Angoulême wrap-up: Jean-Claude Denis wins Grand Prix; Jim Woodring wins Special Jury Prize
Last week's Angoulême festival extravaganza wrapped up with the presentation of the Grand Prix to Jean-Claude Denis, whose career goes back to the '70s but is perhaps best known in France for Luc Leroi. The Grand Prix is presented for a lifetime body of work—Denis is perhaps less well-known than some other winners, at least in the US. He was presented with the award by last year's winner, Art Spiegelman, as shown in the above video.
Continue ReadingLucey and Dirks selected for 2012 Eisner Hall of Fame
This year's Eisner nominating panel has made their choices for automatic inclusion in the Hall of Fame: Rudolph Dirks, who pioneered the newspaper comic strip with The Katzenjammer Kids, and Harry Lucey, a long time Archie artist credited with co-creating the characters. In addition, the judges selected 14 more nominees for the general ballot, from which four will be selected for inclusion into the Hall of Fame: Bill Blackbeard, Howard Chaykin, Richard Corben, Carlos Ezquerra, Lee Falk, Bob Fujitani, Jesse Marsh, Tarpé Mills, Mort Meskin, Dennis O'Neil, Dan O'Neill, Katsuhiro Otomo, Trina Robbins, and Gilbert Shelton.
Continue ReadingOscar noms: 11 for HUGO, one for Tintin; complete list
The nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards are in, and HUGO led the way with 11 noms, including best picture, director and screenplay. Based on Brian Selznick's illustrated children's novel, if you squint a bit, it qualifies as a "graphic novel" movie. The animated films list is a bit of a surprise: Steven Spielberg won't get to correct his Golden Globes gaffe of forgetting to thank Hergé in his acceptance -- the mocap extravaganza wasn't even nominated. Instead the indie releases A CAT IN PARIS and CHICO & RITA were selected. The former hasn't even opened here yet but looks cool.
Continue ReadingThey Love Us!: American Library Association 2012 Youth Media Awards
Every January, librarians gather together to learn, network, discover, and, most important, RECOMMEND great books to read. Here are some of the award winning books which appeal to readers of graphic novels! Congrats to all!
Continue Reading23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards comics nominations announced
The 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Award Nominees are out, including five in the comics category which exemplify positive media portrayals of LGBT characters:
Continue ReadingTran and Rea win Society of Illustrators medals
The Society of Illustrators, an august institution long devoted to the now-vanishing artform of magazine illustration, has in recent years presented medals in the Sequential category for comics-type stuff. this year's winners include a gold medal for GB Tran's VIETNAMERICA and a silver medal for Brian Rea's Modern Love, a series of illustrations for a NY Times column column on romance.
Continue ReadingAnnouncing the Comics Industry People of the Year: Kate Beaton and Dan DiDio/Jim Lee
Last year the Beat inaugurated the Person of the Year award. In an industry where changing the status quo isn't always greeted with joy, this is our way of recognizing the people who either move the needle and shake things up or exemplify a level of excellence that others can aspire to. This year, votes were much more across the board. One person clearly got the most votes as a single person. However, a different executive team had more votes overall when both parts were added up. So, we used our executive power to declare both a Person of the Year and a Team of the Year. Who moved the comics industry in 2011 and will continue to be heard in 2012? Read on.
Continue ReadingAwards wrap-up: TINTIN wins Golden Globe; Green Lantern wins People’s Choice
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN triumphed in the Best Animated Feature category at the Golden Globes last night -- a surprising loss for Pixar, but then their entry this year, CARS 2, wasn't really in the same league as their other recent masterpieces. Director Steven Spielberg seemed happy to win -- but not as emotional as when he teared up during a montage of scenes from his own film WAR HORSE -- but he kind of blew it for the comics folk by not mentioning Hergé. Perhaps if TINTIN is so lucky as to be nominated and win an Academy Award, Spielberg will remember to thank the little people.
Continue ReadingNCS announces first Reuben Award for webcomics
National Cartoonists Society president Tom Richmond announces a major, inevitable evolution of the comic strip with a new webcomics division for the Reuben Awards. The Reubens have traditionally honored the best in comic strips and illustration -- two artforms now mostly associated with Mad Men-era martinis and horn rim glasses on the "up to date" scale. Richmond's post has all the salient background info but here are the guidelines and the screening committee:
Continue ReadingSeuling, Schwartz among ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Awards nominees
ComicsPRO, the retailer advocacy group, has announced the 2012 nominees for their third annual Appreciation Awards, which honors pioneers in the direct market:
Continue ReadingMust read: Best American Comics 2011 Notable list now online
Best American Comics series editors Matt Madden and Jessica Abel have just posted the Notable Comics of 2011 list, those comics that did not make the contents of this year's Alison Bechdel-edited book, but are still worthy of notice. The listing includes covers, links and more information:
Continue ReadingClowes and Beaton make Time’s Top 10 Fiction list
Time is rolling out its top 10 lists and two graphic books made the 'Top 10 Fiction Books list: THE DEATH RAY by Daniel Clowes and HARK! A VAGRANT by Kate Beaton, both published by Drawn & Quarterly. (To see the individual listings you'll need to go through the annoying, hit making slideshow format.) Confirming the nerd-friendly tenor of the list, A DANCE WITH DRAGONS by George R. R. Martin topped the list, although more traditional literary tomes were at other spots. Comics-mole Lev Grossman penned the entries for the books. It was only a few years ago that Alison Bechdel's FUN HOME topped theTime list, and announced that graphic novels were just books with ideas and themes, too.
Continue Reading2012 Eisner judges named
Once again there are six judges this year: Brigid Alverson, Calum Johnston, Jesse Karp, Larry Marder, Ben Saunders, and Mary Sturhann. Congrats to all these fine judges -- you will get to read lots of comics!
Continue ReadingStan Lee wins Producers Guild’s Vanguard Award
When he isn't pacting, Stan Lee is getting awards! This January he'll be present with the Vanguard Award from the Producers Guild of America.
Continue ReadingIsabel Greenberg wins the 2011 Graphic Short Story Prize
Isabel Greenberg's "Love in a Very Cold Climate" -- the story of lovers repelled by polar magnetism -- has won the 2011 Graphic Short Story prize given out by the Observer/Comica/Vintage Books. London-Based Greenberg has contributed previously to Nobrow and Solipsistic Pop. The story is part of a larger work called The Encyclopaedia of Early Earth.
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