Tagged: IDW

2009 Harvey Awards: ‘All-Star Superman’ repeats win; ‘Umbrella Academy’, ‘Kirby’, Al Jaffee win 2 each

  • News
  • October 11, 2009

harvey-logo01fullcol1nom-4814214

With this many twos, you’d think the Harvey was Harvey Dent.

The 2009 Harvey Awards were given out tonight at the Baltimore Comic-Con in a ceremony MC’d by double nominee Scott Kurtz. Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art.

All-Star Superman repeated the win for best continuing or limited series, with Grant Morrison picking up the Best Writer award. Last year’s best writer winner, Brian K. Vaughn, picked up the award for Best Single Issue for Y: The Last Man #60. In the two-time winners, The Umbrella Academy won for best artist Gabriel Ba and best colorist Dave Stewart, the Mark Evanier biography Kirby: King Of Comics won for best historical/journalistic and excellence in presentation, and Al Jaffee won for best cartoonist and a special award for humor in comics.

Special awards were given by the Hero Initiative: the Humanitarian Award was given to Neal Adams for his years fighting for creators, and Baltimore Comic-Con organizer Marc Nathan received a surprise award just because he puts on a great show.

Nominations for the Harvey Awards are selected exclusively by creators – those who write, draw, ink, letter, color, design, edit or are otherwise involved in a creative capacity in the comics field. They are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. This was the fourth year for the Harvey Awards in Baltimore, MD.

The full ballot is listed below, with winners listed in bold. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.

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‘GrimJack: The Manx Cat’ #2 in stores now

  • News
  • September 8, 2009

How backed up have things been here? I didn’t even get a chance to note that GrimJack: The Manx Cat #2 is already in stores. Silly me, I thought this was coming out this week.

Since new books aren’t shipping until Thursday this week, if you find yourself in a store on Wednesday, go pick this up along with issue #1. Ostrander and Truman at their bestest. IDW at their publishiest. And us, as always, at our busiest.

Review: ‘Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter’ by Darwyn Cooke

the-hunter1-6670019Richard Stark’s Parker, Book One: The Hunter
Darwyn Cooke
IDW, July 2009, $24.99

Richard Stark’s Parker novels come out of a particular
period in literary history: the heyday of the disposable paperback for men.
Paperbacks had appeared in their modern form just before WWII, and servicemen
got used to carrying small paperbound books in whatever pockets they could jam
a book into. The boom continued through the postwar years, with a flood of
short thrillers, detective stories, and soft-core porn – all to stave off
boredom for a man waiting for dinner time on a business trip in some hick town,
or hanging out at the PX on his army base, or riding the streetcar home at
night.

[[[The Hunter]]] was
published in 1962, at the height of that boom – a good decade before the ‘70s
taught publishers that women were even more dependable consumers of paperbacks,
and the long shift to romances and their ilk began. At first glance, Stark’s
hero is right out of the mold of the great hardboiled Mikes (Hammer &
Shayne) – tough, violent, single-minded, implacable. But Parker was less
emotional than the usual hardboiled hero – cold where they were hot,
calculating where they were impetuous. Parker could kill when he had to – and he
did it quite a bit – but he never killed for fun, or just because he could. As
the Parker novels went on he avoided killing as much as he could, simply
because deaths attract more attention than he wanted.

Hardboiled heroes came from both sides of the
law – Mike Shayne and Mike Hammer were detectives, but there were plenty of
law-breakers before Parker, from writers like David Goodis and Jim Thompson.
They usually weren’t series characters, though: Parker’s amoralism went beyond
his own actions to his world, and his stories told how a master criminal could get away with it – if he was smart and tough
enough.

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#SDCC: Semi-liveblogging the Eisner Awards

  • News
  • July 25, 2009

The 21st annual Eisner Awards, the “Oscars” of the comics industry, will be given out at a gala ceremony at a brand-new location: the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront. This year’s special them is “Comics and All That Jazz.” Scheduled presenters include writer/actors Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (Reno 911, Balls of Fury), acclaimed comics creators Jeff Smith and Terry Moore, actor/comedian Patton Oswalt, actor/musician/writer Bill Mumy, actress/musician Jane Wiedlin, and G4’s Blair Butler, with many more to be announced.

Other prestigious awards to be given out include the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award, the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, and the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The master of ceremonies is Bongo Comics’ Bill Morrison.

We’re going to cover it as best as we can here… boldfacing the winners as they are announced.

8:46: Neil Gaiman tweets: “on my way to present eisner award. Car just pulled over for illegal left turn. Will we make it?”

9:03: Heidi MacDonald tweets: “No phone coverage in Indigo Ballroom so NO live Twitter Eisner Awards. #techfail”

Hmm. This will make life challenging. Time to get a goat to sacrifice…

9:12: Neil made it.

9:14: First winner of the night: Best Publication For Kids: Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)

9:16: Best Publication for Teens/Tweens: Coraline.

9:28: Robot6 enters the liveblogging! And they report:

Best Coloring: Dave Stewart, Abe Sapien: The Drowning, BPRD, The Goon, Hellboy, Solomon Kane, The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse)

Best Lettering: Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #19 (Acme)

Best webcomic: Finder, by Carla Speed McNeil

9:45: Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team: Guy Davis, BPRD (Dark Horse)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Jill Thompson, Magic Trixie, Magic Trixie Sleeps Over (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

9:51: Best Cover Artist: James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse)

9:54: Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: Comic Book Resources, produced by Jonah Weiland
(www.comicbookresources.com)

10:06: Running back and forth posting here and tweeting each award individually is exhausting… but it’s all worth it for you. :-*

Best Comics-Related Book: Kirby: King of Comics, by Mark Evanier (Abrams)

Best Publication Design: Hellboy Library Editions, designed by Cary Grazzini and Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)

10:14: Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: Creepy Archives, by various (Dark Horse)

10:17: I’m soooooo glad my iPhone app is updating me on all the Eisner winners.

10:24: Best Humor Publication: Herbie Archives, by “Shane O’Shea” (Richard E. Hughes) and Ogden Whitney (Dark Horse)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material: The Last Musketeer, by Jason (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan: Dororo, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)

10:47: Jane Wiedlin tweets: “Im @ Eisner Awards getting ready 2 present. Major wardrobe malfunction in pedicab on way here. Front zipper burst on dress exposed all 2 all!”

10:55: Whoops, missed some:

  • Tate’s Comics in Fort Lauderdale won the Spirit of Retailing Award.
  • Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award presented by Mike Royer — winner is Eleanor Davis, writer/artist of Stinky

Hall of fame inductees:

11:11: The home stretch! Here we go!

Best Writer: Bill Willingham, Fables, House of Mystery (Vertigo/DC)

Best Writer/Artist: Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library (Acme)

Best New Series: Invincible Iron Man, by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca (Marvel)

Best Limited Series: Hellboy: The Crooked Man, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)

11:15: Best Continuing Series: All Star Superman. by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)

Continuing?!? Since when? Take it away and give it to Miss Congeniality. (That’s Andrew Pepoy, right?)

11:22: Best Short Story: “Murder He Wrote,” by Ian Boothby, Nina Matsumoto, and Andrew Pepoy, in The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror #14 (Bongo)

Hey, Andrew did get an award right after I said to give him one! I promise to use my powers only for good…

11:33: The last batch:

Best Anthology: Comic Book Tattoo: Narrative Art Inspired by the Lyrics and Music of Tori Amos, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Image)

Best Reality-Based Work: What It Is, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint: Hellboy Library Edition, vols. 1 and 2, by Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)

Best Graphic Album—New: Swallow Me Whole, by Nate Powell (Top Shelf)

Thanks to the liveblogging of Heidi MacDonald and JK Parkin at CBR and all the various Twitter folks who were eyes and ears for us tonight. I owe all of you. And I’m really glad I didn’t have to pay for the Eisner Award iPhone app.

Full list of nominees with winners bolded after the jump.

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Review: ‘The Hunter’ by Darwyn Cooke from IDW

Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way first: Yes, ComicMix is publishing lots of stuff with IDW Publishing. Doesn’t matter, The Hunter
would still be on the short list for the best book of the year if it came out from Chick Publications.

I’ve had a preview copy of the entire book for a few months now, and I’ve held off on reviewing it because I didn’t want to tease you, even though previews of the first pages were up and about. You just would have wanted more. I certainly did.

The backstory is simple: it’s an adaptation of The Hunter
by Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. It’s the first novel featuring his protaganist Parker. In this book he’s been betrayed by his wife and fellow criminals in the aftermath of a heist, and he hammers his way through New York circa 1962 to get revenge. A lot of it. With guns and fists and… you get the idea.

The book’s been adapted into film a number of times with varying degrees of quality, the two best known adaptions are [[[Point Blank]]] with Lee Marvin:

…and [[[Payback]]] with Mel Gibson:

(And before you ask, [[[The Hunter]]] with Steve McQueen has nothing to do with this book.) But this may be the closest adaptation of the source material, as evidenced by the fact that this is the first adaption that Westlake let use the name Parker.

It’s certainly faithful in (duo) tone. This is the time period Darwyn Cooke was born to draw, in the same way that Dave Stevens was born to draw the era of the Rocketeer. The book feels like 1962, and yet modern at the same time. If you know Cooke’s other projects– New Frontier, Selina’s Big Score, the Batman animated series, you don’t need the sell, if you don’t, picture here a blend of Jack Cole and Bernie Kriegstein, and you’ve almost got it. This book is clean and compact and accessible in ways that no other comic has, and should take the mainstream by storm. The preview almost makes reviewing redundant, let’s just say that Cooke keeps control of the pace all the way through.

I got my review copy early that I was able to call IDW and natter at them about a few production glitches, if the book hadn’t gone to press yet. When they said it hadn’t, I told them to save time in the future and just print “Eisner nominee” on the cover now.

Really. It’s that good. Buy copies for friends.

IDW to publish Deluxe editions of Archie Comics

IDW Publishing has announced a partnership with Archie Comics to reprint some of the property’s most iconic stories in deluxe hardcover and trade paperback editions. Under the agreement, IDW will reprint sequential newspaper strips for the first time, offer multiple collections of the very best Archie comics material from the past seven decades, and add to the brand’s digital presence. The newspaper strip collections will be incorporated into the much-lauded Library of American Comics (Dick Tracy, The Complete Terry & the Pirates) helmed by Eisner award-winner Dean Mullaney.

Coming of age in post-World War II America, Archie captured the hearts of generations of children and adults. Archie and his friends remain hugely popular today, appealing to comic fans new and old with a blend of timeless stories and classic Americana style. Many popular comic book writers and artists cite Archie as their inspiration to work in the genre. Legendary comic book artist Neal Adams did his first professional work on Archie.

“We are incredibly excited to be working with Archie Comics,” said Greg Goldstein, IDW’s chief operating officer. “There are very few comics as influential in popular culture as Archie, and we are looking forward to offering original, never-before-reprinted strips and a wealth of comic book material to fans.”

In addition to reprinting original strips by series creator John Goldwater and original artist Bob Montana, IDW will also present Best Of volumes that showcase the work of Archie artists, such as Montana, Dan DeCarlo, and Stan Goldberg. “Archie has had so many talented artists throughout its history, each with their own take on the characters,” said Goldstein. “We want to offer fans the best from each of those eras, especially since much of this material has not been in print since its original publication.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering with IDW Publishing on these important historical works. IDW is well known for their outstanding work and we look forward to working closely with the team at IDW to create a line that all past, present and future Archie fans will enjoy,” commented co-CEO Jon Goldwater.

IDW will also publish special collections of Archie’s Madhouse and Archie as Pureheart the Powerful, a comedic super hero series that ran during the 1960’s. Award-winning creative director and editor Craig Yoe will oversee many of these special volumes.

‘Doctor Who’ movie with David Tennant coming?

david-tennant-2698827That’s the latest rumor kicking around everywhere across the web– that there might be a new Doctor Who movie that, if the rumors are correct, would star David Tennant as the Doctor and that the movie will be officially announced later this month at Comic-Con in San Diego, like everything else in the world.

The rumors also have former Doctor Who writer/executive producer Russell T. Davies involved in the project, and both he and David Tennant are rumored to be showing up at San Diego… are they showing up for a victory lap, or is there something bigger going on? Hmm… IDW is doing the Doctor Who comic, maybe they know something.

2009 Harvey Awards nominees announced

  • News
  • June 30, 2009

harvey-logo01fullcol1nom-8226752The 2009 Harvey Awards Nominees have been announced with the release of the final ballot, presented by the Executive Committees of the Harvey Awards and the Baltimore Comic-Con. Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry’s most innovative talents, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art. They will be presented October 10, 2009 in Baltimore, MD, in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con.

Nominations for the Harvey Awards are selected exclusively by creators – those who write, draw, ink, letter, color, design, edit or are otherwise involved in a creative capacity in the comics field. They are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. Professionals who participate will be joining nearly 2,000 other comics professionals in honoring the outstanding comics achievements of 2008. Thank you to all that have already participated by submitting a nomination ballot.

Final ballots are due to the Harvey Awards by Friday, August 28, 2009. Full details for submission of completed ballots can be found on the final ballot. Voting is open to anyone professionally involved in a creative capacity within the comics field. Final ballots are available for download at www.harveyawards.org. Those without Internet access may request that paper ballots be sent to them via mail or fax by calling the Baltimore Comic-Con (410-526-7410) or e-mailing baltimorecomicccon@yahoo.com.

This will be the fourth year for the Harvey Awards in Baltimore, MD. Our Master of Ceremonies this year will be Scott Kurtz. Look for more details soon on how you can attend the Harvey Awards dinner.

This year’s Baltimore Comic-Con will be held October 10-11, 2009. The ceremony and banquet for the 2008 Harvey Awards will be held Saturday night, October 10.

The full ballot is listed below.

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ComicMix + Twitter = MiniMix!

  • News
  • June 25, 2009

The biggest drawback with our deal with IDW, and all the convention hopping that we’re doing this summer, and cranking up our book publication and new series, and every other little thing that we’ve been up to, most of which you haven’t seen yet– well, it can get really busy over here. And sadly, sometimes that means we haven’t had the time to write full articles.

Thank heavens for Twitter.

If you haven’t looked at the sidebar, we added our Twitter feed to the front page, and we’ve been posting various things there that we might not put into full articles– quick little bits that you may find of interest, plus the various free flow of conversations that goes on in your day-to-day Twittering. Think of it as little spices that we add to the Mix.

Here’s the link to our Twitter feed, and here’s the RSS link to our Twitter feed.

BookExpo America 2009 recap

As with any convention, a lot of fast, disjointed thoughts kicking around. In no particular order:

  • The most action at the con was in the Diamond Comics aisle and the e-publishers area. Other areas seemed quieter.
  • There seemed to be fewer freebies this year. A lot, in fact. When asking about getting on the press list, most publicists were relieved when I asked for PDFs over paper copies.
  • One paper copy I did get was a preview of IDW’s upcoming adaptation of The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke, taken from the Richard Stark (Donald Westlake) Parker novel. Having read the thing and knowing that they haven’t printed the final version yet, they should just save time and print “Future Eisner Award Nominee” on the cover now. Barnes & Noble is going to move a lot of these babies. (Disclaimer: IDW will be publishing the print version of ComicMix projects, and they picked up the tab for lunch on Friday. We tried, but Ted Adams insisted.)
  • DC did not have an official presence at the con, which considering the amount of backlist books they do is very surprising. Marvel and Diamond did, and seemed to be well rewarded for their efforts, with many people showing up for signings and even more showing up later on Saturday for the finger food and drinks. (Sorry you missed it, Alan.)
  • Lines for comics creators were very long. Neil Gaiman made a “surprise” appearance at the Harper Collins booth signing The Graveyard Book and handing out previews of Odd And The Frost Giants (I say surprise because I don’t remember seeing it on his blog).
    Marvel’s signings for Peter David and Chris Claremont went strongly, Chris estimated that he went through about two and a half boxes of X-Men Forever. I lost track of how many Oz books Skottie Young and Eric Shanower went through.

  • Over at the Image booth, Frank Cho and Chris Giarusso moved a lot of copies of their books as well.
  • The crowd seemed a bit older, even for BEA. Not sure if it’s an actual age difference, or if the young folks got fire from publishing houses, or if everyone at traditional houses were just muted this year.
  • There will be photos surfacing of me and Torsten Adair. I will not say which of us is the evil twin.
  • I had two publishers who knew me from my days as an e-publishing pioneer come up to me and say that their sales in paper were flat and the only bright spots were in e-publishing. Nice to know I’m remembered as a prophet, even if it’s taken a while to get there.

All in all, a decent, if not spectacular, trade show. Always fun to see many of my colleagues in a much less frenzied venue than San Diego or even Wizard World. Hopefully I’ll be recovered in time for MOCCA this weekend. Oy.

Oh, one final shot– this is from Thursday’s CBLDF party, with Denis Kitchen, Heidi Macdonald, Milton Griepp, and ComicMix alumnus Rick Marshall ordering a drink– no doubt steeling himself for the upcoming hell week starting with the MTV Movie Awards and ending with his name being pinned to an idiot in a major motion picture. Pray for him.

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