Eisner Award Nominees 2014

San Diego Comic Con International (or simply Comic Con, it’s often assumed you’re talking about ‘the’ Comic Con) is happening at the end of this month (July) and that means it’s time for the Eisner Awards!  Named for legendary writer/artist Will Eisner, recognizing artists, letterers, writers, and retailers for their contribution to the comics medium and culture.

Here are the nominees, generously lifted from the Comic Con website:

Best Short Story

• “Go Owls,” by Adrian Tomine, in Optic Nerve #13 (Drawn & Quarterly)
• “Mars to Stay,” by Brett Lewis and Cliff Chiang, in Witching Hour (DC)
• “Seaside Home,” by Josh Simmons, in Habit #1 (Oily)
• “Untitled,” by Gilbert Hernandez, in Love and Rockets: New Stories #6 (Fantagraphics)
• “When Your House Is Burning Down, You Should Brush Your Teeth,” by Matthew Inman, theoatmeal.com/comics/house

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

• Demeter, by Becky Cloonan (self-published)
• Hawkeye #11: “Pizza Is My Business,” by Matt Fraction and David Aja (Marvel)
• Love and Rockets: New Stories #6, by Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
• Viewotron #2, by Sam Sharpe (self-published)
• Watson and Holmes #6, by Brandon Easton, and N. Steven Harris (New Paradigm Studios)

Best Continuing Series

• East of West, by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta (Image)
• Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction and David Aja (Marvel)
• Nowhere Men, by Eric Stephenson and Nate Bellegarde (Image)
• Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
• Sex Criminals, by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky (Image)

Best Limited Series

• The Black Beetle: No Way Out, by Francesco Francavilla (Dark Horse)
• Colder, by Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra (Dark Horse)
• 47 Ronin, by Mike Richardson and Stan Sakai (Dark Horse)
• Trillium, by Jeff Lemire (Vertigo/DC)
• The Wake, by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy (Vertigo/DC)

Best New Series

• High Crimes, by Christopher Sebela and Ibrahim Moustafa (Monkeybrain)
• Lazarus, by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark (Image)
• Rat Queens, by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch (Image/Shadowline)
• Sex Criminals, by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky (Image)
• Watson and Holmes, by Karl Bollers, Rick Leonardi, Paul Mendoza et al. (New Paradigm Studios)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)

• Benjamin Bear in Bright Ideas, by Philippe Coudray (TOON Books)
• The Big Wet Balloon, by Liniers (TOON Books)
• Itty Bitty Hellboy, by Art Baltazar and Franco (Dark Horse)
• Odd Duck, by Cecil Castellucci and Sara Varon  (First Second)
• Otto’s Backwards Day, by Frank Cammuso (with Jay Lynch) (TOON Books)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)

• The Adventures of Superhero Girl, by Faith Erin Hicks (Dark Horse)
• Hilda and the Bird Parade, by Luke Pearson (Nobrow)
• Jane, the Fox, and Me, by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault (Groundwood)
• The Lost Boy, by Greg Ruth (Graphix/Scholastic)
• Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, vol. 2, edited by David Petersen, Paul Morrissey, and Rebecca Taylor (Archaia/BOOM!)
• Star Wars: Jedi Academy, by Jeffrey Brown (Scholastic)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

• Battling Boy, by Paul Pope (First Second)
• Bluffton: My Summers with Buster, by Matt Phelan (Candlewick)
• Boxers and Saints, by Gene Luen Yang (First Second)
• Dogs of War, by Sheila Keenan and Nathan Fox (Graphix/Scholastic)
• March (Book One), by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf)
• Templar, by Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham, and Alex Puviland (First Second)

Best Humor Publication

• The Adventures of Superhero Girl, by Faith Erin Hicks (Dark Horse)
• The Complete Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes and Rob Davis (SelfMadeHero)
• The (True!) History of Art, by Sylvain Coissard and Alexis Lemoine (SelfMadeHero)
• Vader’s Little Princess, by Jeffrey Brown (Chronicle)
• You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Anthology

• Dark Horse Presents, edited by Mike Richardson (Dark Horse)
• Nobrow #8: Hysteria, edited by Sam Arthur and Alex Spiro (Nobrow)
• Outlaw Territory, edited by Michael Woods (Image)
• Smoke Signal, edited by Gabe Fowler (Desert Island)
• The Thrilling Adventure Hour, by Ben Acker, Ben Blacker et al., edited by Joe LeFavi(Archaia/BOOM!)

Best Digital/Webcomic

• As the Crow Flies, by Melanie Gillman, www.melaniegillman.com
• Failing Sky, by Dax Tran-Caffee, failingsky.com
• High Crimes, by Christopher Sebela and Ibrahim Moustafa (Monkeybrain), www.monkeybraincomics.com/titles/high-crimes/
• The Last Mechanical Monster, by Brian Fies, lastmechanicalmonster.blogspot.com
• The Oatmeal by Matthew Inman, theoatmeal.com

Best Reality-Based Work

• A Bag of Marbles, by Joseph Joffo, Kris, and Vincent Bailly (Graphic Universe/Lerner)
• The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story, by Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, and Kyle Baker (M Press/Dark Horse)
• Hip Hop Family Tree, vol. 1, by Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)
• March (Book One), by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf)
• Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life, by Ulli Lust (Fantagraphics)
• Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story, by Peter Bagge (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—New

• Bluffton: My Summers with Buster, by Matt Phelan (Candlewick)
• The Encyclopedia of Early Earth, by Isabel Greenberg (Little, Brown)
• Good Dog, by Graham Chaffee (Fantagraphics)
• Homesick by Jason Walz (Tinto Press)
• The Property, by Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)
• War Brothers, by Sharon McKay and Daniel LaFrance (Annick Press)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

• The Castle, by Franz Kafka, adapted by David Zane Mairowitz and Jaromír 99 (SelfMadeHero)
• The Complete Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, adapted by by Rob Davis (SelfMadeHero)
• Django Unchained, adapted by Quentin Tarantino, Reginald Hudlin, R. M. Guéra et al. (DC/Vertigo)
• Richard Stark’s Parker: Slayground, by Donald Westlake, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
• The Strange Tale of Panorama Island, by Edogawa Rampo, adapted by Suehiro Maruo  (Last Gasp)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

• The Creep, by John Arcudi and Jonathan Case (Dark Horse)
• Hand-Drying in America and Other Stories, by Ben Katchor (Pantheon)
• Heck, by Zander Cannon (Top Shelf)
• Julio’s Day, by Gilbert Hernandez  (Fantagraphics)
• RASL, by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)
• Solo: The Deluxe Edition, edited by Mark Chiarello (DC)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

• Barnaby, vol. 1, by Crockett Johnson, edited by Philip Nel and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
• Percy Crosby’s Skippy Daily Comics, vol. 2: 1928–1930, edited by Jared Gardner and Dean Mullaney (LOAC/IDW)
• Prince Valiant vols. 6-7, by Hal Foster, edited by Kim Thompson (Fantagraphics)
• Society Is Nix: Gleeful Anarchy at the Dawn of the American Comic Strip, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press)
• Tarzan: The Complete Russ Manning Newspaper Strips, vol. 1, edited by Dean Mullaney (LOAC/IDW)
• VIP: The Mad World of Virgil Partch, edited by Jonathan Barli (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

• Best of EC Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
• Canteen Kate, by Matt Baker (Canton Street Press)
• In the Days of the Mob, by Jack Kirby (DC)
• MAD Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
• Will Eisner’s The Spirit Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

• Adventures of a Japanese Businessman, by Jose Domingo (Nobrow)
• Goddam This War! by Jacques Tardi and Jean-Pierre Verney (Fantagraphics)
• Incidents in the Night, Book One, by David B. (Uncivilized Books)
• Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life, by Ulli Lust (Fantagraphics)
• When David Lost His Voice, by Judith Vanistendael (SelfMadeHero)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

• The Heart of Thomas, by Moto Hagio (Fantagraphics)
• The Mysterious Underground Men, by Osamu Tezuka (PictureBox)
• Showa: A History of Japan, 1926–1939, by Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Summit of the Gods, vol. 4, by Yemmakura Baku and Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist, by Asumiko Nakamura (Vertical)

Best Writer

• Kelly Sue DeConnick, Pretty Deadly (Image); Captain Marvel (Marvel)
• Matt Fraction, Sex Criminals (Image); Hawkeye, Fantastic Four, FF (Marvel)
• Jonathan Hickman, East of West, The Manhattan Projects (Image); Avengers, Infinity (Marvel)
• Scott Snyder, Batman (DC); American Vampire, The Wake (DC/Vertigo)
• Eric Stephenson, Nowhere Men (Image)
• Brian K. Vaughan, Saga (Image)

Best Writer/Artist

• Isabel Greenberg, The Encyclopedia of Early Earth (Little, Brown)
• Jaime Hernandez, Love and Rockets New Stories #6 (Fantagraphics)
• Terry Moore, Rachel Rising (Abstract Studio)
• Luke Pearson, Hilda and the Bird Parade (Nobrow)
• Matt Phelan, Bluffton: My Summers with Buster (Candlewick)
• Judith Vanistendael, When David Lost His Voice (SelfMadeHero)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

• Nate Bellegarde, Nowhere Men (Image)
• Nick Dragotta, East of West (Image)
• Sean Murphy, The Wake (DC/Vertigo)
• Nate Powell, March (Book One) (Top Shelf)
• Emma Ríos, Pretty Deadly (Image)
• Thomas Yeates, Law of the Desert Born: A Graphic Novel (Bantam)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

• Andrew C. Robinson, The Fifth Beatle (Dark Horse)
• Sonia Sanchéz, Here I Am (Capstone)
• Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
• Ive Svorcina, Thor (Marvel)
• Marguerite Van Cook, 7 Miles a Second (Fantagraphics)
• Judith Vanistendael, When David Lost His Voice (SelfMadeHero)

Best Cover Artist

• David Aja, Hawkeye (Marvel)
• Mike Del Mundo, X-Men Legacy (Marvel)
• Sean Murphy/Jordie Belaire, The Wake (DC/Vertigo)
• Emma Ríos, Pretty Deadly (Image)
• Chris Samnee, Daredevil (Marvel)
• Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)

Best Coloring

• Jordie Bellaire, The Manhattan Projects, Nowhere Men, Pretty Deadly, Zero (Image); The Massive (Dark Horse); Tom Strong (DC); X-Files Season 10  (IDW); Captain Marvel, Journey into Mystery (Marvel); Numbercruncher (Titan); Quantum and Woody (Valiant)
• Steve Hamaker, Mylo Xyloto (Bongo), Strangers in Paradise 20th Anniversary Issue 1 (Abstract Studio), RASL (Cartoon Books)
• Matt Hollingsworth, Hawkeye, Daredevil: End of Days (Marvel); The Wake (DC/Vertigo)
• Frank Martin, East of West (Image)
• Dave Stewart, Abe Sapien, Baltimore: The Infernal Train, BPRD: Hell on Earth, Conan the Barbarian, Hellboy in Hell, The Massive, The Shaolin Cowboy, Sledgehammer 44 (Dark Horse)

Best Lettering

• Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: Slayground (IDW)
• Carla Speed McNeil, Bad Houses; “Finder” in Dark Horse Presents (Dark Horse)
• Terry Moore, Rachel Rising (Abstract Studio)
• Ed Piskor, Hip Hop Family Tree (Fantagraphics)
• Britt Wilson, Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake (KaBOOM!/BOOM!)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

• Comic Book Resources, produced by Jonah Weiland, www.comicbookresources.com
• The Comics Journal #302, edited by Gary Groth and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• Comics and Cola, by Zainab Akhtar, www.comicsandcola.com
• Multiversity Comics, edited by Matthew Meylikhov, www.multiversitycomics.com
• tcj.com, edited by Dan Nadel and Timothy Hodler (Fantagrapahics), www.tcj.com

Best Comics-Related Book

• Al Capp: A Life to the Contrary, by Michael Schumacher and Denis Kitchen (Bloomsbury)
• The Art of Rube Goldberg, selected by Jennifer George (Abrams ComicArts)
• Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps, by Art Spiegelman (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth,  by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell (LOAC/IDW)
• The Love and Rockets Companion, edited by Marc Sobel and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)

Best Scholarly/Academic Work

• Anti-Foreign Imagery in American Pulps and Comic Books, 1920–1960, by Nathan Vernon Madison (McFarland)
• Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation, edited by Sheena C. Howard and Ronald L. Jackson II (Bloomsbury)
• Drawing from Life: Memory and Subjectivity in Comic Art, edited by Jane Tolmie (University Press of Mississippi)
• International Journal of Comic Art, edited by John A. Lent
• The Superhero Reader, edited by Charles Hatfield, Jeet Heer, and Kent Worcester (University Press of Mississippi)

Best Publication Design

• The Art of Rube Goldberg, designed by Chad W. Beckerman and Sara Corbett (Abrams ComicArts)
• Beta Testing the Apocalypse, designed by Tom Kaczynski (Fantagraphics)
• Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth, designed by Dean Mullaney (LOAC/IDW)
• The Great War: July 1, 1916: The First Day of the Battle of the Somme: A Panorama, by Joe Sacco, designed by Chin-Yee Lai (Norton)
• Little Tommy Lost, Book 1, designed by Cole Closser (Koyama)

– See more at: http://www.comic-con.org/awards/will-eisner-comic-industry-award-nominees-2014#sthash.eWXnnRf5.dpuf

Banned (Comic) Book Week

In honor of Banned Book Week (Sep 22-28), I thought it might be interesting to see how far comics have come from the wild west of first half the 20th century to the the terror of the Comic Code Authority in the 50’s which took another 50 years to be abandoned. Shortly thereafter, a non-profit organization was set up by professionals from the comics industry to protect creators’ First Amendment rights, the aptly-named, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. While great strides have been made in comics, as in book publishing, one must be ever-vigilant to protect art from people or vice-versa. Here’s a link to a list from the CBLDF’s website for Banned Book Week last year: http://cbldf.org/2012/09/banned-and-challenged-comics-revealed/

Rather discouraging is the inclusion of Maus being banned from a Pasadena public library and Bone from a school district in Minnesota.

5 Wolverine Books You Should Read

Wolverine.
Really what else needs to be said.
With a new film centered around his famous journey to Japan, we’ve got 5 other recommendations (some classic, some new) if you’d like to read more about this mutant Canuck.

Interested in reading Wolverine’s saga chronologically? Here’s a great article that can get you started on that daunting task.
Collecting Wolverine

5 Wolverine Books You Should Read

BTW these are available at the SLCPL, along with many more, in the graphic novel section under Graphic Novel Wolverine & Graphic Novel X-Men.

Superior and The Man of Steel

With Man of Steel coming out this month, it seemed appropriate to re-visit the graphic novel Superior by the inimitable Mark Millar.

This is a nice send up of Superman, more specifically how superheroes and Superman in particular have shaped American culture and identity. Superior, like Superman represents the idealized American: he stops crime, he saves people, he fixes all of the world’s problems, and he does it without killing people. This is particularly poignant given the 21st Century backdrop–would Americans be satisfied with Al Queda being captured by a superhero and sent to maximum security prisons? While Superman and (presumably) Superior are Americans, they’re adopted Eathlings, they represent the best of humanity (at least from a Western perspective).

This begs the question: what are we to expect from the Christopher Nolan/Zack Snyder Man of Steel?  They’re clearly trying to re-invent Superman for a modern audience while trying to stay true to his core principles: Truth, Justice, the American Way.

Link

2013 has been a pretty impressive year for graphic novels thus far. Here’s some of the great books that have come out already and some coming out later in the year.

The new Sandman story has me pretty excited, a promising science-fiction love story by Jeff Lemire of Sweet Tooth and Essex County fame, and 2 new books from artist Frank Quitely.

We’re going to be getting some of these title later in the year, we do have Relish to check out here: http://slcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1995578059_relish

For synopses of the above mentioned graphic novels and the full list of the “Most Anticipated Graphic Novels of 2013” go here: Graphic Novel Summer Reading

Graphic Novel Re-Read: Blankets by Craig Thompson

I recently picked up and re-read Craig Thompson’s memoir opus Blankets one evening.  At 600 pages it’s a bit of a doorstop, however the pages flew by.  I had read it for the first time about 8 years ago, and felt that a re-read might yield a different reaction.  To be honest life events have not been so awesome in the last little while and I wasn’t sure whether this bitter sweet tale might rip open a new hole inside my soul.  Gratefully it didn’t.

This seminal autobiographical graphic novel is an incredibly apt choice for this time of year.  Obviously due to the fact that the key events of the story take place during winter time in Michigan and Wisconsin respectively.  (Seriously anyone who complains about winter time here in the west should go to Michigan where they would laugh in your face…) However, also I think it’s because in winter-time we cocoon ourselves in order to maintain any precious amount of heat that we can.  In Blankets I found that Thompson brings to the page the warmth of nostalgia when looking back on his romance with Raina.  You can almost feel it emanating from the page as you read.

Another storyteller might look upon this story with anger and bitterness but Craig takes a more agnostic approach. While he may not understand everything that happened in his childhood, he clearly believes that it has led him to become the man he is.  And that man isn’t perfect but he is content, no longer a searcher.  No longer restless or conflicted. There’s solace in that at least, especially in the cold hand that fate can often deal us.

This is but one aspect of this story, trust me I could go on for (web) pages, but I’ll just urge you to check it out.  It’s worth the heft.

Check it out here at the Salt Lake City Public Library.

5 Great Graphic Novels Released in 2012

As we near the end of the year here’s 5 Great Graphic Novels Released in 2012.

Of course they are all available for check out at the Salt Lake City Public Library.

For a link straight to the catalog just click on the pic above.

Uncanny X-Force: The Dark Angel Saga

I just finished Rick Remender‘s Uncanny X-Force:  The Dark Angel Saga and OMG its a wild ride!  I’m convinced this is the best thing to come out of Marvel in a long time. Seriously put down what ever you’re reading at the moment and give Uncanny X-Force a try.  Never before has Marvel assembled a more bad ass entertaining group of psychotic killers who do a very poor job disguising themselves as superheros.  I’m not saying anything else and chance spoiling it for you…I mean look!  Deathlok just went Ted Bundy on a bad guy!

Also just a heads up for X-Force fans, according to IGN, Marvel has plans to release two more X-Force series including a new Uncanny X-Force run by Sam Humphries and Ron Garney…

-Strange

Comic Re-Read: Astro City

Recently coming home from a trip I took the opportunity to re-read Astro City written by Kurt Busiek.  This is an original series, but the characters are clearly steeped in those comic archetypes that we all know and love.  It’s so apparent that Good Samiritan is based on Superman; Winged Victory a more feminist Wonder Woman.  These are not simply retreads though.  Each issue demonstrates a spin on these characters that brings a more human aspect to their existence.  Rather than go the Frank Miller route, Busiek chooses keep the series relatively light and hopeful.  This is also helped by the wonderful art of Alex Ross and Brent Anderson.  Personally, I like Ross’s use of poses and iconography to indicate the statuesque awe which these heroes are granted by the non-powered residents of the city that they protect.  I highly recommend checking this series out.

It is available for checkout at the SLCPL here.

Also check out other works by Kurt Busiek here.

Check out more of the work of Alex Ross here.

Darth Vader and Son

 

I love Jeffrey Brown.  Typically he’s known for writing angsty, relationship books about the women that he’s lost.  But lately he’s been changing it up a bit.  His book Darth Vader and Son started out as a web comic, written and drawn by Brown over the course of a year.  This comic is typically single panel and hilarious.  It works off the premise of Darth Vader as a single dad to a young Luke Skywalker. Their interactions serve as a reminder that we don’t always have to be so serious about our iconic characters.  The hardcover is a quick read but a wholesome delight that you can share with all ages.  Highly recommend.

Darth Vader and Son is available at the Salt Lake City Public Library here.

You can also find more of Jeffrey Brown’s delightful work here.