Image Eisner Nominations

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards committee has announced the nominations for books published in 2010, and Image Comics is pleased to be the publisher behind 12 of the Eisner nominations. Hot on the heels of an explosion of break-out new Image Comics titles, this announcement verifies that the publisher is leading the way with the most successful and the most critically-acclaimed of new creator-owned comics. In fact, Image has tied for the publisher who has the second most nominations this year.

Two of Image's recent big success stories, CHEW and Shadowline's MORNING GLORIES, will go head to head for Best Continuing Series and Best Writer! Industry veteran John Layman and stylistically-singular artist Rob Guillory have brought readers CHEW, the comic about a cibopathic detective that has been both turning stomachs and quenching readers' hunger for fun, well-told supernatural comedic crime stories. Guillory was also nominated for the Best Penciler/Inker award for his work on CHEW.

Meanwhile, in MORNING GLORIES, prolific young writer Nick Spencer and newcomer artist Joe Eisma, are telling a compelling science fiction story about a group of high school students who attend a prestigious but mysterious prep school, The Morning Glory Academy, with readers finding each page posing more questions than the last. Not only that, but MORNING GLORIES has also received a nomination for Best New Series!

Also nominated for Best New Series, Ian Churchill's effervescent hero MARINEMAN makes us hope for a return to a more innocent time, when good guys do win! Churchill's underwater superhero adventure is written and drawn with such genuine heart and soul that it's obvious why he chose to publish this project as a creator-owned title.

Image Comics anthologies such as COMIC BOOK TATTOO and POPGUN, VOL. 3 have won Eisner awards in years past. This year, the publisher has continued that trend with multiple nominations from three different anthologies, including a Best Anthology nomination going to LIQUID CITY, VOL. 2, edited by Sonny Liew and Lim Cheng Tju. POPGUN, VOL. 4 brought us Best Short Story nominee “Hamburgers for One,” by Frank Stockton. Silverline Books children's anthology FRACTURED FABLES provided two nominations for Best Short Story: "Little Red Riding Hood," by Bryan Talbot and Camilla d’Errico, and "Cinderella" by Nick Spencer and Rodin Esquejo. And to top it off, Esquejo also got a Best Cover Artist nomination for his memorable painted work for the MORNING GLORIES series' covers!

"As always, we're incredibly proud of all the writers and artists nominated," said Image Publisher Eric Stephenson. "It's particularly cool to see John and Rob get nods for a second year running, and more proof that CHEW is one of the best creator-owned books on the market."

Here's the complete list of Image Comics' Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominations:

• Best Short Story: “Cinderella,” by Nick Spencer and Rodin Esquejo, in FRACTURED FABLES (Silverline Books/Image)
• Best Short Story: “Hamburgers for One,” by Frank Stockton, in POPGUN, VOL. 4 (Image)
• Best Short Story: “Little Red Riding Hood,” by Bryan Talbot and Camilla d’Errico, in FRACTURED FABLES (Silverline Books/Image)
• Best Continuing Series: CHEW, by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image)
• Best Continuing Series: MORNING GLORIES, by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma (Shadowline/Image)
• Best New Series: MARINEMAN, by Ian Churchill (Image)
• Best New Series: MORNING GLORIES, by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma (Shadowline/Image)
• Best Anthology: LIQUID CITY, VOL. 2, edited by Sonny Liew and Lim Cheng Tju (Image)
• Best Writer: John Layman, CHEW (Image)
• Best Writer: Nick Spencer, MORNING GLORIES, SHUDDERTOWN, FORGETLESS, EXISTENCE 3.0 (Image)
• Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team: Rob Guillory, CHEW (Image)
• Best Cover Artist: Rodin Esquejo, MORNING GLORIES (Shadowline/Image)
  

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Happy Birthday, Will Eisner! - Google

This is the Google "doodle" up today, in honor of comicdom's Will Eisner, who would have been 94 today. Eisner died in 2005. The doodle is an homage to Eisner's best-known strip, The Spirit. Google also asked comics historian, Scott McCloud, to post yesterday's blog entry regarding the life, work, and legacy of Will Eisner.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Invincible Iron Man - Winner: 2009 Best New Series Eisner Award

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Eisner Nominee: Jo Chen - Best Cover Artist

Best Cover Artist: Jo Chen - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity (Dark Horse); Runaways (Marvel)

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Eisner Nominee: Omega the Unknown - Best Limited Series, Best Lettering

Omega the Unknown
Best Lettering: Farel Dalrymple

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Eisner Nominee: Thor - Best Ongoing Series

Thor
Best Writer: J. Michael Straczynski - Thor, The Twelve
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team: Olivier Coipel/Mark Morales, Thor

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Eisner Nominee: Dave Stewart - Best Colorist

Captain America White

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Formatting: Eisner Awards

Just a quick technical note FYI:

I am developing a new format for handling Eisner nominees this year, since it's too difficult to include all of the images I receive in one e-mail into one post. The posts layout differently once published than when creating them, because of the sidebar, which is what takes me so damned long on some of these things... You would think simply adding pictures is the easiest thing in the world to post, but I honestly spend more time on those than almost all the others; I tend to publish them, then go back in and fix them once they're out there.

Anyway, this year I am going to post the included image and the name of the title (being nominated) beneath it. The title of the post will include the category, along with the nominee's. I expect PRs on nominees to continue through the next week or two, so there will be a lot of these. However, I think it's kinda cool - especially if you have hi-speed access!

We'll see how things go and take it from there.

Also tomorrow (well, today, actually), I have muchos running-around early-on - I'm figuring on being gone 3-4 hours, then we have to start packing the house - and we don't even have a place in which to move yet!

Stressful situation, y'all.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Marvel Lands 11 Eisner Noms

Marvel Comics landed a hefty 11 Eisner nominations this year. For those what don't know, the Eisners are the most prestigious awards in Comicdom - the Academy Awards of the comic book world, if you like. Named for famed creator, Will Eisner (whose greatest character, The Spirit, recently got the big screen treatment by none other than Frank Miller), the awards are handed out every year at the San Diego Comic-Con and we list them afterward.

This year, I am going to present several posts concerning the nominations, as there are so many accompanying images that it would be impossible to fit them all into one post, plus it would take forever to load! And I empathize with those of you on dial-up, seeing as how I am too, right now - but The Rundown loads faster than a lot of sites and blogs, so... you know, there's that.

I'm going to go ahead and post the list of nominations (for Marvel) here because not all of them have accompanying images. I have no specific format worked out in my mind for this, but hopefully one will develop; I'm just flying by the seat o' my pants, here.

Best Continuing Series: Thor, by J. Michael Straczynski, Olivier Coipel, Mark Morales, and various
Best Limited Series: Omega the Unknown, by Jonathan Lethem, Karl Rusnak, and Farel Dalrymple
Best Limited Series: The Twelve, by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston
Best New Series: Invincible Iron Man, by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca
Best Archival Collection/Project - Comic Books: Elektra Omnibus, by Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz
Best Writer: J. Michael Straczynski, Thor, The Twelve
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team: Olivier Coipel/Mark Morales, Thor (Marvel)
Best Cover Artist: Jo Chen, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity (Dark Horse); Runaways (Marvel)
Best Coloring: Val Staples, Criminal, Incognito
Best Coloring: Dave Stewart, Dark Horse titles, Captain America: White (Marvel)
Best Lettering: Farel Dalrymple, Omega: The Unknown

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

The Spirit Collectibles

One of the most anticipated new films of the year is Frank Miller's movie adaptation of Will Eisner's comic strip, The Spirit, opening Christmas Day. A classic action-adventure-romance, The Spirit tells the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead to fight crime from the shadows of an urban jungle. Dark Horse Deluxe has channeled the noir mood and exotic images of this Lionsgate release and brought the world of Central City into being with a new range of officially licensed collectibles, including a sculpted bust and statue, a beautiful snow globe, and a unique LED illuminated journal. As the movie opens nationwide, fans will be anticipating the arrival of these fine collectibles with the same eagerness with which they rushed to theaters to see the film.

 
The Spirit is portrayed by Gabriel Macht, who brings a larger-than-life heroic quality to the role. His performance inspired the initial sculptures: a limited-edition bust, full-size, limited-edition statue, and elaborate sculptural high-end snow globe. He was very generous in his cooperation for these projects, and the results are apparent in the realism of the finished work.

In selecting the creative team for this assignment, Dark Horse enlisted two of the most noted digital sculptors around to create the 3D versions of the moody hero. Hot on the heels of their stunning statues of the characters from the recent Batman smash hit, Kolby Jukes and Oluf Hartvigson have created, respectively, Dark Horse's statue and bust.

The bust, which is the latest example of what is now a well-established area of modern collecting, measures 4.30"W x 3.15"D x 6.00"H . Packaged in a protective foam cube in deluxe color packaging, this piece is a hand-numbered limited-edition of only 750 copies for worldwide distribution. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $59.99 and The Spirit Movie mini-bust is scheduled to release on January 28, 2008.

The Spirit Statue presents the masked avenger in full figure (1:7 Life Size). The dimensions measure 11.21"W x 7.34"D x 8.5"H. Peering over a rooftop of Central City, The Spirit is poised and ready to spring. Sculpted by Kolby Jukes, this piece is also a numbered limited-edition of only 750 copies for worldwide distribution, with a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $199.00. It will be released on Christmas Day.

The continual snowfall is a graphic theme in The Spirit, as it as often been in Frank Miller's graphic stories, and creates a visual atmosphere that oozes drama. Therefore, it was not hard to imagine a beautiful snow globe that would capture and reproduce the effect. Central City, as depicted in the film, essentially becomes one of the main characters. The detail was focused on the buildings and fire escapes, and the movie's tagline acts as a rooftop sign. A high-quality 120mm glass sphere encases a liquid sky that is spackled with a miniature flurry of white. Crafting the miniature environment was a technical challenge for Dark Horse and sculptors Jukes and Hartvigson, but the result is a unique collectible that is fascinating. Limited to only 500 pieces, packaged in a foam cube in color packaging, The Spirit Movie Snow Globe has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $99.99, and will be available in retail stores in late November.

Long known for its modern artist journal and stationery line, Dark Horse Deluxe has come up with a new journal for The Spirit. A moody silhouette of the hero stands against a snow-spackled night sky. This cover is enhanced with a dozen or so tiny lighting elements concealed inside the journal's cover. When activated by a hidden on/off button, the colored jewels in the snowflakes swirling around The Spirit light up as if under a streetlight on an urban winter's night. The journal itself is 5¹/₂" x 8¹/₂", with 128 interior pages suitable as a compendium of the owner's secret thoughts. 

A logo-lettered book spine conceals spiral binding. The publication date for this item is December 6, 2008, just in time for the film release. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $14.99.


© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Dark Horse Dominates Eisners

Dark Horse Comics proudly dominated the twenty-first annual Eisner Awards in San Diego, bringing home eight prestigious awards. Having been nominated for 16 different projects (four of which were shared), accounting for nearly half of the total awards, Dark Horse often found itself with two nominations in the same category fighting for the top spot! The 2008 Eisners awarded to Dark Horse are as follows:

Best Painter — Eric Powell for Chinatown
Best Cover Artist — James Jean for Umbrella Academy (and Fables for DC and Process Recess 2 for AdHouse)
Best Coloring — Dave Stewart for B.P.R.D., Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cut, Hellboy, Lobster Johnson, The Umbrella Academy (and The Spirit for DC)
Best Limited Series — The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá
Best Humor Publication — Perry Bible Fellowship by Nicholas Gurewitch
Best Writer/Artist (Humor) — Eric Powell for The Goon
Best Online Comic — Sugarshock on MySpace Dark Horse Presents by Joss Whedon and Fábio Moon
Best New Series — Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty

With eight of these awards in tow this year alone, Dark Horse continues to shake up the comics world by outshining industry giants DC and Marvel combined (DC took six Eisners, topping Marvel with one).

"Our performance this year at the Eisners is another indication of the level of talent now working with Dark Horse," said Dark Horse President Mike Richardson. "It is particularly rewarding to see these committed creators, who have invested so much of themselves into their work, being recognized by our entire industry."

Dark Horse would also like to extend a special congratulation to Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon's award for Best Anthology for their work on 5.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Image Eisner Nominations

Will Eisner was, and is, a legend in the sequential arts field and every comic book fan should know his name, if not his work. Creator of The Spirit (to be released in 2009 as a major motion picture, directed by none other than Frank Miller, another iconic comics legend), Eisner worked literally to his death in 2005. The sequential art field awards particularly important creators and works every year with the Eisner Awards. This is an official Image Comics press release:

14 April 2008 (Berkeley, CA) - This past Monday, the nominations were announced for the 2008 Eisner Awards, with Image Comics garnering a total of nine nominations for nine different titles.

"We're especially proud of this year's nominations, as the the mix titles reflects the direction Image has taken over the last several years," said Image Comics Executive Director Eric Stephenson. "We're looking at nominations for creators old and new, in genres ranging from all-ages humor to political thrillers and just about everything in-between."

This year's nominations are easily Image's most varied and eclectic in sometme with new creators such as Jonathan Hickman (Best Limited Series - THE NIGHTLY NEWS) and Michael Cavallaro (Best Limited Series - PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS)) up for awards alongside veterans like Kyle Baker (Best Writer/Artist - THE BAKERS: BABIES AND KITTENS) and Joe Casey (Best Graphic Album - Reprint: GODLAND CELESTIAL EDITION). Also featured are two titles spotlighting a number of creators, 24SEVEN, VOL. 2 for Best Anthology and LUCHA LIBRE for Best Humor Publication. Others include THE INFINITE HORIZON by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto for Best New Series, PX! BOOK ONE: A GIRL AND HER PANDA by Many Trembley and Eric A. Anderson for Best Publication for Teens and Ben Tempelsmith in a shared Best Painter or Multimedia Artist for his work on FELL.

Winners will be announced on Friday, July 25^th during the ceremony at San Diego Comic Con International. More information about the Eisner Awards can be found here.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Eisner Winners

We told you earlier that the Eisners would be awarded at this year's Comic-Con, and they were. But with everything else that's been going on, I didn't get to them in time and Lisa, over to one of our friendly blogs, Sequentially Speaking, listed the winners Sunday, so I'll just point you over there.

I actually have a whole lot of comics news that has probably been covered by other folks before now, but the more time I spend looking for them on sister blogs and sites, the longer it takes for me to post them... kind of a catch-22, no? Plus, I really have to get some stuff posted on The OddBlog today because I have been doing so much here thanks to the Comic-Con.

Frank Miller Does Chandler

Now how great is this?

As most of you know, Raymond Chandler is my favorite author and Frank Miller is my favorite comic book legend. Now, reports indicate that Miller will direct Clive Owen in a film adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel, Trouble is my Business. This is one of the few Chandler works I have not read and it has never been adapted to film.

Of course, many of Chandler's longer works were actually culled from earlier, shorter ones, and since this features his iconic character, Philip Marlowe, I have likely read the shorter version at some point. Still, I would love to read this book before it hits the screens because I have every plan to see it.

Fans of Miller's know how strong Chandler's influence has been on him and his work. Clive Owen said, "Frank Miller knows more about noir than anyone I have ever met... Miller adapting Chandler seemed like a perfect match."

No production dates have been given yet. Miller is currently working on Will Eisner's The Spirit and is then set to start work on Sin City 2 with Robert Rodriguez, so we'll keep you posted.

Awards Time

As I type, the TVLand Awards is on, hosted by Kelly Ripa. They have a great skit called "Ugly Betty White," and just general fun. Tons of stars, including lots of people you'd never have thought of or all but forgotten. Heroes received the Future Classic award.

Erik Estrada - formerly Paunch from Chips as well as Sealab 2021 - got his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Why, I'm not exactly sure. I like Erik Estrada and all, but let's be honest: Paunch hasn't really done all that much, now has he? I heard that pretty much anyone can pay to have their star on the walk of fame, but I don't know if that's true or how it works.

The Eisner Awards nominees have been announced. No one creator dominates this year and all of the companies are represented pretty well. You can find the list of nominees here.

Daredevil HC Omnibus, Spirit #1

Some more comics news for you - this time, actual comics news - not comics meets TV or comics meets movies, and almost no mention of 300. Except for that one. There is some Frank Miller talk, though:

Marvel has released a hardcover Daredevil Omnibus featuring the works of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson. The book includes issues #158-161, #163-191, and What If? #28. This does not include the true milestone of the book - a major turning point in both DD's life, as well as the comics field in general - Miller's run with David Mazzuchelli in which Kingpin drove Murdock insane and DD's former flame and secretary, now a heroin junkie and porn performer, Karen Page returns. For the whopping price of $99.99, I'm not going to be buying. I have the vast majority of the issues collected here in my personal collection and the absence of issue #162 (obviously left out because it did not feature Miller or Janson's work) seems incomplete to me. I'd rather they'd included it with a small paragraph, pointing out that it was included only for completeness. If you don't have these issues, this may be the best way to experience them now.

The Spirit #1, written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke, sold out so DC sent it back to the presses for a second printing. The second printing will feature a new cover by Cooke and is scheduled to hit stores March 28^th.

Eisner on Theme in Modern Comics

Still reading Eisner/Miller (it's actually a very quick read, I'm just taking my time with it because I can't afford anymore new reading material this month and my comics haven't come in -- I'm assuming due to publisher delays).

Will Eisner brought up a good point in one of the chapters (I looked, but couldn't find the exact passage, so I'm paraphrasing) about how pretty much all modern comics have the same theme: that of vengeance, retribution. He's absolutely correct about this and I've been saying this for years and years now.

Most of this came about because of the late '80s Wolvie/Punisher craze. There was a time when those two were in literally every, single Marvel comic book every, single month. In fact, the funniest thing I saw was a Moon Knight cover which had a huge blurb with their heads that said:

WOLVERINE!
PUNISHER!
Do not appear in this comic book!

It was pretty good and I've always wondered how many collectors picked it up without reading the fine print -- how many guys grabbed at least one copy of that issue just because they saw the Wolverine/Punisher logos and thought they were guest-starring.

At any rate, the whole concept spread like wildfire. Some superhero serial killer appeared in Captain America, then Steve Rogers was ousted and replaced with a more vicious, take-no-prisoners Cap. Colossus, always a pacifist, snapped Hurricane's neck in Uncanny X-Men #210 or 211. Psylocke became a killer. Storm, Rogue, Daredevil (although DD was always just this side of the line), Batman...

Then came Image. And while Image purposely designed their characters to emulate the characters featured in the titles they had left (Pitt = Hulk; W.I.L.D.cats = X-Men; Spawn = Spidey; etc.) in order to give Marvel "The Finger," they were all darker, more violent versions of the other characters. And the trend has yet to let up, so far as I've seen.

In fact, most of the better new titles that I have seen aren't even superhero titles; they're horror and "adult" genres (crime, gritty vigilantism, etc.), and they all carry this same theme of retribution and the fight for justice in "a world gone mad."

You have to stop and wonder if today's heroes actually reflect the readers' sensibilities or are shaping them. I mean, how many younger fans would be interested in Supes the way he really was? You know, Captain Boy Scout. I haven't seen the new movie, but I understand they updated him and his image -- and made Lois a slut... ahem! I mean "single mother." (I am JUST KIDDING!) Still though, the idea of "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" is not just outdated, it's anathema to most comics readers' sensibilities.

The going concept of the day is vengeance at any cost: Everyone "gets what they deserve" (unless they're a minority or a woman -- so white men "get what they deserve"), even if they were truly victimized (I'm sure they did something to deserve it), and anyone who thinks otherwise is "playing the victim." The government is the enemy and the police are brutal thugs (this much is at least close to the truth). Evil, soulless corporations run the world (damningly true). And everyone wants a hero who don't brook no bullshit and takes care of business.

And this is because people want heroes who do the things they can't do.

So, at the end of the day, how much do the heroes featured in the comics reflect the audience's sensibilities and how much do they actually create and reinforce them?

And why isn't anyone doing anything different anymore? The only "different" things are the usually insipid "personal experience/observational, slice-o-life" b&w indies, and you're doing well if you can tell them apart from one another.