The Harvey Awards 2009 Nominees

Here they are the Nominees for the 2009 Harvey Awards. The ceremony will be held at the 2009 Baltimore Comic Con this October. This year I’m going to make a better effort to check out the works of some of the nominees that I’m not familiar with. I’m glad to see All Star Superman getting props, I enjoyed that limited series a great deal. Check out the trade paper backs if you missed the monthly issues.

Congrats to all the nominees!

BEST WRITER
Kyle Baker, NAT TURNER, Abrams books
Ed Brubaker, CAPTAIN AMERICA, Marvel Comics
John Gallagher, BUZZBOY, Sky Dog Comics
Jeff Kinney, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, Amulet Books
Grant Morrison, ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, DC Comics

BEST ARTIST
Gabriel Ba, UMBRELLA ACADEMY, Dark Horse Comics
Kyle Baker, NAT TURNER, Abrams Books
Jimmy Gownley, AMELIA RULES, Renaissance Press
Jason Kruse, WORLD OF QUEST, Yen Press
Frank Quitely, ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, DC Comics

BEST CARTOONIST
Lar deSouza, LEAST I COULD DO, www.leasticoulddo.com
John Gallagher, BUZZBOY, Sky Dog Comics
Al Jaffee, TALL TALES, Abrams Books
Jeff Kinney, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, Amulet Books
Thom Zahler, LOVE & CAPES, Maerkle Press

BEST LETTERER
Jimmy Gownley, AMELIA RULES, Renaissance Press
Rob Leigh, THE SPIRIT, DC Comics
Doug Sherwood, LOCAL, Oni Press
John Workman, MARVEL 1985, Marvel Comics
Thom Zahler, BUZZBOY, Sky Dog Comics

BEST  INKER
Rich Faber, BUZZBOY, Sky Dog Comics
Jamie Grant, ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, DC Comics
Jeff Kinney, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, Amulet Books
Mark Morales, THOR, Marvel Comics
Ryan Winn, THE DARKNESS, Image Comics

BEST COLORIST
Frank Cammuso, OTTO’S ORANGE DAY, Raw Junior, LLC
Jamie Grant, ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, DC Comics
Laura Martin, THOR, Marvel Comics
Wil Quintana, THE MICE TEMPLAR, Image Comics
Dave Stewart, UMBRELLA ACADEMY, Dark Horse Comics

BEST COVER ARTIST
Frank Cho, BUZZBOY: SIDEKICKS RULE!#3, Sky Dog Press
James Jean, FABLES, Vertigo Comics
Jay Lynch, MINDSHAFT #23, Mindshaft Publishing
Ken Rocafort, PILOT SEASON: CORE #1, Top Cow
Alex Ross, JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, DC Comics

BEST NEW SERIES
THE DREAMER, IDW
ECHO, Abstract Studios
HIGH MOON, www.zudacomics.com
NIGHT OWLS, www.zudacomics.com
SUPERTRON, www.zudacomics.com

BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, DC Comics
CAPTAIN AMERICA, Marvel Comics
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, Amulet Books
MICE TEMPLAR, Image Comics
UMBRELLA ACADEMY, Dark Horse Comics

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL OR JOURNALISTIC PRESENTATION
DRAW!, edited by Mike Manley, Twomorrows Publishing
HOW TO MAKE WEBCOMICS, Brad Guigar, Dave Kellett,
Scott Kurtz, and Kris Straub, Image   Comics
KIRBY: KING OF COMICS, Mark Evanier, Abrams Books
SCORCHY SMITH AND THE ART OF NOEL SICKLES, edited by Dean Mullaney, IDW
WORDLESS BOOKS: THE ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVELS,
edited by David A. Berona, Abrams Books

BEST SYNDICATED STRIP OR PANEL
BREWSTER ROCKIT: SPACE GUY!, Tim Rickard, Tribune Media Services
GET FUZZY, Darby Conley, United Features Syndicate
MUTTS, Patrick McDonnell, King Features Syndicate
THE NORM, Michael Jantze, Uclick Gocomics
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, Stephan Pastis, United Features Syndicate

BEST ANTHOLOGY
COMIC BOOK TATTOO, edited by Rantz Hoseley, Image Comics
FLIGHT VOLUME 5, edited by Kazu Kibuishi, Villard
MOME VOLUME 10, edited by Eric Reynolds, Fantagraphics Books
PIXU #1, edited by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, Self-Published
POPGUN VOLUME 2, edited by Joe Keatinge and Mark Andrew Smith, Image Comics

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM – ORIGINAL
BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON, Fantagraphics Books
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES, Amulet Books
ESSEX COUNTY: THE COUNTRY NURSE, Top Shelf
SKIM, Groundwood Books
TOO COOL TO BE FORGOTTEN, Top Shelf
WORLD OF QUEST: VOL. 2, Yen Press

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM – PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED
AMELIA RULES!: FUNNY STORIES, Renaissance Press
M, Abrams Books
NAT TURNER, Abrams Books
THE MICE TEMPLAR: VOL. 1, Image Comics
Queen and country: VOLUME, Oni Press
SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST (HARDCOVER), Adhouse Books

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY
ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY #19, Self-Published
FIRST BORN: AFTERMATH #1, Top Cow
LOVE AND ROCKETS, VOL. 3 #1, Fantagraphics Books
M, Abrams Books
NASCAR HEROES #5, NASCAR Comics
NAT TURNER, Abrams Books
THE AMAZiNG REMARKABLE MONSIEUR LEOTARD, First Second
Y: THE LAST MAN #60, Vertigo Comics

BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT
ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS, IDW
COMPLETE PEANUTS, Fantagraphics Books
COMPLETE TERRY AND THE PIRATES, IDW
SCORCHY SMITH AND THE ART OF NOEL SICKLES, IDW
WACKY PACKAGES, Abrams Books

BEST AMERICAN EDITION OF FOREIGN MATERIAL
GUS AND HIS GANG, First Second
POCKET FULL OF RAIN, Fantagraphics Books
RED COLORED ELEGY, Drawn and Quarterly
SOLANIN, Viz
WITCHBLADE TAKERU MANGA #’s 11 & 12, Top Cow

BEST ON-LINE COMICS WORK
BLACK CHERRY BOMBSHELLS, Tony Trovarello and John Zito, www.zudacomics.com
HIGH MOON, Scott O. Brown, www.zudacomics.com
LEAST I COULD DO, Lar deSouza and Ryan Sohmer, www.leasticoulddo.com
NIGHT OWLS, Bobby & Peter Timony, www.zudacomics.com
PVP, Scott Kurtz, www.pvponline.com

SPECIAL AWARD FOR HUMOR IN COMICS
Lar deSouza, LEAST I COULD DO, www.leasticoulddo.com
John Gallagher, BUZZBOY, Sky Dog Comics
Al Jaffee, TALL TALES, Abrams Books
Jeff Kinney, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, Amulet Books
David Malki, WONDERMARK, www.wondermark.com

SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION
COMPLETE LOCAL: HARDCOVER EDITION, Ryan Kelly and Brian Wood, Oni Press
KIRBY: KING OF COMICS, Mark Evanier, Abrams Books
QUEEN AND COUNTRY: VOLUME 3, Greg Rucka, Mike Norton,
Steve Rolston, and Chris Samnee, Oni Press
TALL TALES, Al Jaffee, Abrams Books
WONDERMARK, VOL. 1: BEARDS OF OUR FOREFATHERS, David Malki, Dark Horse Comics

BEST NEW TALENT
Matt Cassan, NASCAR: HEROES, Nascar Comics
Bryan J.L. Glass, THE MICE TEMPLAR, Image Books
Laura Innes, THE DREAMER, IDW
Tim Sievert, THAT SALTY AIR, Top Shelf
Bobby Timony, NIGHT OWLS, www.zudacomics.com

The King’s Birthday

August 28th is Jack Kirby’s birthday, he would’ve been 91 years old today. Jack was and is still the King. His creations are having impact on both DC and Marvel Comic universes today and you still still see his influence artwork today. DC’s Final Crisis deals heavily with Kirby’s New Gods, something that I’m enjoying a great deal about the event.

From the Sketchbook: Funny Animal – Giraffe

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything from my sketch book. Honestly its been awhile since I just sat down and drew anything. Well tonight I had a chance here’s one character from the big page I filled tonight. I’ll try to get back into this again. Aside from my opinions and thoughts I wanted this blog to be a place to post up my illustrations and doodles.

Hopefully this will be the a renewed feature on here, starting with this guy right here.

Michael Turner, artist & creator, passes away at age 37

Michael Turner, an extraordinary artist and fantastic human being passed away Friday, June 27th after losing his ongoing battle with cancer. Turner had been dealing with the disease for the past eight years, despite it all he continue to work. He even continued to attend every convention he could despite it all. I’m a fan of his artwork, I especially enjoyed the covers he provided for Identity Crisis. My heart goes out to his family and friends. I wish I’d had a chance to meet the man, his talents will definitely be missed. He was taken away too soon. This has been a tough month for losing talented people, it’s a terrible shame that his name had to be added to this list.

The original announcement from Aspen Comics can be found here:

http://www.aspencomics.com/community/forum_posts.asp?TID=11978&PN=1&FID=16&PR=3

It’s asked that donations be made to Michael Turner’s requested charities

The American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp

Or

The Make-A-Wish Foundation
http://www.wish.org/help?s_kwcid=make%20a%20wish|917760391

Comic Book Review: Guardians of the Galaxy #2, Capt. Britain and MI13, Plus Spider-man confession

Okay finally back into my normal routine, I picked up a healthy stack of comic books on Wed. since I hadn’t been to the shop in a couple of weeks. WOW, what a great group of books. I don’t know what is going on this month, but I loved everything I read. So get ready for some gushing over these books.

Guardians of the Galaxy #2 – Marvel Comics

Written by DAN ABNETT & ANDY LANNING
Penciled by PAUL PELLETIER
Cover by CLINT LANGLEY

IF for some reason you missed out on the past Annihilation series, if you are looking for something new in Marvel Comics outside of the earthbound super heroics. If you are just looking for some good team-based action without all the Civil War/Skrull/Initiative trappings that Marvel has going on then this book is for you. Hell if you just want good writing, great characterizations, solid storytelling & art then this book is a must. I’ve been a fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy in their previous incarnations, and though this team doesn’t resemble the former groups to hold this name (except for one person) this is a great book to highlight characters that have really had a chance to shine in Marvel’s cosmic mini-series events over the past couple of years. Abnett and Lanning have made these characters their own and so far this series really shows off the strengths of these heroes even more. The team is an eclectic mix: Starlord, Adam Warlock, Rocket Raccoon, Mantis, Gamorra, Quasar, Drax the Destroyer, and Groot. Their job is basically to fix the damage to the fabric of the Universe wrought by the previous Annihilation events. I don’t want to give too much away about the book, but its not too late to pick up #1 & #2.

Captain Britain & MI 13 #2 – Marvel Comics

Written by PAUL CORNELL
Penciled by LEONARD KIRK
Cover by BRYAN HITCH

Now this series was a total surprise for me. I loved issue #1, like many people who read it. And #2 is just as good. This is the most interesting tie-in to the Secret Invasion event that Marvel is putting out. This is easily more interesting than even the main Secret Invasion book. Basically the Skrulls are attacking the UK, as they are the USA, but their battle takes place in two theatres in the United Kingdom. The first theatre being the obvious attack of the physical world and the second battle theatre takes place in the “Otherworld” which is identified as the main source of magic for Marvel Universe, described as the true heart of Britain. The Skrulls, have actually adapted technology to invaded and attack this world of magic. Taking this invasion to the metaphysical plane is such a great concept. To think that the Skrulls are that thorough in their invasion of a planet is just awesome. A metaphysical war with the Skrulls is also being explored in the Incredible Hercules title, where currently Herc and a band of Gods are seeking to destroy the Skrull Gods.

Back on topic, the art is incredible, the suspense and danger of the situations actually builds some tension. I’m sure it all turns out well in the end, but right now their is an increasing sense of monumental challenges and overwhelming odds for the dwindling heroes in this book. A great start of this series, and truely one of the two more interesting Secret Invasion tie-ins along with Incredible Hercules.

Okay now a confession on Amazing Spider-Man. I’d initially griped about the Brand New Day idea, and I still hate, hate, hate the way that was explained. BUT I gotta say, I’m liking the new Spider-Man books. Marvel has succeeded so far in making Spider-man an interesting book that is getting back to the roots that made the character fun to read. I’m giving it a chance. I’ve only read a couple issues, but so far so good.

Stan Winston, Effects Wizard and Creature Creation Genius, dead at 62

Stan Winston was a true wizard of special effects. On all levels of make-up, creature creation, and visual effects this guy was amazing. Without him movies such as Aliens, Batman Returns, Juraissic Park, Terminator 2, and many more wouldn’t have been even half as incredible. This was a man of true talent and who possessed a fertile imagination, something that Hollywood and movie fans will be really missing now that he has passed. The last movie I saw that benefited from Stan Winstons’ talents was Iron Man. His effects studio built the suits of armor used in the film.

His traditional effects and creations kept up and blended well with the computer generated effect used in modern film-making. The look of the CG Iron Man armor and the actual suit are seamless in the film. I’ve always been a big fan of the Winston Studios creation, and I hope they continue on for a long time carrying on the tradition of quality effects and imaginative creature creation set by Stan.

Stan Winston Studio Website

Will Elder, illustrator & comic artist, Dies at 86

Will Elder one of the original Mad artists, co-creator of the popular Playboy strip, Little Annie Fanny, and Comic Book Hall of Famer passed away today. He was 86. Before Mad came along Elder provided artwork for many of the EC titles including Two-Fisted Tales and Weird Fantasy.

Articles Remembering Will Elder:

New York Observer

BoingBoing.net

Tough Decade for Comics

CNN wrote up an interesting piece on the 1950’s and comic books.  The article’s been getting a high level of notice on their site today.  Since I’ve read a bit on that era this article didn’t really tell me anything new. I’m a geek who knows his history of the comic book medium. It did make me think about how it mirrors in a way some of the hullabaloo surrounding some video games now. Video games have become the new feared source of brain rot in our country, which is ridiculous. I find it funny how history repeats itself, I only hope our games are effected the same way horror and crime comics were back then.

The Pictures that Horrified America – by Todd Leopold, CNN.com

Free Comic Book Day is Tomorrow, May 3rd, 2008

Just a reminder to anyone curious about comic books or interested in sampling new titles gratis. It’s Free Comic Book Day tomorrow at all participating comic book shops. Check out the Free Comic Book Day website for more information and use their store locator to find a participating shop near you. I will be going to my local shop, Beyond Comics in Gaithersburg (their website stinks and has been under construction forever, but it’s at least good for the address and phone number of their locations.

Technorati Tags: Free Comic Book Day comic books comics Beyond Comics Marvel DC Comics Dark Horse Comics Disney Image reading, art

Using Adobe Illustrator to Create Comics

I’d been thinking of using Illustrator or Flash as tools to “ink” online comic pages with really clean lines that can be achieved with vector image. I did a little searching around found a couple good resources that were helpful.  I thought I’d share them since my other technical lists have been so popular. If you have experiences or techniques to share please let me and the other readers know. Better yet, if you have an article on the topic let me know and I’ll feature it here.

•  Max Riffner: How I Create Comics in Illustrator
• DaniDraws.com – The Complete Digital Comic, Part 2: Inking in Illustrator
• Tutorial Using Adobe Illustrator CS2’s Live Trace 

Technorati Tags: illustration adobe illustrator drawing comic art art design digital illustration inking ink comic books