We’ve been hard at work since we touched down, when not missing the superior coffee of the continent and contemplating what kind of laptop to buy. Meanwhile we just got an advance of Beat Pal Douglas Wolk’s new tome, Reading Comics, which we’re looking forward to sitting down with once things calm down a little. The book comes out in July and is likely to cement Wolk’s rep as one of the premier critics in comics.
By Paul O’Brien
CIVIL WAR is finally behind us - well, the miniseries, if not the event - and March saw Marvel moving on to its next phase. The big news of the month, of course, was CAPTAIN AMERICA #25, with the death of the title character. But March also had the debut of MIGHTY AVENGERS, along with several other “Initiative” titles. That banner covers several new titles (or existing ones with new status quos) arising from the fallout of CIVIL WAR. It isn’t a crossover, but there’s a genuine common theme among the books.
There’s also the “Back in Black” event in the Spider-Man books. There’s the second issue of DARK TOWER, a hugely important project for Marvel. And the sleeper hit MARVEL ZOMBIES returns in an intercompany crossover with Dynamite’s ARMY OF DARKNESS.
Yet again, Marvel was the biggest publisher in the direct market. They led DC by 43% to 31% in dollar share, and 46% to 35% in unit share. Now, let’s keep this in perspective. DC’s one third share of the direct market isn’t exactly bad. And DC puts more faith than Marvel in imprints like Vertigo and CMX which aren’t oriented to the direct market, so the overall picture of the two companies may well be closer. But when it comes to the superhero genre, which is central to both companies and where they compete most closely, there’s no doubt that Marvel is dominant right now.
One common reading of DC’s predicament is that they failed to capitalise on the momentum generated by INFINITE CRISIS. Marvel is now entering the same phase with CIVIL WAR. Some argue that this means they’ll experience a similar downturn. There’s a degree of truth to that - but to my mind, DC’s problems are broader. And even in the “event aftermath” area, there’s plenty of scope for Marvel to learn from DC’s mistakes.
On a more prosaic level, March 2007 marks the fourth anniversary of the current chart format, so for the first time, we can do four-year comparisons. For those who don’t know, the current chart is based on actual sales to retailers in the North American direct market. The pre-2003 chart was based on pre-orders, which meant that re-orders didn’t count for the chart, and that issues charted in the month they were solicited for, even if they didn’t actually come out. Obviously this was very silly, which is why they changed it. The pre-2003 numbers given below should be approached with caution - although at the time, Marvel had a “no overprint” policy, so the re-order activity was very probably minimal.
I’ve also decided to put the full titles back into the tables, instead of just the issue numbers. This has the advantage of making it easier to tell various miniseries apart. Also, I just like it.
Thanks as always to Milton Griepp and ICV2 for permission to use their figures for these calculations.
1. CAPTAIN AMERICA
03/01 Captain America #41 - 37,059
03/02 —
03/03 Captain America #10 - 51,270
03/04 Captain America #24 - 39,168
03/05 Captain America #4 - 46,654
=====
03/06 Captain America #16 - 44,717 ( +3.2%)
04/06 Captain America #17 - 45,541 ( +1.8%)
05/06 Captain America #18 - 46,740 ( +2.6%)
06/06 Captain America #19 - 47,315 ( +1.2%)
07/06 Captain America #20 - 47,357 ( +0.1%)
08/06 —
09/06 Captain America #21 - 49,050 ( +3.6%)
09/06 Captain America #22 - 86,875 ( +77.1%)
10/06 Captain America #23 - 81,323 ( -6.4%)
11/06 Captain America #24 - 82,348 ( +1.3%)
12/06 —
01/07 —
02/07 —
03/07 Captain America #25 - 290,514 (+252.8%)
6 mnth (+234.4%)
1 year (+549.7%)
2 year (+522.7%)
3 year (+641.7%)
4 year (+466.6%)
CAPTAIN AMERICA #25 was delayed by three months because of the knock-on effect from CIVIL WAR’s scheduling problems. Surprisingly, issue #26 has also been pushed back into May. All this means that issue #25 will be the only issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA to hit the shelves over a five month period.
However, with sales like this, nobody’s going to be losing any sleep about it. Retailers complained that Marvel didn’t give them enough information about the story, but it’s hard to see how Marvel could have done so while still keeping the story secret. In any event, the number above includes the second printing, which shipped in the final week of March. It’s a massive figure, up there with CIVIL WAR itself.
Of course, nobody seriously expects CAPTAIN AMERICA to hold on to all these extra readers. But remember, the book’s benchmark before CIVIL WAR was around the mid-40K range. It’s got every chance of holding on to a big increase from that.
Ted Rall’s Maakies strip has finally been published..
There’s a long history here, but the short version is that Tony Millionaire and Ted Rall agreed to do versions of each others strips back in 2003, but Millionaire didn’t run Rall’s when planned. JIm Treacher’s blog has more coverage from the vaults.
A costume party gone wrong led to a a bad night for one Captain America, when a Palm Bay physician discovered liquor and a burrito in your tights don’t mix, especially when you keep trying to get women to “touch it.”
On Saturday night, when a costume party full of medical professionals stopped at On Tap Cafe, police said Adamcik had a burrito stuffed below the waistband of his costume and was asking women if they want to touch it. When one refused, he allegedly took out the burrito and groped her.
The woman called police and, when they arrived, the officers wrote in their report “there were so many cartoon characters in the bar at the time, all Captain America’s were asked to go outside for a possible identification.”
The woman pointed out Adamcik and the burrito was found in his boot. He was taken to the police station. There, while in a holding cell, police said, he asked to use the bathroom and tried to flush a joint, also hidden in his blue tights, down the toilet.
With Steve Rogers gone, is this really the kind of behavior we can look to from what was once am American idol?
Sad.
Here’s a story going around that strikes us as hiving quite a bit of interest. PIBGORN was one of United Media’s wwebcomics (yes they have them) by Brooke McEldowney, the creator of the popular 9 Chickweed Lane. Pibgorn was a lot more adventurous than the average newspaper strip, and it was recently cancelled, due to amicable disagreements over content. However, the strip will be reappearing — details are sketchy but apparently McEldowney will be relaunching in “a new online home”, which could mean its own website, or something else. it’s of interest to see an established (and successful) comic strip artist embracing the webcomic format — yet another example of the “reverse commute.”
The Comics Curmudgeon has the skinny from the cartoonist:
With United Media’s announcement that “Pibgorn” is to be discontinued, I have been inundated with e-mail, much of it agitated and distressed. I’m very sorry you had to get the news in this rather dispassionate way. That I may answer your central question forthwith, I’ve composed this response for everyone — so please forgive me if I seem impersonal.
“PIBGORN” WILL CONTINUE.
There. That is the main thing I wanted to say. Comics.com, however, will, as they have announced, no longer be the source. Nothing dramatic happened, really. I simply came to feel that the editorial needs of comics.com and those of “Pibgorn” were becoming more and more divergent and incompatible. For this reason I asked to be released from my contract with United Media in order to secure a new online home for “Pibgorn.” United Media most graciously, and reluctantly, agreed. In short order I hope to get Pib back up and flying.
Meanwhile, you have seen the most current installments of “Pibgorn.” Hold that thought. We’ll be back.
It’s true! Scientists have discovered a NEW mineral in the Serbian wilderness:
Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto discovered the unusual mineral and enlisted the help of Dr Stanley when they could not match it with anything known previously to science.
Once the London expert had unravelled the mineral’s chemical make-up, he was shocked to discover this formula was already referenced in literature - albeit fictional literature.
“Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral’s chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns.
“The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film) and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite.”
Sadly, the mineral cannot be called “Krptonite” since it has nothing to do with the existing mineral kypton. Instead it will be known as Jadarite. Scientists say the mineral does not glow and is harmless, but WE know better. Expect a parade of supervillains staging raids on the world’s only known deposits.
[Thanks to Maclaine and all who sent me the link.]
UPDATE: DC’s official PR in jump
(more…)
Some interesting stuff that we caught on our spin around the web:
§Brendan Burford named to replace the late Jay Kennedy:
Brendan Burford has been named comics editor of King Features Syndicate, effective immediately. The appointment comes about five weeks after the death of King Editor in Chief Jay Kennedy, whose duties included overseeing comics at the syndicate.
“Jay had planned for the inevitability of succession one day when he hired Brendan,” King President T.R. “Rocky” Shepard III said in a statement. “Brendan has worked side by side with Jay for the last seven years, and brings to his new position a broad knowledge of the comics and the cartoonists we represent as well as a deep love for the art form.”
Burford, who attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City, spent a year working as an editorial assistant at DC Comics before joining King in January 2000 as editorial assistant. He was later promoted to assistant editor and then associate editor.
§Vertical ramps up with books and staff:
Vertical will publish about 30 books in 2007 and expects to eventually publish around 60 books a year once the new imprint is fully operational. Most of the increase will be manga. Vertical titles are acquired by Mentzas and Vertical president Hiroki Sakai, who is based in Tokyo.
Among the house’s bestselling titles are The Cute Book, among a series of “Japanese cute” craft titles from Aranzi Aronzo, a duo that uses cartoons to guide the creation of stuffed dolls; a series of sudoku titles (Higher Sudoku and O’Ekaki: Paint by Sudoku); vol. 1 of Buddha by the late Osama Tezuka; and mystery/horror novelist Keji Suzuki’s The Ring. After working to recruit translators qualified to work on business and history titles—most translators prefer fiction, said Mentzas—Vertical branched into business nonfiction with The Honda Myth by Masaaki Sato and history with Nanami Shiono’s Mediterranean trilogy, a three-volume narrative history of 15th-century Europe.
All together now: KIMBA! KIMBA! KIMBA!!!! Did you know that Jungle Taiteihas never appeared in English? We’ve seen it in French, Spanish, Italian and God knows what else but NEVER ENGLISH. Come on, people!
§ Johanna notes that what appears to be a comics magazine rivalry is Peter Bagge’s gain:
In February, TwoMorrows announced that their new magazine, Comics Introspective, would launch in July with a focus on Peter Bagge. Today, Tom Spurgeon posted an interview with Jon B. Cooke in which he announced that his magazine, Comic Book Artist, would finally return in September (after a two-year hiatus) with a focus on Peter Bagge.
What an odd coincidence. It becomes even odder when you realize that TwoMorrows used to publish CBA until it bolted for Top Shelf. I don’t know that they’ve ever said why, formally, although (at a baseless guess) it might have had to do with Cooke’s increasing disregard for timeliness. In the interview, though, Cooke says the former partners are amiable.
§ Rich reports on a rather interesting author coming to comics, Native American novelist Sherman Alexie:
Sherman Alexie, author of “Smoke Signals,” “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” and “Flight,” who also wrote the introduction to Jason Lutes’ “Jar Of Fools,” has two projects at Marvel. One is a mini-series starring the Native American mutant inventor Forge, the other is a mature readers Daredevil MAX series.
Somethiong we’re sure to read: brian Hibbs account of the first ComicsPRO meeting for retailersheld recently in scenic Las Vegas:
Since we needed to have elections, we reasoned, maybe it would be better to do them face-to-face. There were also a number of policy items (like “what constitutes a consensus of members? Do we need a quorum on all issue, or just a majority? What kind of majority?” that kind of thing) which are useful to face-to-face on.
So we decided to find a cheap meeting space in a cheap-to-get-to-town, and hold the meeting, and see if anyone would show up. I’m honest about that last bit, too – in the earliest parts of planning this we were seriously thinking we’d be lucky if we had twenty or thirty people showed up… including us!
We ended up with more than sixty retailer attendees, plus more than a dozen publishing and distribution representatives.
Not too bad for a fairly ad-hoc, late-to-start-the-planning (for example we wanted to notify publishers no later than Thanksgiving ’06, and I don’t think we really got started until after the first of the year in ’07) first meeting!
Editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson added to her award shelf with the Overseas Press Club’s Thomas Nast Award for international cartooning:
Founded in 1939, the Overseas Press Club is an association of journalists working in the United States and abroad that works to strengthen the freedom and independence of journalists and the press throughout the world and to improve communication and understanding among people.
This is Signe’s third award from the club. She has also won the Pulitizer Prize.
Wait perhaps this is what that last photo refers to:
Quick Step has won the 2007 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics! I spent the night at the awe-inspiring Isotope Comics for the APE Aftermath Party where I accepted the award. Thank you so much to this year’s judges, and for all the new friends I made at the party.
Isotope is an amazing store, run by one of the hardest working retailers I’ve ever met, James Sime. If you are in San Francisco, definitely stop by the store; you won’t regret it!
We’re still checking out all the links at Tom’s APE memories page, but we wanted to spotlight a few links including Wizard’s (!!!) coverage:
The comics-loving city has a history of supporting independent and alternative funny books, from the ’60s heyday of the underground comix movement to the self-published graphic novels of today, and one of its most acclaimed traditions has been the annual Alternative Press Expo. The show once again landed in the Concourse Exhibition Center on Saturday and Sunday, but the festivities continued all over town. From the Friday night super-signing at Brian Hibbs’ Comix Experience with indie stars Bryan Lee O’Malley, Hope Larson, Kevin Huizenga and Gene Yang to Saturday’s celebration of the Fifth Annual Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics, Wizard Universe was there.
The above photo is from Wizard’s photo page and we dassn’t even guess what is happening in that picture.
The Daily Cross Hatch also has observations:
As I made my way around, I noticed that each person had their own style of selling themselves. Some were quite friendly and loquacious, some were serenely knitting geegaws, others all but tossed snickers bars at me, and one performed an impression of “Deer Bathed in Headlight.” I myself fared no better than some of the ones who were ill-at ease, so I decided that rather than asking too many scary questions about the product at hand, I would find out about the exciting discoveries they themselves made at the convention.
Aaaand, be cause they asked us to link, some photos from CNET News.com.
We can’t believe we missed the bulging crotch scandal!:
My pal Jake said to me, “I think there are two equally creepy options - 1. Ross intentionally, on his own accord, drew a big bulge in the guy’s pants or 2. The model Ross had for Citizen Steel had a big bulge, and Ross decided to paint it in.”
Based on our knowledge of Ross’s working method, he probably just left it in.
We’re back home, a little the worse for the wear but we still had some kick ass adventures. We’ll have some pictures and reports from the convention later today (maybe) a few catch-up items and resume FULL blogging duties tomorrow.
Before we go any further a BIG BIG shout out to Carles Santamaria, General Manager of Ficomic, and David Macho for the help, hospitality and friendship. The Salo de Comic is a huge show, now the second largest in Europe, and from what we saw, everyone seemed to be having a great time, from the guests to the fans. We made some new friends, same some amazing sights, got some great comics, and accomplished everything we hoped to.
One more thing before we get started:
Journalista!
Newsarama
Comics Reporter
Variety’s Bags and Boards
ComicMix
The Daily CrossHatch
The Very High Authority Group [A-List Bloggers]
(500 or more blogs linking in the last 6 months)
In the final group we see what might be considered the blogging elite. This group, which represents more than 4,000 blogs, exhibits a radical shift in post frequency as well as blog age. Bloggers of this type have been at it longer – a year and a half on average – and post nearly twice a day, an increase in posting volume of over 100% from the previous group. Many of the blogs in this category, in fact, are about as old as Technorati and we’ve grown up together. Some of these are full-fledge professional enterprises that post many, many times per day and behave increasingly like our friends in the mainstream media. As has been widely reported, the impact of these bloggers on our cultures and democracies is increasingly dramatic.
[Link via LucyAnne]
ALSO: More on the history of penises in comics.
After a dismal journey to the beach, we finally got to see the rest of the show today. We spotted a lone quartet of Stromtroopers, but only at a Spanish convention would one see a bunch of kids made up as the characters from Blacksad.
Today’s crowds are thinner than yesterday, but still respectable. We managed to cruise by a bunch of publishers’ booths. Time and mental function restraints prevent a full listing, but we’ll have a rundown on our observations when we’re back to regular computer access.
One thing to note: we came in here with only the vaguest notion of the history of Spanish comics. Thanks to the displays and exhibitions on view, we know a lot more about the various schools, regions and history, even with our limited Spanish. That’s something American conventions would do well to pick up on.
We’ve been hearing a bit about this book lately, and it sounds quite interesting: a kid’s book that blends fiction, art and movie stills in a form of “graphical storytelling.” PopMatters has a review:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, is a children’s novel weighing in at an intimidating 533 pages, but the reader brave enough to dive headlong into its pages will find a multi-layered text that consists of not only a delightfully written tale, but rich illustrations that take over the telling of the story at regular intervals. Selznick’s creation navigates the grey area between picture book and graphic novel in what certainly constitutes a visual and narrative achievement and a truly original work.
[snip] Selznick has a number of balls in the air with this project: juggling the textual narrative, sustaining a 500 page mystery, while integrating the illustrated narrative, and a number of allusions and inspirations from classic film and 1930s Paris. While the novel largely defies categorization, it closely resembles a silent film, and fittingly so. In addition to the novel’s rich illustrations, Selznick employs photos and movie stills to enhance his storytelling, and build a cinematic mood. In the tradition of graphic narrative (or sequential art, whatever your term of choice), the illustrations play as integral a role in the overall story as the text. The use of illustrations is hardly gratuitous, for the pictures quite literally take over and carry out the narrative when the text disappears. And, really, who would care if the illustrations were gratuitous? They’re gorgeous.
Suddenly Cosplay! Well they weren’t kidding about the crowds and the local kids dressed as their favorite manga characters. We don´t have time for a detailed report today — we’ve just returned from a hike around Montjuic and need to find some cafe con leche. We’re happy to report there have been no further¨”setbacks,” thus far.
We attended the awards ceremony last night, and took several pictures which we’ll eventually post. Our compatriots suggested that the Eisners would be much livelier if they featured an open bar, tapas tables, and well animated montages of the nominees set to The Clash and Oasis. Unfortunately, the livliness afforded by the open bar also added some excess chatter during the winners speeches, so it´s a big trade off. Prado won some kind of big award, as did the great Víctor de la Fuente. Max’s Bardin, Super Realist won a bunch of awards but we don’t know what for.
More later.
The battle over who gets to build the Harry Potter theme park has been raging, and Universal was the winner, defeating Disney. However, Disney Watcher Jim Hill explains that due to J.K. Rowling’s stringent demands, Disney may be just as glad.
So how’s about instead that I say that Ms. Rowling was reported to be very protective of her characters. More to the point, that she supposedly had some very definite ideas about what a theme park version of Harry Potter’s world should look like.
How so? Well, according to the folks that I’ve spoken with who worked on the Disney version of this project … J.K. allegedly wanted each & every guest who was experiencing the theme park version of Harry Potter’s world to do so by first entering the Leaky Cauldron pub. Where — by tapping on just the right brick (”Three up and two across … “) — they’d then gain access to Diagon Alley, that odd collection of Wizards-only shops & restaurants that’s hidden away in the heart of London.
Copyright 2001 Warner Bros.
From this area (Which was — at least in the stand-alone version of the proposed “Harry Potter” theme park — supposed to have been the equivalent of Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland. As in: That area that established the style & the tone of the theme park to follow. More importantly, Diagon Alley would have been where most of the guests purchased their souvenirs before exiting the park that night), these folks were then supposed to have made their way to Platform 9 & 3/4 at King’s Cross Station. Where — after magically piercing the barrier that separates the Muggle world from the Wizard world — guests would have then been able to board a full-sized version of the Hogwarts Express for a trip to Harry’s alma mater.
Which admittedly (on paper, anyway) sounds wonderful. But to the folks who actually run the Parks & Resorts side of things at the Walt Disney Company, what Rowling was reportedly asking for sounded unfeasible.
Much more in link.
Seonna Hong is a painter and Emmy Award winning animation background designer. She has an art show on in NYCnext week.
“Our Endless Numbered Days”
solo exhibition
April 27- May 26, 2007
*opening reception Friday April 27 6-8pm
Oliver Kamm/5BE Gallery
621 West 27th Street
New York, New York 10001
tel. 212-255-0979
fax 212-255-0228
www.5begallery.com
Just a brief report from our first European convention. Just as we’ve always heard, the crowd is respectful and youthful. Buses of school children are coming in to tour the exhibits of Juan Guarnido, Víctor de la Fuente, Asterix, and other spectacular artists. Yesterday the huge hall filled with exhibits of Planeta, Glenat, Astiberri and so on was very peaceful and the crowd was quite modest. Today the crowds are considerable, and navigating through the floor is as busy as a big con — and considering the aisles are twice as wide, that’s saying something. We hear some 80-90,000 people are expected, and the hall is big enough to handle that crowd. And the thing they seem to be here for is COMICS. There are some booths that sell cute t-shirts and a few toy booths, but mostly its comics comics comics. There are a couple of Wii demonstration booths and amazingly the girls were just standing around yesterday. (Today everything was a lot busier.)
We’ve also witnessed the European manga revolution first hand as tables are covered with Spanish editions of Naruto, One Piece, and so on and they are just as popular here as in the US. The manga revolution began about 10 years ago, and while it´s a mature market in Spain as in the rest of Europe, it hasn’t slowed any.
Despite the interest in American comics, manga and bande desinee, and the number of great Spanish artists, there isn’t much of a market for original Spanish comics. We’re still making enquiries as to why that is, as it seems very odd when comics, the form itself, seems to be quite popular.
There are many other comments we could make on how the audience here differs from an American con-going rowd but suffice to say — it’s all true,
More reports and photos eventually!
One of our favorite artists, Tomer Hanuka has opened a site so sell his art prints, and if we ever have any money again, we might just buy a few.
Running the PR as received:
After poring through the thousands of books, and comics submitted, a five-person blue-ribbon panel of judges have arrived at the 2007 nominees for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, considered the “Oscars” of the comic book industry. And they’ve come up with quite an eclectic mix.
The judges’ choices, in 29 categories, encompass the full spectrum of the comic artform, from new takes on the traditional superhero (Ed Brubaker’s Daredevil and Captain America for Marvel and Grant Morrison’s All Star Superman and Paul Pope’s Batman: Year 100 at DC) to experimental (Brian Chippendale’s Ninja graphic album, the Kramer’s Ergot anthology). The nominations also range from highly acclaimed graphic novels published by noncomics houses (Houghton Miifflin’s Fun Home, First Second’s American Born Chinese, Abrams’ Mom’s Cancer) to such relatively unknown small-press titles as Onion Head Monster Attacks, Truth Serum, and The Preposterous Adventures of Ironhide Tom.
No one creator or title dominates this year’s nominations. Creators with the most nominations (at four) are Brubaker, writer Bill Willingham (Vertigo/DC’s Fables and its spinoffs), and cartoonist Bob Burden. Burden’s version of Gumby with artist Rick Geary is up for three Eisners (including Best Writer), while his Flaming Carrot Comics is up for Best Humor Publication.
Perhaps the most noticeable trends in this year’s choices are many more female nominees and greater representation of manga.
Led by multiple nominations for Alison Bechdel (Fun Home), Renée French (The Ticking), and Tove Jansson (Moomin), female creators garnered more Eisner Awards nominations this year than in any previous year, with some 24 nominations for 20 creators. One of the female creators, 8-year-old Alexa Kitchen, is the youngest Eisner nominee ever; her Drawing Comics Is Easy (Except When It’s Hard) is up for Best Publication for a Younger Audience. At the other end of the age spectrum, octogenarian “good-girl” artist Lily Renée (Peters) Phillips is on the ballot in the Hall of Fame category. Some of the women on the ballot are past nominees and winners (Jill Thompson, Linda Medley, Melinda Gebbie, Ellen Forney, Becky Cloonan), but many are newcomers, including Gabrielle Bell, Hope Larson, Danica Novgorodoff, Lilli Carré, Svetlana Chmakova, and Lark Pien.
The growing presence of Japanese comics in American publishing is reflected in a new category created by the judges: Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan. Besides the five titles nominated there, manga works can be found in the archival category (Tezuka’s Ode to Kirohito, Tatsumi’s Abandon the Old in Tokyo) and in the nomination of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster for Best Continuing Series and Project X Challengers: Cup Noodle for Reality-Based Work.
The diversity of the nominations can also be seen in the publishers with the highest number of nominations: indie publisher Fantagraphics Books and venerable “mainstream” publisher DC Comics. Fantagraphics can claim 22 nominations (plus 1 shared), while DC and its various imprints have 18 along with 7 shared (in such categories as coloring, lettering, and cover art). Humor is a strong area for Fantagraphics, with multiple nominations going to Tony Millionaire’s Billy Hazelnuts, Michael Kupperman’s Tales Designed to Thrizzle, Ivan Brunetti’s Schizo, and Jason’s The Left Bank Gang, not to mention its repackaging of the early Popeye newspaper strips. Meanwhile, DC’s standout title is the Vertigo hardcover Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall, nominated in the short story, anthology, cover artist, and lettering categories, along with Best Writer for Willingham. Other DC books with multiple nominations are the regular Fables series, Pope’s Batman: Year 100, Darwyn Cooke’s Absolute DC: The New Frontier, Morrison’s All Star Superman, and WildStorm’s Ex Machina (for Penciller/Inker and Cover Artist).
Over 40 other publishers can boast of nominations this year. Marvel Comics had one of its best years ever with nine nominations and a share of two others. Brubaker’s titles (Captain America, Daredevil, and Criminal) account for five of the Marvel nods. Marvel’s forebears Stan and Jack are both on the ballot: Stan Lee in the short story category, and Jack Kirby in the archival category for the hardcover Eternals collection. Dark Horse can claim five nominations of its own and a share of five others; its two multiple nominees are Millionaire’s Sock Monkey: The Inches Incident and Ian Edginton and D’Israeili’s Scarlet Traces: The Great Game. Top Shelf’s seven nominations include three for French’s The Ticking and three for Lost Girls.
Image Comics, primarily courtesy of the Desperado imprint, has five nominations and one shared, while Drawn & Quarterly is close behind with five of its own (including Moomin). New Holtzbrinck imprint First Second scored four nominations (plus one shared), with two each going to Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese and Lewis Trondheim’s A.L.I.E.E.E.N. Also with four is Abrams, which published Brian Fies’s Mom’s Cancer as well as two highly lauded comics history projects: Dan Nadel’s Art out of Time and the Library of Congress Cartoon America.
Besides Houghton Mifflin, four publishers have three nominees each (AdHouse, Tokyopop, and Wildcard, which published Gumby), while a dozen publishers have two nominations each. A full list of the all the nominations is presented below.
This year’s judges made a few changes in the categories. In addition to splitting the Foreign Publication category into two in order to create a separate category for manga, they dropped the Best Serialized Story category, they reinstated the Best Humor Publication category, and they changed “Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition” to “Special Recognition.”
The 2007 Eisner judges are librarian Robin Brenner (Brookline, Massacusetts), pop culture blogger Whitney Matheson (Pop Candy at usatoday.com), comics writer Christopher P. Reilly (Punch & Judy), retailer James Sime (Isotope Comics, San Francisco), and fantasy author/critic Jeff VanderMeer (bookslut.com).
Ballots will be going out in May to comics creators, editors, publishers, and retailers. The results will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 27 in Ballroom 20 at the San Diego Convention Center.
Sponsors for the 19th annual Eisner Awards include mycomicshop.com (major sponsor); Century Guild, Comickaze Comics, Diamond Comic Distributors, and Imaginary Friends Studios (principal sponsors); and Alternate Reality, Atlantis Fantasyworld, Comic Relief–The Comic Bookstore, Comics Unlimited, Flying Colors, Isotope Comics, and Strange Adventure Comics (supporting sponsors).
The Eisner Awards are presented under the auspices of Comic-Con International, San Diego, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms. primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture. Jackie Estrada has been administrator of the Awards since 1990. She can be reached at jackiee@mindspring.com.
More information about the Eisner Awards can be found at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_main.shtml .
Nominees, 2007,Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Best Short Story
”The Black Knight Glorps Again,” by Don Rosa, in Uncle Scrooge #354 (Gemstone)
“Felix,” by Gabrielle Bell, in Drawn & Quarterly Showcase 4 (Drawn & Quarterly)
“A Frog’s Eye View,” by Bill Willingham and James Jean, in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
“Old Oak Trees,” by Tony Cliff, in Flight 3 (Ballantine)
“Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man,” by Stan Lee, Oliver Coipel, and Mark Morales, in Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man (Marvel)
“Willie: Portrait of a Groundskeeper,” by Eric Powell, in Bart Simpsons’s Treehouse of Horror #12 (Bongo)
Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Batman/The Spirit #1: “Crime Convention,” by Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke (DC)
A Late Freeze, by Danica Novgorodoff (Danica Novgorodoff)
The Preposterous Adventures of Ironhide Tom, by Joel Priddy (AdHouse)
Skyscrapers of the Midwest #3, by Joshua Cotter (AdHouse)
They Found the Car, by Gipi (Fantagraphics)
Best Continuing Series
All Star Superman, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)
Captain America, by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting (Marvel)
Daredevil, by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, and Stefano Gaudiano (Marvel)
Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, by Naoki Urasawa (Viz)
The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard (Image)
Young Avengers, by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, and various inkers (Marvel)
Best Limited Series
Batman: Year 100, by Paul Pope (DC)
The Looking Glass Wars: Hatter M, by Frank Beddor, Liz Cavalier, and Ben Templesmith (Desperado/Image)
The Other Side, by Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewart (Vertigo/DC)
Scarlet Traces: The Great Game, by Ian Edginton and D’Israeli (Dark Horse)
Sock Monkey: The Inches Incident, by Tony Millionaire (Dark Horse)
Best New Series
Criminal, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Marvel Icon)
East Coast Rising, by Becky Cloonan (Tokyopop)
Gumby, by Bob Burden and Rick Geary (Wildcard)
Jack of Fables, by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, Tony Akins, and Andrew Pepoy (Vertigo/DC)
The Lone Ranger, by Brett Matthews and Sergio Cariello (Dynamite)
Best Publication for a Younger Audience
Chickenhare, by Chris Grine (Dark Horse)
Drawing Comics Is Easy (Except When It’s Hard), by Alexa Kitchen (Denis Kitchen Publishing)
Gumby, by Bob Burden and Rick Geary (Wildcard)
Moomin, by Tove Jansson (Drawn & Quarterly)
To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel, by Sienna Cherson and Mark Siegel (Simon & Schuster)
Best Humor Publication
Flaming Carrot Comics, by Bob Burden (Desperado/Image)
Onionhead Monster Attacks, by Paul Friedrich (Hellcar)
Schizo #4, by Ivan Brunetti (Fantagraphics)
Tales Designed to Thrizzle, by Michael Kupperman (Fantagraphics)
Truth Serum, by Jon Adams (City Cyclops)
Best Anthology
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall, by Bill Willingham and various (Vertigo/DC)
Hotwire Comix and Capers #1, edited by Glenn Head (Fantagraphics)
Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators, edited by Frédéric Boilet (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Kramers Ergot 6, edited by Sammy Harkham (Buenaventura Press)
Project: Romantic, edited by Chris Pitzer (AdHouse)
Best Digital Comic
Bee, in “Motel Art Improvement Service,” by Jason Little, http://beecomix.com
Girl Genius, by Phil Foglio, www.girlgeniusonline.com
Minus, by Ryan Armand, www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus1.html
Phables, by Brad Guigar, www.phables.com
Sam and Max, by Steve Purcell, http://telltalegames.com/community/comics/samandmax/issue-3
Shooting War, by Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman, www.shootingwar.com
Best Reality-Based Work
Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin)
I Love Led Zeppelin, by Ellen Forney (Fantagraphics)
Mom’s Cancer, by Brian Fies (Abrams)
Project X Challengers: Cup Noodle, by Tadashi Katoh (Digital Manga)
Stagger Lee, by Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix (Image)
Best Graphic Album—New
American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang (First Second)
Billy Hazelnuts, by Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics)
Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin)
Ninja, by Brian Chippendale (Gingko Press)
Scrublands, by Joe Daly (Fantagraphics)
The Ticking, by Renée French (Top Shelf)
Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Absolute DC: The New Frontier, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)
Castle Waiting, by Linda Medley (Fantagraphics)
Mom’s Cancer, by Brian Fies (Abrams)
Shadowland, by Kim Deitch (Fantagraphics)
Truth Serum, by Jon Adams (City Cyclops)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
The Complete Peanuts, 1959–1960, 1961–1962, by Charles Schulz (Fantagraphics)
Mary Perkins On Stage, by Leonard Starr (Classic Comics Press)
Moomin, by Tove Jansson (Drawn & Quarterly)
Popeye: I Yam What I Yam, by E. C. Segar (Fantagraphics)
Walt & Skeezix, vol. 2, by Frank King (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
Abandon the Old In Tokyo, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly)
Absolute Sandman, vol. 1, by Neil Gaiman and various (Vertigo/DC)
Art Out of Time: Unknown Comics Visionaries, 1900–1969, by Dan Nadel (Abrams)
The Eternals, by Jack Kirby (Marvel)
Ode to Kirihito, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
A.L.I.E.E.E.N., by Lewis Trondheim (First Second)
De:TALES, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Dark Horse)
Hwy 115, by Matthias Lehmann (Fantagraphics)
The Left Bank Gang, by Jason (Fantagraphics)
Pizzeria Kamikaze, by Etgar Keret and Asaf Hanuka (Alternative)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan
After School Nightmare, by Setona Mizushiro (Go! Comi)
Antique Bakery, by Fumi Yoshinaga (Digital Manga)
Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, by Naoki Urusawa (Viz)
Old Boy, by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi (Dark Horse Manga)
Walking Man, by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Best Writer
Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Daredevil (Marvel); Criminal (Marvel Icon)
Bob Burden, Gumby (Wildcard)
Ian Edginton, Scarlet Traces: The Great Game (Dark Horse)
Grant Morrison, All Star Superman, Batman, 52, Seven Soldiers (DC)
Bill Willingham, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
Best Writer/Artist
Allison Bechdel, Fun Home (Houghton Mifflin)
Renée French, The Ticking (Top Shelf)
Gilbert Hernandez, Love and Rockets, New Tales of Old Palomar (Fantagraphics); Sloth (Vertigo/DC)
Paul Pope, Batman: Year 100 (DC)
Joann Sfar, Klezmer, Vampire Loves (First Second)
Best Writer/Artist—Humor
Ivan Brunetti, Schizo (Fantagraphics)
Lilli Carré, Tales of Woodsman Pete (Top Shelf)
Michael Kupperman, Tales Designed to Thrizzle (Fantagraphics)
Tony Millionaire, Billy Hazelnuts (Fantagraphics); Sock Monkey: The Inches Incident (Dark Horse)
Lewis Trondheim, A.L.I.E.E.E.N. (First Second); Mr. I (NBM)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Mark Buckingham/Steve Leialoha, Fables (Vertigo/DC)
Tony Harris/Tom Feister, Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC)
Niko Henrichon, Pride of Baghdad (Vertigo/DC)
Michael Lark/Stefano Gaudiano, Daredevil (Marvel)
Sonny Liew, Wonderland (SLG)
Steven McNiven/Dexter Vines, Civil War (Marvel)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Nicolas De Crecy, Glacial Period (NBM)
Melinda Gebbie, Lost Girls (Top Shelf)
Ben Templesmith, Fell (Image); The Looking Glass Wars: Hatter M (Desperado/Image); Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse (IDW)
Jill Thompson, “A Dog and His Boy” in The Dark Horse Book of Monsters; “Love Triangle” in Sexy Chix (Dark Horse); “Fair Division,” in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
Brett Weldele, Southland Tales: Prequel Saga (Graphitti); Silent Ghost (Markosia)
Best Cover Artist
John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); The Escapists (Dark Horse); The Lone Ranger (Dynamite)
Tony Harris, Conan (Dark Horse); Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC)
James Jean, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
Dave Johnson, 100 Bullets (Vertigo/DC); Zombie Tales, Cthulu Tales, Black Plague (Boom!)
J. G. Jones, 52 (DC)
Best Coloring
Kristian Donaldson, Supermarket (IDW)
Hubert, The Left Bank Gang (Fantagraphics)
Lark Pien, American Born Chinese (First Second)
Dave Stewart, BPRD, Conan, The Escapists, Hellboy (Dark Horse); Action Comics, Batman/The Spirit, Superman (DC)
Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #17 (ACME Novelty)
Best Lettering
Ivan Brunetti, Schizo (Fantagraphics)
Todd Klein, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall; Pride of Baghdad, Testament (Vertigo/DC); Fantastic Four: 1602, Eternals (Marvel); Lost Girls (Top Shelf)
Clem Robins, BPRD, The Dark Horse Book of Monsters, Hellboy (Dark Horse); Loveless, 100 Bullets, Y: The Last Man (Vertigo/DC)
Richard Sala, The Grave Robber’s Daughter, Delphine (Fantagraphics)
Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #17 (ACME Novelty)
Special Recognition
Ross Campbell, Abandoned (Tokyopop); Wet Moon 2 (Oni)
Svetlana Chmakova, Dramacon (Tokyopop)
Hope Larson, Gray Horses (Oni)
Dash Shaw, The Mother’s Mouth (Alternative)
Kasimir Strzepek, Mourning Star (Bodega)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
Comic Art 8, edited by Todd Hignite (Buenaventura Press)
The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, Dirk Deppey, Michael Dean, and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
The Comics Reporter, produced by Tom Spurgeon and Jordan Raphael (www.Comicsreporter.com)
¡Journalista!, produced by Dirk Deppey (Fantagraphics, www.tcj.com/journalista/)
Best Comics-Related Book
The Art of Brian Bolland, edited by Joe Pruett (Desperado/Image)
Cartoon America: Comic Art in the Library of Congress, edited by Harry Katz (Abrams)
Dear John: The Alex Toth Doodle Book, by John Hitchcock (Octopus Press)
In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists, by Todd Hignite (Yale University Press)
Wally’s World, by Steve Sarger and J. David Spurlock (Vanguard)
Best Publication Design
Absolute DC: The New Frontier, designed by Darwyn Cooke (DC)
Castle Waiting graphic novel, designed by Adam Grano (Fantagraphics)
Lost Girls, designed by Matt Kindt and Brett Warnock (Top Shelf)
Popeye: I Yam What I Yam, designed by Jacob Covey (Fantagraphics)
The Ticking, designed by Jordan Crane (Top Shelf)
Hall of Fame
Judges’ Choices (2): Robert Kanigher and Ogden Whitney
Ross Andru & Mike Esposito
Dick Ayers
Bernard Baily
Matt Baker
Wayne Boring
Creig Flessel
Harold Gray
Irwin Hasen
Graham Ingels
Joe Orlando
Lily Renée (Peters) Phillips
Bob Powell
Gilbert Shelton
Cliff Sterrett
Greetings from Barcelona. We arrived here safe and sound, and have since been enjoying the fabulous architecture, strong espresso and warm weather. There have also been unanticipated “setbacks”…but we have all our limbs and digits, so these “setbacks” are mostly to our diginity. Ah well, c’est la vie.
We will not be able to post much until our return due to one of these “setbacks”. We just arrived for the first day of the salon and are taking a lot of pictures for later. But that’s for later.
AND…Marv Wolfman’s Wild Kingdom!
As you know, we’re off in some foreign land right now, learning if our miserable two years of high school Spanish are getting us any where. To keep you busy for a bit, check out The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive an incredible resource of classic animation and illustration that should keep you busy for ages. Pictured: Feodor Rojankovsky’s Frog Went A-Courtin’, which won the Caldicot Prize in 1955.
More here.
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