It’s official, Winter is dead, Spring is here, and Summer is closer than you think. You can measure that any way you like: temperature, blooming trees and flowers, craving iced tea instead of hot tea, your cold is replaced by your allergies. Sure, those methods are all good and well, but around here we measure the change of the seasons differently…by the awards nominations.
And the Granddaddy of my awards season has released its list of nominees. Oh yes, it’s Eisner Award time again!
You can keep your super-mega film awards and the who’s-hot-in-pop-music-this-year awards with their red carpets, fancy catered meals, double-mortgaged clothing and jewelry, and television broadcast rights. Give me the Eisner’s, where they keep it real and where, as we witnessed last year, newcomers can shine as brightly as legends.
Speaking of newcomers, they raked in the nominations. Looking through the list further we see another interesting development. Who has the most nominations? Dark Horse, that’s who. So get ready to make some room for the Equines of Anti-light at the podium**. Let’s take a look at those nominations and start investigating match-ups. There’s many selections on the ballot that’ll make this year’s awards muy-interesting!
It seems like no matter how hard I try, I never manage to read all the nominees over the course of a year. I get pulled in a thousand different directions when I enter a book or comics store, usually resulting in me walking out having purchased a John Irving novel, a Hellboy comic, a graphic novel by Jason, and one item that I've never heard of before but looked good in my stupor (this is how I found Atomic Robo last year and purchased the complete Bone earlier), and whatever interesting science fiction or speculative fiction novel I can get my hands on. I'm all over the place and my literary shoppers-A.D.D. has confounded checkout clerks and booksellers up and down the east coast.
So, while this means I read a wide breadth of both literary, genre, and comics stories over the course of a year, I'm not that tuned in to the buzz. I miss the big splashes until after they've been making waves (see the original Umbrella Academy). This is all to say, that I have come to treat the Eisner's as my own reading list.
Would I have picked up Amelia Rules without the Eisner's? No, I doubt that I would have. I'm not exactly in the target demographic. But in, uh, "researching" their nominated issue The Things I Cannot Change last year, I found something well-written and engaging.
This year might be ever-so-slightly different, though. Dark Horse, with it's 18 total nominations, is one of my favorite studios. Right up there with Vertigo (DC) and IDW. There's just something about their story selection, the way they find stuff that's just a little darker and a little odder than the rest of the mainstream studios. Mike Mignola's Hellboy is a particular favorite***. But, Mignola's Hellboy: The Crooked Man is competing with Joe Hill's Locke & Key, another engrossing dark read for Best Limited Series. How will I feel about one of those titles not being a winner?
Well, there's actually a chance for both Mignola and Hill to walk away with Eisner's as they're both nominated a couple of times. So I won't lose sleep over it.
Looking deeper in the list, we see that the literary houses and graphic novel publishers, like Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, and Pantheon, are becoming bigger players in the Eisner's as well. There are 38 such publishers on this year's list.
Oh, but enough from me. There's time enough for pontificating later. Want the full list? I hope you're ready. And just in case you're wondering, yes, this is all required reading before the awards (that way you'll know who to root for)...
Best Short Story
• "Actual Size" by Chris Ware, in Kramers Ergot 7 (Buenaventura Press)
• "Chechen War, Chechen Women," by Joe Sacco, in I Live Here (Pantheon)
• "Freaks," by Laura Park, in Superior Showcase #3 (AdHouse)
• "Glenn Ganges in 'Pulverize,'" by Kevin Huizenga, in Ganges #2 (Fantagraphics)
• "Murder He Wrote," by Ian Boothby, Nina Matsumoto, and Andrew Pepoy, in The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror #14 (Bongo)
Best Continuing Series
• All Star Superman. by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)
• Fables, by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Niko Henrichon, Andrew Pepoy, and Peter Gross (Vertigo/DC)
• Naoki Urasawa's Monster, by Naoki Urasawa (Viz)
• Thor, by J. Michael Straczynski, Olivier Coipel, Mark Morales, and various (Marvel)
• Usagi Yojimbo, by Stan Sakai (Dark Horse)
Best Limited Series
• Groo: Hell on Earth, by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier (Dark Horse)
• Hellboy: The Crooked Man, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)
• Locke & Key, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
• Omega the Unknown, by Jonathan Lethem, Karl Rusnak, and Farel Dalrymple (Marvel)
• The Twelve, by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston (Marvel)
Best New Series
• Air, by. G. Willow Wilson and M. K. Perker (Vertigo/DC)
• Echo, by Terry Moore (Abstract Studio)
• Invincible Iron Man, by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca (Marvel)
• Madame Xanadu, by Matt Wagner, Amy Reeder Hadley, and Richard Friend (Vertigo/DC)
• Unknown Soldier, by Joshua Dysart and Alberto Ponticelli (Vertigo/DC)
Best Publication for Kids
• Amulet, Book 1: The Stonekeeper, by Kazu Kabuishi (Scholastic Graphix)
• Cowa! by Akira Toriyama (Viz)
• Princess at Midnight, by Andi Watson (Image)
• Stinky, by Eleanor Davis (RAW Junior)
• Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)
Best Publication for Teens/Tweens
• Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, adapted by P. Craig Russell (HarperCollins Children's Books)
• Crogan's Vengeance, by Chris Schweizer (Oni)
• The Good Neighbors, Book 1: Kin, by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh (Scholastic Graphix)
• Rapunzel's Revenge, by Shannon and Dean Hale and Nathan Hale (Bloomsbury Children's Books)
• Skim, by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood Books)
Best Humor Publication
• Arsenic Lullaby Pulp Edition No. Zero, by Douglas Paszkiewicz (Arsenic Lullaby)
• Chumble Spuzz, by Ethan Nicolle (SLG)
• Herbie Archives, by "Shane O'Shea" (Richard E. Hughes) and Ogden Whitney (Dark Horse)
• Petey and Pussy, by John Kerschbaum (Fantagraphics)
• Wondermark: Beards of Our Forefathers, by David Malki (Dark Horse)
Best Anthology
• An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories, vol. 2, edited by Ivan Brunetti (Yale University Press)
• Best American Comics 2008, edited by Lynda Barry (Houghton Mifflin)
• Comic Book Tattoo: Narrative Art Inspired by the Lyrics and Music of Tori Amos, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Image)
• Kramers Ergot 7, edited by Sammy Harkham (Buenaventura Press)
• MySpace Dark Horse Presents, edited by Scott Allie and Sierra Hahn (Dark Horse)
Best Digital Comic
• Bodyworld, by Dash Shaw, www.dashshaw.com
• Finder, by Carla Speed McNeil, www.shadowlinecomics.com/webcomics/#/finder/
• The Lady's Murder, by Eliza Frye, theladysmurder.elizafrye.com
• Speak No Evil, by Elan Trinidad, www.theoryofeverythingcomics.com/SNE/ | Mirror Site
• Vs. by Alexis Sottile & Joe Infurnari, www.smithmag.net/nextdoorneighbor/2008/12/08/story-18/
Best Reality-Based Work
• Alan's War, by Emmanuel Guibert (First Second)
• Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story, by Frederik Peeters (Houghton Mifflin)
• Fishtown, by Kevin Colden (IDW)
• A Treasury of XXth Century Murder: The Lindbergh Child, by Rick Geary (NBM)
• What It Is, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Graphic Album--New
• Alan's War, by Emmanuel Guibert (First Second)
• Paul Goes Fishing, by Michel Rabagliati (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Skim, by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood Books)
• Swallow Me Whole, by Nate Powell (Top Shelf)
• Three Shadows, by Cyril Pedrosa (First Second)
Best Graphic Album--Reprint
• Berlin Book 2: City of Smoke, by Jason Lutes (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Hellboy Library Edition, vols. 1 and 2, by Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)
• Sam & Max Surfin' the Highway anniversary edition HC, by Steve Purcell (Telltale Games)
• Skyscrapers of the Midwest, by Joshua W. Cotter (AdHouse)
• The Umbrella Academy, vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite deluxe edition, by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá (Dark Horse)
Best Archival Collection/Project--Strips
• The Complete Little Orphan Annie, by Harold Gray (IDW)
• Explainers, by Jules Feiffer (Fantagraphics)
• Little Nemo in Slumberland, Many More Splendid Sundays, by Winsor McCay (Sunday Press Books)
• Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles, (IDW)
• Willie & Joe, by Bill Mauldin (Fantagraphics)
Best Archival Collection/Project--Comic Books
• Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*! by Art Spiegelman (Pantheon)
• Creepy Archives, by various (Dark Horse)
• Elektra Omnibus, by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz (Marvel)
• Good-Bye, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Herbie Archives, by "Shane O'Shea" (Richard E. Hughes) and Ogden Whitney (Dark Horse)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
• Alan's War, by Emmanuel Guibert (First Second)
• Gus and His Gang, by Chris Blain (First Second)
• The Last Musketeer, by Jason (Fantagraphics)
• The Rabbi's Cat 2, by Joann Sfar (Pantheon)
• Tamara Drewe, by Posy Simmonds (Mariner/Houghton Mifflin)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material--Japan
• Cat Eyed Boy, by Kazuo Umezu (Viz)
• Dororo, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)
• Naoki Urasawa's Monster, by Naoki Urasawa (Viz)
• The Quest for the Missing Girl, by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• Solanin, by Inio Asano (Viz)
Best Writer
• Joe Hill, Lock & Key (IDW)
• J. Michael Straczynski, Thor, The Twelve (Marvel)
• Mariko Tamaki, Skim (Groundwood Books)
• Matt Wagner, Zorro (Dynamite); Madame Xanadu (Vertigo/DC)
• Bill Willingham, Fables, House of Mystery (Vertigo/DC)
Best Writer/Artist
• Ricky Geary, A Treasury of XXth Century Murder: The Lindbergh Child (NBM); J. Edgar Hoover (Hill & Wang)
• Emmanuel Guibert, Alan's War (First Second)
• Jason Lutes, Berlin (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Cyril Pedrosa, Three Shadows (First Second)
• Nate Powell, Swallow Me Whole (Top Shelf)
• Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library (Acme)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
• Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse)
• Mark Buckingham/Steve Leialoha, Fables (Vertigo/DC)
• Olivier Coipel/Mark Morales, Thor (Marvel)
• Guy Davis, BPRD (Dark Horse)
• Amy Reeder Hadley/Richard Friend, Madame Xanadu (Vertigo/DC)
• Jillian Tamaki, Skim (Groundwood Books)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist
• Lynda Barry, What It Is (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Eddie Campbell, The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard (First Second)
• Enrico Casarosa, The Venice Chronicles (Ateliér Fio/AdHouse)
• Scott Morse, Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! (Red Window)
• Jill Thompson, Magic Trixie, Magic Trixie Sleeps Over (HarperCollins Children's Books)
Best Cover Artist
• Gabriel Bá, Casanova (Image); The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse)
• Jo Chen, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity (Dark Horse); Runaways (Marvel)
• Amy Reeder Hadley, Madame Xanadu (Vertigo/DC)
• James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse)
• Matt Wagner, Zorro (Dynamite); Grendel: Behold the Devil (Dark Horse)
Best Coloring
• Steve Hamaker, Bone: Ghost Circles, Bone: Treasure Hunters (Scholastic Graphix)
• Trish Mulvihill, Joker (DC), 100 Bullets (Vertigo/DC)
• Val Staples, Criminal, Incognito (Marvel Icon)
• Dave Stewart, Abe Sapien: The Drowning, BPRD, The Goon, Hellboy, Solomon Kane, The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse); Body Bags (Image); Captain America: White (Marvel)
• Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #19 (Acme)
Best Lettering
• Farel Dalrymple, Omega: The Unknown (Marvel)
• Jimmy Gownley, Amelia Rules! (Renaissance)
• Scott Morse, Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! (Red Window)
• Nate Powell, Swallow Me Whole (Top Shelf)
• Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #19 (Acme)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
• Comic Book Resources, produced by Jonah Weiland (www.comicbookresources.com)
• The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean, and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• The Comics Reporter, produced by Tom Spurgeon and Jordan Raphael (www.comicsreporter.com)
• Comics Comics, edited by Timothy Hodler and Dan Nadel (www.comicscomicsmag.com) (PictureBox)
Best Comics-Related Book
• Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front, by Todd DePastino (Norton)
• Brush with Passion: The Art and Life of Dave Stevens, edited by Arnie and Cathy Fenner (Underwood)
• Drawing Words and Writing Pictures, by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden (First Second)
• Kirby: King of Comics, by Mark Evanier (Abrams)
• The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America, by David Hajdu (Picador/Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Best Publication Design
• Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*! designed by Art Spiegelman (Pantheon)
• Comic Book Tattoo, designed by Tom Muller, art direction by Rantz Hoseley (Image)
• Hellboy Library Editions, designed by Cary Grazzini and Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)
• What It Is, designed by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Willie and Joe, designed by Jacob Covey (Fantagraphics)
*Genre fans know that the Nebula and Hugo awards were also announced recently.
**And perhaps on your computer as well...
***If you have only seen the movies and never picked up the comics, then I'm urging you to seek out a printed Hellboy story. Not that I'm not a fan of the films (I am), but the real Hellboy experience - the atmosphere and unblinking storylines - can be found on the printed page. Get a taste here.
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