink.]

Retailing | The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs spotlights the comic shop Comics N’ Vegetables’ win of the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award last summer. [The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

Batman #4

Creators | Scott Snyder discusses his run at Batman, in particular this week’s issue, which he says is “one of the emotional keystones of the entire run.” [USA Today]

Creators | Drew Friedman discusses his latest book, Old Jewish Comedians. [Heeb]

Commentary | Matthew Meylikhov makes the case for buying Gødland. [Multiversity Comics]

Commentary | Patrick Smith reviews the first two issues of Action Lab Entertainment’s Princeless. [Spandexless]

Commentary | Alyssa Rosenberg explores questions of magic and mental illness in Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover’s Gingerbread Girl. [ThinkProgress]

Education | Mohammed Yohan profiles a high school graphic novel course in which students not only read graphic novels but create their own. [my.hsj.org]

Eisner Awards

Comic-Con International has announced the judging panel for the 2012 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, which includes Comic Book Resources and Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson.

The six-person committee will meet in San Diego in late March to select the nominees to appear on the Eisner ballot, which then will be voted on by comics industry professionals. The winners will be announced July 13 during an awards ceremony at Comic-Con.

Besides Alverson, who also writes MangaBlog and contributes to Publishers Weekly and MTV Geek, the judging panel includes: retailer Calum Johnston, owner of Strange Adventures: Comix & Curiosities in Nova Scotia; Jesse Karp, librarian at the LREI independent school in New York City and instructor of a graduate-level course on graphic novels at the Pratt Institute; veteran cartoonist Larry Marder, creator of Tales of the Beanworld, former executive director of Image Comics and former president of McFarlane Toys; author and educator Ben Saunders, professor of English at the University of Oregon; and Mary Sturhann, longtime secretary on the board of directors of Comic-Con International.

Grandpa Won't Wake Up

It’s been just over two years since the last time cartoonist Shannon Wheeler and I have done an interview. Since then, he’s gotten even more popular with his successful New Yorker cartoon submissions; turned his New Yorker rejections into the Eisner Award winning collection (from BOOM! Studios), I Thought You Would Be Funnier; collaborated with Simon Max Hill on a Little Golden Book parody, Grandpa Won’t Wake Up (BOOM! Studios); as well as teaming with Steve Duin (The Oregonian columnist) on Oil and Water (from Fantagraphics, set for release this month). This new interview focuses on the experience of winning a second Eisner (to go with his 1995 Best New Series win for Too Much Coffee Man), his various current collaborations, comedic boundaries and the impact of stress in his creative process. Be sure to peruse Fantagraphics 19-page preview of Oil and Water after enjoying the interview.

Tim O’Shea: Not many folks can say they’ve won an Eisner, but this year’s was actually your second Eisner win. How gratifying was it to get such validation again? Also, how amused were you that you won an award for a collection of work rejected by the New Yorker?

Shannon Wheeler: It was more moving than validating. I didn’t think I would win this time around. I swore I wouldn’t be one of those people who cry on stage at a stupid award ceremony. But once I got up and took the award in my hand I honestly choked up. It meant more to me than I thought.

O’Shea: You were just at APE, where Grandpa Won’t Wake Up premiered. Were you pleased with how it was received at APE?

Wheeler: It’s such a catchy title (thanks to the author, Simon) that it’s hard not to pick it up. The thing sold like hot cakes. I was very pleased.

O’Shea: What attracted you to working with Simon Max Hill?

Wheeler: I told him that there was no way I had time to work on someone else’s project. I was overloaded with work. Then I read his text… I kept laughing… I had to do it. I’ve always been a fan of Edward Gorey and Shel Silverstein this seemed like an unholy union of those two.

O’Shea: Did you always plan on going with a Golden Book packaging homage with this project, or was this an idea that came to you in the midst of its development?

Wheeler: I think it was in the middle of working on it. There’s nothing more iconic than the Golden Books. I love them. Simon and I had a long time to develop ideas. We’d meet every few months and work on the roughs.

O’Shea: So, do you take pleasure in the fact that the Simon & Schuster site recommends this book to 11 Graders and up? For that matter, is there a target audience for this book per se?

Wheeler: I did the book because it appealed to me. I never thought about the audience. I had no idea Simon & Schuster recommends the book. That’s totally cool.

O’Shea: Comedically, did you hesitate at all in terms of going for dressing Grandpa in Nazi garb (particularly swastika thong)?

Wheeler: When Simon and I talked about it we laughed so hard that there wasn’t a moment of hesitation. The whole idea was to find the limits – walk on them, urinate, dance, start a fire, kill and roast an endangered animal and eat it while sitting on a baby seal.

O’Shea: Do you consider any boundaries in cadaver comedy?

Wheeler: We considered all the boundaries… but we were laughing too hard to notice them as they whipped past us.

O’Shea: Tell me the evolution on the name “C’Thris’Klpotheup” particularly the use of apostrophes in the name (I am partial to apostrophes in names, as you might expect)?

Wheeler: Simon spent hours finding a demon that would fit with the syllable and rhyming structure.

O’Shea: Can you single out a scenario in Grandpa that you found comedically more absurd than the others, or were you able to achieve a consistent level of comedic absurdity on all pages?

Wheeler: One of my favorite bits is with the candle. Putting a candle in a dead grandfather’s ass was offensive but we wanted to make it funnier. First we thought a roman candle would be funnier replete with fireworks on the next page… but given that he’s wearing Nazi underwear, a Chanukah candle was the funniest.

O’Shea: Back when you and I did an email interview in 2009, you said of getting published by The New Yorker: “When they finally bought one, it was relief as much as joy, that my work paid off. Then I got nervous that they’d never buy a second cartoon. Then they bought a second cartoon. A number have run but I’m still nervous every week.” They have bought several more since then–still nervous?

Wheeler: Yep. I’m still totally nervous. I’m waiting to be found out for the sham that I am. They just bought another cartoon of mine last week. I still find it unbelievable that I’m in one of the most respected magazines in the country. Maybe when I go senile I’ll stop appreciating how lucky I am.

Oil and Water

O’Shea: November sees Fantagraphics release Oil and Water, your collaboration with The Oregonian‘s Steve Duin. What can you tell me about that project–and what was it like to work with Duin?

Wheeler: The BP oil spill is a classic story of a multi-national corporation screwing the little guy. I’ll never get tired of working with that theme. I felt this particular story – and the impact it had on the people, environment, economy was an important one.

There were times that I was frustrated working with Steve. We’re both have ridiculous personalities with strong ideas. We butted heads on a few things. The bottom line is that I have enormous respect for his writing. It was an enormous learning experience for me. Steve has a deep and genuine love for comics. He understands story telling. I loved it. I learned a lot from him.

O’Shea: What kind of things did you learn (storytelling wise) from Duin?

Wheeler: Steve understands a scene really well. When all the characters visited the bird cleaning facility there was a large storytelling arc with multiple subplots. I would have been afraid to juggle so many elements. I would have focused on the single note of the horror of the facility. Steve isn’t afraid to trust the reader to understand. I’m a lot less trusting of the reader. Steve showed me how to have more faith in the narrative.

O’Shea: What else is on the horizon for you creatively?

Wheeler: I’m doing another collaborative project… this time it’s the Bible. Top Shelf is publishing it early next year. I’m doing gag cartoons and Mark Russell is rewriting each book down to about 3 paragraphs. It will be funny but it’s not a parody. It’s an accurate retelling of the stories. Hopefully my jokes will be funny and help sell it.

O’Shea: The Bible project with Mark Russell, this is another writer named Mark Russell, not the American political satirist/comedian who plays the piano, right? Not wishing to marginalize either Russell, just trying to make a distinction for readers (and myself)?

Wheeler: Yep. It’s the Mark Russell who does a zine called Penny Dreadful. He’s not well known yet but he’ll make a splash before too long.

I also have a few new Too Much Coffee Man stories to do for Dark Horse Presents. I want them to be good so it’s stressing me out. Long term – I’d love to do another graphic novel.

O’Shea: If you ever stop stressing and being nervous about your work, are you afraid it would not be as good? Would you agree that stress is a creative fuel for you on some level?

Wheeler: On some level… maybe. It sure gets in the way most of the time. I don’t think it’s good for my health either. I would rather be the type of artist who can sit down every day and draw from 9-5. I piddle and stress then draw for 12 hours straight.

Working at a time when artists and writers seldom signed their work, Connell wrote Disney, Dell, and Gold Key comics for 30 years but is still an unfamiliar name to most comics readers. “He did a three-panel gag for Mickey Mouse every day of his life, including Sundays, for 20 years,” his wife Ruth told the Californian. In addition to Super Goof, he came up with Space Family Robinson, which became the television series Lost in Space, as well as Wacky Witch. Yet few people (including the Eisner judges) knew his name, partly because his work was unsigned, and perhaps also because he was humble about it anyway—and when he retired from comics, he stepped away from the industry entirely.

CBR's Jonah Weiland accepts the Eisner

Jamie Coville regularly attends a whole bunch of comic book conventions and records various panels (with the panelists’ permission), then posts them on the internet as podcasts. He’s now posted several from this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, including the Dwayne McDuffie and Gene Colan tributes, several spotlight panels, the Eisner awards and the Indie Comics Marketing 101 panel (featuring Sam Humphries, Ben McCool, Chip Mosher, Laura Hudson and me!). He’s also got pictures from them posted on Picasa, which is where the above photo of our beloved leader comes from.

You’ll find the full list of available MP3s after the jump, or head over to Jamie’s site for his complete archive.

*****

Maggie Thompson Spotlight (48:46, 44.6mb)
Valerie Thompson interviews her mother about her early involvement with Sci-fi fandom and how that bridged into comic fandom. In particular she talks about starting up a network of comic fans back in the 1960s and how that lead to the starting of some key fanzines such as The Comic Buyers Guide and eventually The Comic Reader.

Roy Thomas Spotlight (53:37, 49mb)
Roy Thomas is interviewed by Mark Evanier about his career. Among the things they talked about are Roy’s editing style, Conan, Barry Windsor Smith, Star Wars, Mort Weisinger, Dracula, Alter Ego, Stan Lee and more.

Indie Comics Marketing Panel

Indie Comics Marketing 101 (54:03, 49.4mb)
On the panel is Sam Humphries, Laura Hudson, Ben McCool, J.K. Parkin and it’s moderated by Chip Mosher. They talk about Sam Humphries successful launch of Our Love is Real and Ben McCool’s cross country signing tour. Chip Mosher, Laura Hudson and J.K. Parkin with advise on how to market to comic book news sites.

The Black Panel – Dwayne McDuffie Tribute (1:19:39, 72.9mb)
Dwayne McDuffie was a very intelligent well loved writer, editor, producer of comic books and animation. He is best known for Milestone Media, Static Shock, Justice League Unlimited, Ben 10, Damage Control, Deathlok and more. He died suddenly earlier this year and this panel comprised of his friends and colleagues to talk about Dwayne. On the panel were the co-founders of Milestone Media Denys Cowan, Derrick Dingle and moderator Michael Davis. Also on was Peter David, Keith Knight, Reggie Hudlin, Phil LaMarr and Matt Wayne. They all talked about Dwayne’s intelligence, generosity and creativity. Towards the end they invited fans who’s had experiences with Dwayne to speak about them and a few people who are now professional writers spoke of how Dwayne took hours of his time to critique their work and how he helped them become the professional writers they are today.

Gene Colan Tribute (44:56, 41.1mb)
Marv Wolfman, Roy Thomas, Dean Mullaney, Andrew Farago, Steve Leialoha, Glen David Gold and moderator Mark Evanier gather to talk about Silver Age artist Gene Colan who passed away earlier this year. The panelists talked about those that inked him, his drawing style, him working as Austin Adams at Marvel and more.

The Golden Age of Fanzines (1:14:35, 68.2mb)
On this panel are the pioneers of comic fanzines and organized fandom. Panelists include Maggie Thompson, Richard and Pat Lupoff, Richard Kyle, Paul Levitz, Roy Thomas, Jean Bailes and moderated by Bill Schelley. Each talk about how they started their fanzines started. A lot of the audience were fanzine publishers as well and they asked questions about other fanzines (Rocket Blast Comic Collector in particular) and thanked the group for doing fanzines and welcoming them into their world.

That 70′s Panel (45:24, 41.5mb)
Creators from the 70s gather to talk about their work at that time. Moderated by Mark Evanier, the panelist are Roy Thomas, Walter & Louise Simonson, Len Wein, Mike Royer and Joe Staton. Mark asked about their first work in comics, how long they felt the comic industry was going to last (many assumed it would be dead in 5 years), what career they might have pursued if the comic industry did collapse, their views on older artists that was still working, Warren Publishing (Jim Warren in particular), Star Wars, Manhunter and more.

ComicsPro: So You Want To Be A Comic Book Retailer? (1:21:24, 74.5mb)
Moderated by Joe Field, retailers Portlyn Polston, Jennifer Haines, Chris Brady and Diamond outside Sales Manager Dave Hawksworth give a brief rundown of their experience and answer questions from existing and aspiring retailers on starting up a comic store or improve a store. Among the topics covered are getting female readers, stocking back issues, digital comics, percentage of sales on comics vs trades and other topics.

50 Years of Comic Fandom (1:17:18, 70.7mb)
Roy Thomas, Bill Schelley, Maggie Thompson, Richard & Pat Lupoff, Richard Kyle and Jean Bailes talk to Mark Evanier about their start in organizing fandom. Richard (Dick) & Pat Lupoff and Bill Schelley receive inkpot awards from the Comic-con organization. They also talked about the reaction of sci-fi fandom towards comic fandom. The panelists reveal the first comic convention they’ve ever attended and the first fanzine they contributed to.

Is the Comic Book Doomed? (46:01, 42.1mb)
Douglas Wolk brings together a number of people in the industry to talk about the lifespan of the 32 page comic book. On the panel is Amanda Emmert (Retailer, ComicsPro), Laura Hudson (Media, Comic Alliance), Vijaya Iyer (Co-Publisher, Cartoon Books) and Mark Waid (Long time writer & editor). Emmert and Waid go back and forth about the viability of the monthly comic with Iyer discussing how Bone would be done if it were launched today. There is a bit of talk about why digital would replace the monthly as well.

CBLDF: 25 Years of Protecting Creativity (52:01, 47.6mb)
Charles Brownstein gives a history comic book censorship and the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund. He outlines the major cases the fund has been involved in over the years and their results. Charles mentions that there is a worrying trend of censors targeting readers instead of retailers and publishers, but wrapping up their objections as child pornography to tarnish the reputations of those who purchase the books of which they do not approve of.

Walter and Louise Simonson Spotlight (1:16:13, 69.7mb)
Scott Dunbier interviews Walter and Louise Simonson about their careers. Walter talks about drawing and eventually writing and in particular talk about the Alien adaptation Graphic Novel/Album with Archie Goodwin published by Heavy Metal. Louise talks about her time as editor of Warren Publishing and Marvel. She also talks about Power Pack. At the end of the panel one lucky fan wins an Artists Edition of Walt Simonson’s Thor.

Jack Kirby Tribute (1:04:15, 58.8mb)
The annual Jack Kirby Tribute panel has Walter Simonson, Erik Larsen, Mike Royer, Richard Kyle and UK Celebrity Jonathan Ross. Moderated by Mark Evanier, the group talk about Jack and his inkers. Among them was Vinnie Colletta, Mike Royer, Joe Sinnott and Steve Ditko. Jonathan talks about his love of Jack Kirby and his desire to do a documentary on him (talk of his documentary on Steve Ditko popped up). They also talk about his DC work and the redrawing of Superman. Several people made announcements of upcoming Jack Kirby work coming out, including a movie about the time Jack helped the CIA rescue American hostages in Iran.

The Philippine Invasion (41:16, 37.7mb)
Philippino artists Ernie Chan, Alex Nino, Tony DeZuniga and Gerry Alanguilan are interviewed by Mark Waid about their getting started at DC Comics. Nino talks about switching from DC to Marvel in order to get the “real” page rate for artists at the time. He also talks about the freedom they at DC because his work was more suited to horror, which wasn’t popular in their local comic market. They discuss how the comic industry reacted to the Philippino artists when they started. Gerry talks about his working for DC today. They also talked about Nestor Redondo and how he influenced all of them.

Richard and Pat Lupoff Spotlight (47:04, 43mb)
Moderated by Maggie Thompson, Richard and Pat Lupoff talk about their lives before getting in comic fandom. Pat reveals about how they met and became a couple. Richard (Dick) talks about his life prior to fanzines, being an Army Lieutenant and working for IBM. He also talks about the productions of the fanzines. How he met Otto Binder and also a great story about mystery writer Don Westlake gave him an essay to print in which he told off the science fiction editors that he had worked for previously. I should note that Donald Westlake is the writer of the Richard Stark’s Parker stories that Darywn Cooke is adapting for IDW.

Full 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (3:09:55, 173mb)
The 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards was held in the Indigo Room at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront on Friday, July 22nd.
Introduction by Masters of Ceremonies Bill Morrison. He was assisted by the lovely Kayre Morrison.
The welcome was done by Jackie Estrada, Eisner Awards Administrator.

Presenters included Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon, Joëlle Jones, Gerry Alanguilan, Jill Thompson, Phil LaMarr, Dave Gibbons & Jonathan Ross, Lance Henriksen, Anina Bennett & Paul Guinan, Glen David Gold & Patrick McDonnell, Ian Boothby, Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez, Greg Rucka and Walter & Louise Simonson.
The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award was presented by Chris Bailey. The Bill Finger Award was presented by Mark Evanier. The Spirit of Comics Retailer Award was presented by Joe Ferrara. The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award was presented by Ruth Clampett. Sergio Aragones presented the Hall of Fame and Maggie Thompson did the Memoriam.

The Winners can be found at the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards page.

Raina Telgemeier has been busy — it seemed like she made it to every single comic convention in the United States and several in Canada over the past year — and last weekend she capped it off by picking up the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Teens for her graphic novel Smile. Despite all that traveling, she has managed to start work on her next graphic novel, and she announced it over the weekend: It will be called Drama, and, she says, “It’s about middle school theater geeks, stage crew, putting on a play, love and hate and friendship, and that’s all I can talk about for now.” The book is due out in fall 2012 from Scholastic/Graphix.

Eisner Awards

IDW Publishing led the 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards with five wins, including Joe Hill for best writer for Locke & Key and Darwyn Cooke for best writer/artist for Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit. The awards were announced last night during a ceremony at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Other winners included Vertigo’s American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King and Rafael Albuquerque, for best new series,  Image’s Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory, for best continuing series, and Skottie Young for best penciler/inker for Marvel’s The Marvelous Land of Oz. Comic Book Resources earned its second Eisner for best comics-related periodical/journalism.

The complete list of winners can be found below:

Best Short Story: “Post Mortem,” by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, in I Am an Avenger #2 (Marvel)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot): Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)

Best Continuing Series: Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image)

Best Limited Series: Daytripper, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Vertigo/DC)

Best New Series: American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque (Vertigo/DC)

Best Publication for Kids: Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC Comics)

Best Publication for Teens: Smile, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)

Best Humor Publication: I Thought You Would Be Funnier, by Shannon Wheeler (BOOM! Studios)

Best Anthology: Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, edited by Paul Morrissey and David Petersen (Archaia)

Best Digital Comic: Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl

Best Reality-Based Work: It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album — New: Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee (Archaia), and Wilson, by Daniel Clowes (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album — Reprint: Wednesday Comics, edited by Mark Chiarello (DC Comics)

Best Adaptation from Another Work: The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young (Marvel)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips: Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Strips, 1946–1948, by Bob Montana, edited by Greg Goldstein (IDW Publishing)

Best Archival Collection/Project — Comic Books: Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW Publishing)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material: It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material — Asia: Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)

Best Writer: Joe Hill, Lock & Key (IDW Publishing)

Best Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit (IDW Publishing)

Best Penciler/Inker or Penciler/Inker Team: Skottie Young, The Marvelous Land of Oz (Marvel)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art): Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist: Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Baltimore: The Plague Ships (Dark Horse)

Best Coloring: Dave Stewart, Hellboy, BPRD, Baltimore, Let Me In (Dark Horse); Detective Comics (DC); Neil Young’s Greendale, Daytripper, Joe the Barbarian (Vertigo/DC)

Best Lettering: Todd Klein, Fables, The Unwritten, Joe the Barbarian, iZombie (Vertigo/DC); Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom (WildStorm/DC); SHIELD (Marvel); Driver for the Dead (Radical)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: Comic Book Resources, produced by Jonah Weiland

Best Comics-Related Book: 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, by Paul Levitz (TASCHEN)

Best Publication Design: Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, designed by Randall Dahlk (IDW Publishing)

HALL OF FAME
Judges’ Choices: Ernie Bushmiller, Jack Jackson, Martin Nodell, Lynd Ward
Elected: Mort Drucker, Harvey Pekar, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Nate Simpson

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Patrick McDonnell

Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award: Del Connell, Bob Haney

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Comics and Vegetables, Tel Aviv

Free Comic Book Day

Retailing | More than 1 million customers visited participating stores on Free Comic Book Day, according to a survey conducted by Diamond Comic Distributors. More than 2.4 million of the record 2.7 million comics ordered by retailers were handed out. What’s more, nearly 54 percent of stores saw higher profits than usual for a Saturday, while more than 37 percent reported higher profits than on a typical Wednesday. [ICv2.com]

Awards | Bob Haney and Del Connell will receive the 2011 Bill Finger Award for Achievement in Comic Book Writing, established in honor of the late writer, considered the “unsung hero” of Batman. Haney, who passed away, in 2004, is best remembered as co-creator of the Doom Patrol and Metamorpho and for his work on DC titles like The Brave and the Bold, Teen Titans and Aquaman. Connell, who began his career at Disney Studios working on such animated projects as Alice in Wonderland and The Three Caballeros, became a prolific writer and, eventually, editor-in-chief at Western Publishing. He also wrote the Mickey Mouse comic strips for more than 20 years. Connell, 94, will accept his award July 22 during the Eisner Awards ceremony at Comic-Con International. [Comic-Con]

Comic-Con International

Comic-Con | Organizers of Comic-Con International met the June 2 deadline to submit an application for a business license in La Mesa, Calif., where the nonprofit group has operated for the past five years. However, a local writer seems bothered that the organization, which lists assets of more than $7 million, isn’t required to pay a fee — $35, plus $3 per employee — for its business license. [Patch.com]

Retailing | A water main next to Mostly Comics in St. Catharines, Ontario, burst last week, damaging an estimated 250,000 back issues stored in the basement. [The Standard]

Conventions | Local newspapers preview the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, which kicks off this afternoon in Alberta, Canada. Comic guests include Neal Adams, Kate Beaton, Amanda Conner, Danielle Corsetto, Geof Darrow, Kathryn Immonen, Stuart Immonen, Scott Kurtz, Jeff Lemire, Francis Manapul, Mike Mignola, Dustin Nguyen, Ethan Nicolle, Cary Nord, Tim Sale, Gail Simone, Fiona Staples and Cameron Stewart. [Calgary Sun, Calgary Herald]

Fables, Vol. 14

Creators | Bill Willingham talks Fables and fairy tales: “With my Elementals series, I was one of the lesser known pioneers (at the same time as Frank Miller with Daredevil and then Dark Knight, and Alan Moore with Marvelman and then Watchmen) of serious, realistic takes on superheroes. As much as I like some of what I did back then, I’ve come to a complete turnaround on my philosophy of what makes a good superhero story. The more we tried to explain how this seemingly impossible thing works, to ground it more in reality, the more power we leached out of the concept. I now feel that superheroes should be treated more like fairy tales and less like science fiction. In fairy tales, someone can do an amazing thing, because the storyteller just said so. In superhero comics Superman can pull a planet through space because the writer and artist just said he could and showed him doing it. Period. Once you try to explain how that’s possible, you rob the storyteller of his authority.” [io9.com]

Creators | A preview of a store signing in Norfolk, Virginia, by FF writer Jonathan Hickman wins for headline of the week: “Human Torch’s killer stops in Norfolk.” [Virginian-Pilot]

Creators | Paul Hornschemeier chats briefly about his new graphic novel Life with Mr. Dangerous. [Speakeasy]

Creators | Peter Hogan discusses Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom. [Omnivoracious]

Creators | Alan Moore discusses his long-discussed 750,000-word second novel Jerusalem: “Any editor worth their salt would tell me to cut two-thirds of this book but that’s not going to happen. I doubt that Herman Melville had an editor — if he had, that editor would have told him to get rid of all that boring stuff about whaling: ‘Cut to the chase, Herman.’” [New Statesman]

Comics | A. David Lewis, a comics writer and doctoral student in religion and literature, discusses his dissertation — it’s about depictions of the afterlife in comics and other pop culture — the rise of Islamic superheroes in Western comic books. [BU Today]

Fear Itself #2

Publishing | May marked the worst month of the year for the direct market since January as sales of comic books and graphic novels fell 11.21 percent versus May 2010. Chart watcher John Jackson Miller chalks up the decline to a combination of retailers ordering more Free Comic Book Day titles than “for-profit” books and publishers’ summer events heating up a little later this year. Marvel led Diamond Comic Distributors’ list of top comics for the month with Fear Itself #2, followed by the first issue of DC’s Flashpoint. Avatar topped the graphic novel chart with Crossed 3D, Vol. 1. [The Comichron]

Legal | The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has joined a coalition that includes booksellers, media companies and the ACLU of Utah in seeking to permanently stop enforcement of a 2005 Utah statute that would regulate Internet speech that some consider “harmful to minors,” including works of art, graphic novels, information about sexual health and the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth. The law has not gone into effect because Utah consented to a temporary injunction until the case can be decided. [press release]

Awards | A reminder: Online voting ends today for the 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. The winners will be announced July 22 during Comic-Con International in San Diego. [Eisner Awards]

Archie Comics

Publishing | Tom Spurgeon talks at length with Archie Comics Co-CEO Jon Goldwater about the publishers’ marketing strategy, digital initiatives, and how recently introduced gay character Kevin Keller fits into Riverdale: “You know, with all of the bullying going on in the world today, and all of the issues young people grow up with, it just proves the point that kids are kids, and that Archie, the gang, Riverdale, it’s all-inclusive. That’s how kids are in high school today. The point of his being gay, he’s just another kid. That’s the point of putting him in there. He’s accepted, and everyone should be accepted wherever they go. That sounds a little bit utopian, but why not? Why can’t we at least put that forth? Put forth the fact that everyone no matter what their orientation is, what the color of their skin is, what their religion is, whatever it may be, everyone’s accepted: there is no divisiveness. When you turn on the TV and you hear all this vitriol back and forth between political parties and all this nonsense it’s enough to get you nuts. The point of Kevin was ‘Hey, stop with this craziness. Everyone’s included. We’re all part of the human race no matter who you are or what you are.’” [The Comics Reporter]

Wizard

Conventions | Jerome Maida previews Wizard World Philadelphia, which returns on Friday to the Pennsylvania Convention Center. [Philadelphia Daily News]

Conventions | Lisa Allmendinger looks toward the third annual Kids Read Comics! convention, which kicks off Saturday in Chelsea, Michigan. [AnnArbor.com]

Conventions | On a related note, Snow Wildsmith offers tips on taking children to conventions. [Good Comics for Kids]

Creators | Greg Rucka talks about his upcoming run, with artist Marco Checchetto, on Marvel’s Punisher: “You find yourself in the position of going to your editor and saying, ‘So, who can I kill? Who is on the list of characters we can put a bullet in and is not going to horribly destroy what’s going in the rest of the universe?’ You never want to take a character out of play. It’s easier to take stuff away from the universe than to put it back into the universe.” [USA Today]

Broadway | The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society has filed an arbitration claim against the producers of the $70-million musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark for failure to pay royalties to original director Julie Taymor, who was fired in March. [The New York Times]

John Munn, owner of Comic Book Ink

Retailing | Tacoma, Washington, store Comic Book Ink, a seven-time nominee for the Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award, could close as early as August because of mounting debt. In a plea to customers, owner John Munn attributes the store’s dire financial situation to a combination of the economy, relocation costs, an unresolved dispute with the previous landlord, the move by Diamond Comic Distributors to “call in short-term notes” in the wake of the Borders bankruptcy, and “personal trials.” In the extremely frank letter, he lays out what steps he’s taken (payment plans, using his salary from an outside job to cover payroll), and what he hesitates to do (fire staff, close the nearly nine-year-old store and declare bankruptcy): “I have juggled as far as I can juggle. I have kept a constant vigil on our shop, but currently it is resting on a house of cards and not a strong foundation (yet) that could go at any minute. [...] I need your help. This week is bad … Very bad.”

Munn asks that customers pick up any special orders or pull-list titles, purchase gift certificates, make a short-term loan or buy shares in the store. “I think we can make it,” he writes. “I wouldn’t have sent this message if I didn’t. I did not want to write this letter. I did not want to ask for help. All I ever wanted to do was to create a place where people could come and escape for awhile. A place that would invest in the community, and its organizations, that surrounded it.” [Comic Book Ink]

DC Comics

Publishing | Heidi MacDonald reports that DC Comics Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee sent a memo to creators working on titles for the “New DCU” relaunch requiring them to have three issues completed by Aug. 31, “no exceptions.” “If that criterion cannot be met,” the memo states, “we’ve instructed Editorial to begin work at that time on material that will be able to meet the deadlines for the series.” [The Beat]

Education | Japan’s Kyoto Seika University will begin offering the country’s first doctoral program in manga studies next year, while Dundee University in Scotland will launch the United Kingdom’s first master’s degree in comics studies this fall.  [The Associated Press, BBC News]

Awards | Larry Cruz takes a look at the Eisner Award nominees for best digital comic. [The Webcomic Overlook]

Creators | Legendary artist Joe Kubert appeared over the weekend at Dewey’s Comic City in Madison, New Jersey. [Daily Record]

Creators | Artist Peter Krause talks at HeroesCon about leaving Irredeemable: “It’s just a good time to do it. I do have another non-comics project coming up this summer that I really have to devote some time to, and it’s a really once-in-a-lifetime type project. I’ve loved working with BOOM! and Mark Waid, it’s been a joy working with them. It’s kind of bittersweet.” [MTV Geek]

Free Comic Book Day

Retailing | Free Comic Book Day founder Joe Field reports that this year’s event drew between 300,000 and 500,000 people to participating retailers, and generated an estimated $1.5 million in publicity for comics and comics stores. “Free Comic Book Day may have been my idea ten years ago,  but seeing the remarkable things this event has done for the entire comics world is really encouraging,” he writes on his store’s blog. “Many of my comics retailer colleagues in the U.S., Canada and 40 other countries bring energy, creativity and enthusiasm to FCBD, making it a very special community event that is now the world’s largest annual comics’ event. All of this shows just how current the comics’ medium is — and how vital comic book specialty stores are to our local communities.” [Flying Colors, via The Beat]

Legal | In the wake of the latest confiscation of comics by Canadian customs agents, Laura Hudson looks at how creators and fans can protect themselves when crossing the border. [Comics Alliance]

Comic strips | Tundra marketing director Bill Kellogg has launched Ink Bottle Syndicate, which represents eight comic strips: That Monkey Tune, by Mike Kandalaft; Holy Molé, by Rick Hotton; Sunshine State, by Graham Nolan; Half Baked, by Rick Ellis; Future Shock, by Jim and Pat McGreal; 15 Minutes, by Robert Duckett; Biz, by Dave Blazek; and, of course, Tundra, Chad Carpenter. [The Daily Cartoonist]

Conventions | Eva Volin posts a video interview with Toronto Comic Arts Festival organizer Christopher Butcher. Meanwhile, Squidface & The Meddler posts a terrific TCAF photo diary by Sam Javanrouh. [Good Comics for Kids]

Batman: Gates of Gotham #1

Creators | Scott Snyder briefly talks about his upcoming DC Comics miniseries Batman: Gates of Gotham: “I feel like every time I write the Batcave, I’m going into the Batcave. It’s so much fun — it feels like being a kid in a candy store. Batman has always been my favorite superhero since I was a kid. There’s nothing better than getting the reins to your favorite superhero and getting to put on paper what interests you the most and tell your own favorite story.” [am New York]

Comics | Don MacPherson kicks off a survey of this year’s Eisner Awards nominees with a look at Joe Kubert’s Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965. [Eye on Comics]

Pop culture | The fate of Dogpatch USA, the abandoned Arkansas theme park based on Al Capp’s Li’l Abner comic strip, is in the hands of 23-year-old Pruett Nance and his family. Six years ago, Nance was riding an ATV on the grounds of the park, which closed in 1993, when he struck a throat-high cable stretched between two trees. A lawsuit resulted in a $650,000 judgment against the park’s owners, who couldn’t pay. So this month a judge ordered the deed be signed over to Nance. [KUAR]

Fear Itself #1

Publishing | The drop in year-over-year sales in the direct market slowed in April, with periodicals slipping 1.75 percent and graphic novels just .84 percent. Overall sales were down 1.46 percent for April and 6.5 percent for the first four months of the year. Marvel topped Diamond’s comics chart with Fear Itself #1, while DC led the graphic novel category with the 15th volume of Fables. [ICv2.com]

Crime | Police evacuated the bus terminal in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, Friday afternoon after a suspicious package was discovered across the street. The Michigan State Police bomb squad was called in, and it was determined the mysterious package was merely a briefcase-shaped media kit promoting Acura’s involvement with Marvel’s Thor. A writer for Automobile, whose offices are next to the terminal, had discarded the “S.H.I.E.L.D. Assessment Test” kit in the recycling bin, but it wasn’t picked up — apparently because it isn’t recyclable. [WXYZ, Jalopnik]

San Diego Convention Center

Comic-Con | Mark Evanier discusses a new hotel tax proposed by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to pay for the planned expansion of the city’s convention center. There would be a 3 percent tax on rooms closest to the convention center, the location of Comic-Con International, with others being taxed between 1 and 2 percent, depending on their proximity. [News from ME]

Awards | Nominations are being accepted through May 31 for the 28th annual Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award, which will be presented July 22 during the Eisner Awards ceremony at Comic-Con International. [Comic-Con International]

Retailing | In its first-quarter filings, U.S. retail chain Hastings reports a 3 percent increase in its “trends” merchandise category, driven in part by the sales of new and used comics. The retailer recently expanded its comics space in 126 stores. [press release]

Conventions | Tim Janson wraps up this weekend’s Motor City Comic Con in Nov, Michigan. [Mania.com]

Creators | David Lloyd chats about his career, V for Vendetta and a possible shift to online comics: “I’m interested in online storytelling, not just putting a comic online though. I think that’s kid of crazy. There should be something more than just putting a comic page on a computer screen, and there are different ways of doing that. I’m looking for the best way to do that, to tell a story, produce a graphic novel week by week, month by month. Now obviously you can do that just as a showcase and then sell the book afterwards. There have been some examples of that working well. But if I do something like that, I would like to earn money. I kinda regret that a lot of ideas I get, I can’t do. I have some nice ideas but if I did all of them, every one of them taking two years, I’d be fixed for the next ten, so I’m not sure if I want to do that. If I invest time in something, I’ve got to get results and it has to be seen.” [Philippine Daily Inquirer]

Creators | Chester Brown talks about his new graphic novel Paying for it: A Comic-Strip Memoir About Being a John. [The Gazette]

Professionals who have already voted online at www.eisnervote.com can change their votes any time before June 13, while voters who elected to download the PDF ballot and mail it in need not worry, as that ballot was unaffected by the error.

BOOM! Studios, publisher of the Eisner-nominated graphic novel under their BOOM! Town imprint, have made it available online to be read for free, and are also giving away physical copies to eligible voters — email freefunnier@boom-studios.com with your eligibility status to have a physical copy sent to you.

Eisner Awards

DC Comics, Mike Mignola and Return of the Dapper Men top the list of nominees for the 23rd annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, which were announced today by Comic-Con International and are presented every July in San Diego.

Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee, received five nominations, including best writer, best painter/multimedia artist and best graphic album. Other comics that received multiple nominations include Morning Glories, Locke & Key, Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, Chew, Wilson and Hellboy. Hellboy creator Mike Mignola received five nominations, while Nick Spencer (Morning Glories) and Joe Hill (Locke & Key) each received four.

DC Comics and its various imprints received 14 nominations, plus three that were shared with other publishers, with Vertigo books receiving the majority of those. Both IDW and Image received 12 each. Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly both received 11, Dark Horse received nine plus two shared, Archaia received nine, VIZ received four, Marvel received three, plus two shared ones.

The 2011 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of comics store rep John Berry (Metropolis Comics, Bellflower, California), Comic-Con board of director Ned Cato (geekroundtable.com), librarian Karen Green (Columbia University), comics writer/editor Andy Helfer (The Shadow; Paradox Press), publishing consultant Rich Johnson (previously with DC Comics and Yen Press), and retail manager Chris Powell (Lone Star Comics, Dallas, Texas). Ballots with this year’s nominees will be going out in mid-April to comics creators, editors, publishers, and retailers.

You can find the complete list of nominees after the jump.

*****

Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominees, 2011

Best Short Story
“Bart on the Fourth of July,” by Peter Kuper, in Bart Simpson #54 (Bongo)
“Batman, in Trick for the Scarecrow,” by Billy Tucci, in DCU Halloween Special 2010 (DC)
“Cinderella,” by Nick Spencer and Rodin Esquejo, in Fractured Fables (Silverline Books/Image)
“Hamburgers for One,” by Frank Stockton, in Popgun vol. 4 (Image)
“Little Red Riding Hood,” by Bryan Talbot and Camilla d’Errico, in Fractured Fables (Silverline Books/Image)
“Post Mortem,” by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, in I Am an Avenger #2 (Marvel)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
The Cape, by Joe Hill, Jason Ciaramella, and Zack Howard (IDW)
Fables #100, by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and others (Vertigo/DC)
Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)
Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom #1: “Sparrow,” by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
Unknown Soldier #21: “A Gun in Africa,” by Joshua Dysart and Rick Veitch (Vertigo/DC)

Best Continuing Series
Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image)
Echo, by Terry Moore (Abstract Studio)
Locke & Key, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
Morning Glories, by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma (Shadowline/Image)
Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)
Scalped, by Jason Aaron and R. M. Guéra (Vertigo/DC)

Best Limited Series
Baltimore: The Plague Ships, by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, and Ben Stenbeck (Dark Horse)
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, by Chris Roberson and Shawn McManus (Vertigo/DC)
Daytripper, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Vertigo/DC)
Joe the Barbarian, by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy (Vertigo/DC)
Stumptown, by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth (Oni)

Best New Series
American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque (Vertigo/DC)
iZombie, by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred (Vertigo/DC)
Marineman, by Ian Churchill (Image)
Morning Glories, by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma (Shadowline/Image)
Superboy, by Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo (DC)

Best Publication for Kids
Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean, by Sara Stewart Taylor and Ben Towle (Center for Cartoon Studies/Disney/Hyperion)
Amelia Rules!: True Things (Adults Don’t Want Kids to Know), by Jimmy Gownley (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)
Binky to the Rescue, by Ashley Spires (Kids Can Press)
Scratch9, by Rob M. Worley and Jason T. Kruse (Ape Entertainment)
Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)
The Unsinkable Walker Bean, by Aaron Renier (First Second)

Best Publication for Teens
Ghostopolis, by Doug TenNapel (Scholastic Graphix)
Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch (Amulet Books)
Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee (Archaia)
Smile, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty, by G. Neri and Randy DuBurke (Lee & Low)

Best Humor Publication
Afrodisiac, by Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca (Adhouse)
Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book, by Ian Boothby, John Delaney, and Dan Davis (Bongo)
Drinking at the Movies, by Julia Wertz (Three Rivers Press/Crown)
I Thought You Would Be Funnier, by Shannon Wheeler (BOOM!)
Literature: Unsuccessfully Competing Against TV Since 1953, by Dave Kellett (Small Fish Studios)
Prime Baby, by Gene Luen Yang (First Second)

Best Anthology
The Anthology Project, edited by Joy Ang and Nick Thornborrow (Lucidity Press)
Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators, edited by Nicolas Finet (Fanfare•Ponent Mon)
Liquid City, vol. 2, edited by Sonny Liew and Lim Cheng Tju (Image)
Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, edited by Paul Morrissey and David Petersen (Archaia)
Trickster: Native American Tales, edited by Matt Dembicki (Fulcrum Books)

Best Digital Comic
Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, www.abominable.cc
The Bean, by Travis Hanson, www.beanleafpress.com
Lackadaisy, by Tracy Butler, www.lackadaisycats.com
Max Overacts, by Caanan Grall, http://occasionalcomics.com
Zahra’s Paradise, by Amir and Khalil, www.zahrasparadise.com

Best Reality-Based Work
It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)
Picture This: The Nearsighted Monkey Book, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)
Special Exits: A Graphic Memoir, by Joyce Farmer (Fantagraphics)
Treasury of XXth Century Murder: The Terrible Axe Man of New Orleans, by Rick Geary (NBM)
Two Generals, by Scott Chantler (McClelland & Stewart)
You’ll Never Know Book 2: Collateral Damage, by Carol Tyler (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—New
Elmer, by Gerry Alanguilan (SLG)
Finding Frank and His Friend: Previously Unpublished Work by Clarence ‘Otis’ Dooley, by Melvin Goodge (Curio & Co.)
Market Day, by James Sturm (Drawn & Quarterly)
Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee (Archaia)
Wilson, by Daniel Clowes (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
The Amazing Screw-on Head and Other Curious Objects, by Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)
Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites, by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
Motel Art Improvement Service, by Jason Little (Dark Horse)
The Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis, by Ian Boothby, James Lloyd, and Steve Steere Jr. (Abrams Comicarts)
Tumor, by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon (Archaia)
Wednesday Comics, edited by Mark Chiarello (DC)

Best Adaptation from Another Work
Dante’s Divine Comedy, adapted by Seymour Chwast (Bloomsbury)
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, adapted by Joann Sfar (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young (Marvel)
7 Billion Needles, vols. 1 and 2, adapted from Hal Clement’s Needle by Nobuaki Tadano (Vertical)
Silverfin: A James Bond Adventure, adapted by Charlie Higson and Kev Walker (Disney/Hyperion Books)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Strips, 1946–1948, by Bob Montana, edited by Greg Goldstein (IDW)
40: A Doonesbury Retrospective, by G. B. Trudeau (Andrews McMeel)
George Heriman’s Krazy Kat: A Celebration of Sundays, edited by Patrick McDonnell and Peter Maresca (Sunday Press Books)
Polly and Her Pals Complete Sunday Comics, vol. 1, by Cliff Sterrett, edited by Dean Mullaney (IDW)
Roy Crane’s Captain Easy, vol. 1, edited by Rick Norwood (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
The Horror! The Horror! Comic Books the Government Didn’t Want You to Read!, edited by Jim Trombetta (Abrams Comicart)
The Incal Classic Collection, by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Moebius (Humanoids)
Lynd Ward: Six Novels in Woodcuts, edited by Art Spiegelman (The Library of America)
Thirteen “Going on Eighteen,” by John Stanley (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)
The Killer: Modus Vivendi, by Matz and Luc Jacamon (Archaia)
King of the Flies, Book One: Hallorave, by Mezzo and Pirus (Fantagraphics)
The Littlest Pirate King, by David B. and Pierre Mac Orlan (Fantagraphics)
Salvatore, by Nicolas De Crécy (NBM)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
Ayako, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)
Bunny Drop, by Yumi Unita (Yen Press)
A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, by Moto Hagio (Fantagraphics)
House of Five Leaves, by Natsume Ono (VIZ Media)
Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)

Best Writer
Ian Boothby, Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book; Futurama Comics #47–50; Simpsons Comics #162, 168; Simpsons Super Spectacular #11–12 (Bongo)
Joe Hill, Lock & Key (IDW)
John Layman, Chew (Image)
Jim McCann, Return of the Dapper Men (Archaia)
Nick Spencer, Morning Glories, Shuddertown, Forgetless, Existence 3.0 (Image)

Best Writer/Artist
Dan Clowes, Wilson (Drawn & Quarterly)
Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit (IDW)
Joe Kubert, Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965 (DC)
Terry Moore, Echo (Abstract Studio)
James Sturm, Market Day (Drawn & Quarterly)
Naoki Urasawa, Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys (VIZ Media)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Richard Corben, Hellboy (Dark Horse)
Stephen DeStefano, Lucky in Love Book One: A Poor Man’s Story (Fantagraphics)
Rob Guillory, Chew (Image)
Gabriel Rodriguez, Locke & Key (IDW)
Skottie Young, The Marvelous Land of Oz (Marvel)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Lynda Barry, Picture This: The Nearsighted Monkey Book (Drawn & Quarterly)
Brecht Evens, The Wrong Place (Drawn & Quarterly)
Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad (Dark Horse)
Janet Lee, Return of the Dapper Men (Archaia)
Eric Liberge, On the Odd Hours (NBM)
Carol Tyler, You’ll Never Know Book 2: Collateral Damage (Fantagraphics)

Best Cover Artist
Rodin Esquejo, Morning Glories (Shadowline/Image)
Dave Johnson, Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain (Dark Horse); Unknown Soldier (Vertigo/DC); Punisher/Max, Deadpool (Marvel)
Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Baltimore: The Plague Ships (Dark Horse)
David Petersen, Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard (Archaia)
Yuko Shimizu, The Unwritten (Vertigo/DC)

Best Coloring
Jimmy Gownley, Amelia Rules!: True Things (Adults Don’t Want Kids to Know), Amelia Rules!: The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular, by Jimmy Gownley (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)
Metaphrog (Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers), Louis: Night Salad (Metaphrog)
Dave Stewart, Hellboy, BPRD, Baltimore, Let Me In (Dark Horse); Detective Comics (DC); Neil Young’s Greendale, Daytripper, Joe the Barbarian (Vertigo/DC)
Hilary Sycamore, City of Spies, Resistance, Booth, Brain Camp, Solomon’s Thieves (First Second)
Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library 20: Lint (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Lettering
Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit (IDW)
Dan Clowes, Wilson (Drawn & Quarterly)
Jimmy Gownley, Amelia Rules!: True Things (Adults Don’t Want Kids to Know), Amelia Rules!: The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular, by Jimmy Gownley (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)
Todd Klein, Fables, The Unwritten, Joe the Barbarian, iZombie (Vertigo/DC); Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom (WildStorm/DC); SHIELD (Marvel); Driver for the Dead (Radical)
Doug TenNapel, Ghostopolis (Scholastic Graphix)
Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library 20: Lint (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
The Beat, produced by Heidi MacDonald (www.comicsbeat.com)
ComicBookResources, produced by Jonah Weiland (www.comicbookresources.com)
ComicsAlliance, produced by Laura Hudson (www.comicsalliance.com)
The Comics Reporter, produced by Tom Spurgeon (www.comicsreporter.com)
USA Today Comics Section, by Life Section Entertainment Editor Dennis Moore; Comics Section Lead, John Geddes (www.usatoday.com/life/comics/index)

Best Comics-Related Book
Doonesbury and the Art of G. B. Trudeau, by Brian Walker (Yale University Press)
Fire and Water: Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner, and the Birth of Marvel Comics, by Blake Bell (Fantagraphics)
The Oddly Compelling Art of Denis Kitchen, by Denis Kitchen and Charles Brownstein, edited by John Lind and Diana Schutz (Dark Horse Books)
Shazam! The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal, by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear (Abrams Comicarts)
75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, by Paul Levitz (TASCHEN)

Best Publication Design
Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, designed by Randall Dahlk (IDW)
Polly and Her Pals Complete Sunday Comics, vol. 1, designed by Lorraine Turner and Dean Mullaney (IDW)
Return of the Dapper Men, designed by Todd Klein (Archaia)
75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, designed by Josh Baker (TASCHEN)
Two Generals, designed by Jennifer Lum (McClelland & Stewart)

Hall of Fame

Judges’ Choices:
Ernie Bushmiller
Jack Jackson
Martin Nodell
Lynd Ward

This year’s panel of Eisner judges have named four creators to the Will Eisner Awards Comics Hall of Fame: Ernie Bushmiller, Jack Jackson (Jaxon), Marty Nodell, and Lynd Ward. Traditionally, the judges pick two automatic inductees, but in the official press release, Eisner Awards administrator Jackie Estrada said, “The judges felt that some significant contributors to comics’ history were being consistently overlooked by the regular voter. Choosing only two creators to induct was proving too difficult this year. The solution they chose was to single out individuals from four aspects of the medium.”

The quartet certainly is eclectic. Nancy, originally a spinoff of the flapper comic Fritzi Ritz, has been a staple of the funny pages since the 1930s, and although it seems trivial to look at (Art Spiegelman once commented that it was easier to read Nancy than to not read Nancy), Bushmiller has his admirers. Jaxon was one of the first underground cartoonists and co-founded Rip Off Press with Gilbert Shelton (creator of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers). Nodell, a comics artist from the Golden Age, worked for DC and Marvel before they were DC and Marvel and was the co-creator of the Green Lantern. And Ward has just returned to public notice with the Library of America’s new edition of his wordless graphic novels, which were created entirely as woodcuts.

Voters (who must be active in the comics industry in some way) will get to choose four more inductees from a list of 14: Bill Blackbeard, Chris Claremont, Kim Deitch, Rudolph Dirks, Mort Drucker, Jenette Kahn, George McManus, Dennis O’Neill, Harvey Pekar, Cliff Sterrett, Roy Thomas, Rodolphe Töpffer, George Tuska, and Marv Wolfman. The last day to vote is March 25, and the results will be announced at Comic-Con in San Diego next July.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

Broadway | The planned Jan. 11 opening for the $65-million musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark likely will be pushed back again, Kim Masters reports. Yet despite technical problems, actor injuries and repeated delays, preview performances are selling at an impressive 98.2 percent capacity. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Legal | Roland Kelts provides commentary on the passage by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly of controversial legislation to further restrict sexual content in manga and anime: “Now we have Version 2 of the non-existent youth bill, with its opaque language promising to monitor depictions of fictional characters government officials decide are too young to be engaging in the fictional activities government officials decide are too harmful to real youth that government officials decide are too youthful to view or read about them.  Meanwhile, it remains legal in Japan to possess child pornography, live-action or illustrated, rendering most attempts at enforcement toothless.” Meanwhile, Japan Real Time, the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal report on the new ordinance and the surrounding controversy. [TCJ.com]

Retailing | New York City retailer Cosmic Comics, which had announced it would close on Dec. 31 after 18 years, will remain open under new ownership. [The Beat]

Codebreakers #3

Publishing | David Brothers talks with BOOM! Studios Marketing Director Chip Mosher about the publisher’s digital efforts: “Getting new readers into comics is something that we are horrible at as an industry. I love Free Comic Book Day, and it is a spectacular event, but there is nothing we have that helps explain to people that we have new comics every week. New stories every month. We all assume that people know how to read periodical comics, whether print or digital, and let me just use a big word here, those are fallacious assumptions! We need to dig deeper right now than just seeing digital as the panacea to all of the comic book industry’s problems.” [Comics Alliance]

Publishing | Jim Zubkavich, project manager for UDON, shares his response to “an intense two screen long message” from an artist who wants to work for the studio: “Your artwork is not as good as you think it is.” [Livejournal]

Chi's Sweet Home, Vol. 1

Awards | David Welsh suggests manga worthy of nomination for the 2011 Eisner Awards. [Precocious Curmudgeon]

Creators | Jason Wood wonders whether it’s time to revisit Robert Kirkman’s two-year-old “Kirkman Manifesto”: “Fast forwarding to the present, have many creators followed his advice? Can you think of many creators that have obtained a modicum of success writing for Marvel and DC who have since turned their focus almost entirely to creator-owned work? I’m sure there are a few, but I can’t think of any. And yet, there ARE quite a few creators making big marks at the Big 2 who recently came from the creator-owned world. Presumably those would be the guys (and ladies) who Kirkman was most directly speaking to.” [iFanboy]

The Walking Dead, Vol. 1

Creators | Speaking of Robert Kirkman, he and Tony Moore talk about the creation of The Walking Dead, the television adaptation, and what led to artist’s departure from the comic. “We were very adamant about scheduling early on,” Kirkman says, “and Tony — fantastic artist though he is—is much more the type that works best on a variety of projects, rather than a single, constant deadline, so we decided it would be best if we went our separate ways for the time being.” Moore adds: “I was pretty miserable by the end, and clearly things weren’t working out. I can’t complain. If I hadn’t left it, I might not have gotten to do any of my subsequent books, which I immensely enjoyed and I co-own. Also, I got to do some pretty crazy shit at Marvel, too.” [Vice]

Creators | Collaborators Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col discuss Kill Shakespeare. [Torontoist]

Gift guides | Glen Weldon recommends 10 holiday gifts for comic-book lovers. [NPR]

Brenda Starr

Comic strips | Tribune Media Services has announced it will cancel the 70-year-old comic strip Brenda Starr rather than find replacements for writer Mary Schmich and artist June Brigman, who have decided to end their lengthy run. The final installment will appear on Jan. 2. Created by Dale Messick, the flame-haired reporter debuted in The Chicago Tribune on June 30, 1940, and later appeared in comic books and movies, and on merchandise. Messick retired in 1980, and has been succeeded on the strip only by women, from Ramona Fradon to Linda Sutter to Schmich and Brigman.

Kiel Phegley offers commentary, and catches a series of tweets from writer Dan Slott, who relates that his great-grandfather’s sister championed Brenda Starr at The Chicago Tribune. In related news, Tribune Media Services is partnering with Hermes Press on a multi-volume hardcover series titled Brenda Starr, Reporter by Dale Messick: The Collected Daily and Sunday Newspaper Strip. The first volume will be released in June. [press release]

Retailing | Borders Group reported a third-quarter loss of $74.4 million, nearly double the loss incurred during the same period in 2009. ICv2.com provides analysis. [GalleyCat]

Amazon

Retailing | Amazon announced Thursday it will begin making current Nielsen BookScan sales data available to authors on its site, information that’s usually only shared six months or more later through royalty statements from publishers. John Jackson Miller, an Amazon author himself, explores what’s being shared. [Jacket Copy]

Awards | Submissions are being accepted through March 4 for the 2011 Eisner Awards. [Eisner Awards]

Publishing | Ten Japanese publishers, including Kadokawa Shoten as well as Shueisha, Shogakukan and Kodansha, have announced they will boycott next year’s Tokyo International Anime Fair because of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s latest efforts to further restrict sexual content in manga, anime and video games. [Anime News Network]

Publishing | Scott Thill spotlights Dark Horse’s new digital initiative, which launches in January. [Underwire]

Publishing | A recent quote from former DC Comics Publisher Paul Levitz — “I’m not sure that young women are as interested in reading about superheroes. The fundamental dynamic of the superhero story has historically been more appealing to boys than to girls.” — sparks an open letter from blogger Lisa Fortuner to newly appointed Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras: “I’ve heard it argued that women will not appreciate tightly woven multi-decade continuity or complex fantastical plots, but a mere hour viewing General Hospital should dispel that argument. The genre-loving book and television female audience are only kept from comic books by the industry’s reluctance to seek them out.” [Written World]

Publishing | Marvel is scouting for talent at the Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention, which kicks off today. It marks the publisher’s first appearance at the event. [Channel NewsAsia]

Batman Incorporated #1

Publishing | Matt Duarte crunches estimated sales numbers, and dubs DC’s Batman Incorporated “the $3-million franchise.” [The Weekly Crisis]

Best of the year | Sandy Bilus has begun collecting links to best-of-the-year lists. [I love Rob Liefeld]

Best of the year | Ian McGillis selects some of the year’s best graphic novels, including X’ed Out, Market Day and The Best American Comics 2010. [The Gazette]

Creators | Neil Gaiman talks about the changing audience for comics, and editing The Best American Comics 2010. [NPR]

Creators | Perry Bible Fellowship creator Nicholas Gurewitch discusses the Internet, stepping back from his webcomic, and working on Marvel’s Strange Tales. [Comics Alliance]

Internet | In response to this post by T. Hodler, The A.V. Club editor Keith Phipps has apologized for running a review Genius Isolated: The Life & Art Of Alex Toth by a writer who couldn’t have actually seen the book, as it hasn’t been finished: “I don’t want to speculate on the writer’s motivations, but I can say that in no way was the publisher of the book, IDW, involved. This sort of behavior is absolutely unacceptable, and we will not be working with the writer again in any capacity going forward.” [The A.V. Club]

Comics | Dorian Wright offers some gift-giving recommendations. [Postmodernbarney.com]