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)
In this case I opt for the CAPE...brilliant issue...a one-shot that stuns!
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)
It's a toss-up between CHEW and Morning Glories as they have amazing writers and artists!!!
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)
Superboy has been cool but to me it's Geoff Johns that does him well and with Spencer showing his worth to Image, Marvel and DC...with an amazing art team...I can't see him losing...but Scott Snyder/Rafa have been something to be reckoned with...and with his Detective Comics being the best batbook out there...Snyder is all thumbs up!
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)
Shanower and the amazing art of Skottie Young no doubt takes the cake here
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)
Joe Hill on Locke and Key and THE CAPE proves that he can maybe top daddy...Stephen King...and Layman also proves his chops. But while Boothby seems over-rated to me, McCann on the DAPPER MEN really amazed and even showed further prowess on the HAWKEYE/MOCKINGBIRD ltd series...alas, Nick Spencer at IMAGE as seen above really is proving that 2011 is his year...and with SUPERGIRL and other DC notables, he now gets WAR MACHINE aka IRON MAN 2.0 and CLOAK AND DAGGER for 2011...he is taking the writing of comics by storm! He and Scott Snyder have the brightest futures ahead!
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)
Cooke has been phenomenal and nuff is said
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)
Everyone here is topnotch but it's a bias of me to lean to Skottie
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)
Janet Lee on McCann's book was pure win
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)
ROD ESQUEJO takes a Gossip Girl artistic vision and brings it to comic life
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)
ALL ROCK BUT CBR TAKES WINNNNNNNN
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
SPECIAL KAPOW NEWS!!!
Nick Spencer will be taking on a new series with the fan fave cult team below -
Mark Millar (as reported by COMICBOOKRESOURCES) -
If there's one comic creator known for marrying high concepts with heavy promotion, it's Mark Millar. Over the past several years, the writer has found creator-owned success with his "Millarworld" line of comics, each expanding a bite-sized action premise into a A-list comics collaboration. And at this weekend's inaugural Kapow! Comic Con in London, Millar announced plans to add four more titles to a list of comics that already includes names like "Wanted," "Kick-Ass" and "Nemesis."
"There are four new Millarworld books I'm planning on writing over the next year. I've actually written some of them already, and others I'll be writing over the next few months," Millar told CBR in an exclusive first interview on his upcoming slate of books. "The first is a spinoff from 'Kick-Ass,' and it's called 'Hit Girl.' It's going to be drawn by a guy named Leandro Fernandez. He's an amazing artist, and he kind of works in a style similar to Eduardo Risso. So this is Hit Girl in her own ongoing book because I found that as I was writing the 'Kick-Ass' comic, Hit Girl would almost take it over because she was so much fun to write. When I was writing 'Kick-Ass 2' I found myself just desperate to write Hit Girl, but I had to force myself to give Kick-Ass as many scenes as possible because it was his book. So since I had so many ideas for Hit Girl that I couldn't fit into one book, so I've just spun it off into a solo title. It made perfect sense. Everyone coming out of the movie or reading the comic just wanted more Hit Girl, so you needed more stories of her. The first issue of that will be out in September from Icon."
And pint-sized assassin Mindy McCready won't be the only Millarworld title to hit this fall. "There's also a book called 'Super Crooks,'" the writer explained. "I've always loved supervillains, and I had an idea to do a trilogy of supervillain projects. The first one was 'Wanted,' which was all about a guy becoming a bad guy and then becoming a bad ass. The second was 'Nemesis,' which was my evil version of Batman. And I've always wanted to do a heist story with supervillains. So 'Super Crooks' is a thing I'm doing with Leinil Francis Yu at the end of the year.
"The idea behind it is that a bunch of supervillains get together and say, 'You know what, we keep getting beat by the superheroes. We always end up in prison. This is terrible no matter what we try to do. Let's go to a country where they don't have any superheroes, and then we can kick ass.' So they leave America and head over to Europe where there are no superheroes, and it's like 'Ocean's Eleven' meets the 'X-Men' where seven supervillains head to Europe to pull the biggest job of their career where there are no supervillains to stop them. So it's a fun heist story."
Millar also followed up on the expected news of his collaboration with artist Dave Gibbons. The comic is in progress and set to be released towards the end of the year, however plans for a full announcement of the title and premise have had to wait while some legal hurdles are cleared. "Dave and I have been working on a book together for a little while. It's funny because now that's the one project I'm a little unsure of talking about in advance. We have to get a trademark issue resolved before we can announce the title of the book, because we want to make sure we can call it what we want. We've got the first issue's cover and some interior art ready to show, but we can't do it until we know that we can call the book the title."
Also on the mystery front is an expansive new project with one of the writer's former collaborators. "Frank Quitely and I are doing a new project – a huge, 12-issue superhero epic for Image," Millar said. "We're not giving all the details yet because it's not coming out until around January [2012.] It's going to be a massive, massive series – probably the most ambitious thing I've ever tried. Frank Quitely's a guy who you don't always get to work with. He's not just an average artist, so it should be something special when you work with him, and it's been ten years since he and I worked together. So I wanted to give him something really, really good. I created this thing that was a huge superhero epic with a mythology as rich as 'Lord or The Rings' or 'Star Wars' but along the lines of 'Crisis On Infinite Earths.' It's a whole cast of 100 characters in a big epic together. It'll be like a Marvel or DC summer event but with new characters and with the gloves off. All the things you can't do in Marvel and DC books, we'll be able to do.
"This is our magnum opus, this big superhero book. We won't announce the title until San Diego."
COMICS ARE A WAY OF LIFE SO KEEP LIVING THE DREAM