This weekend was a busy weekend for comics as many people were in Toronto for the FanExpo or they were out reading comics in public, or they were attending the Baltimore Comic-Con. The Baltimore Comic-Con is the home to the prestigious Harvey Awards. Founded in 1988, and named after the legendary Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards are the only awards in comics that are nominated by fellow comics professionals. This year's awards banquet was hosted by Scott Kurtz, creator of the webcomic PVP and from the word on Twitter, was quite a riot.
If you didn't get to attend the awards ceremony, here's a rundown of the nominees and winners (highlighted in bold):
BEST WRITER
Jason Aaron, Scalped, Vertigo/DC
Geoff Johns, Blackest Night, DC
Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead, Image Comics
Jeff Kiney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid #3, Amulet Books
Mark Waid, Irredeemable, Boom! Studios
BEST ARTIST
Robert Crumb, Book of Genesis, W.W. Norton
Guy Davis, BPRD:Black Goddess, Dark Horse Comics
Brian Fies, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow, Abrams ComicArts
David Petersen, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, Archaia Entertainment
Frank Quitely, Batman and Robin, DC
JH Williams III, Detective Comics, DC
BEST CARTOONIST
Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter, IDW
Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid #3, Amulet Books
Roger Langridge, The Muppet Show Comic Book, Boom! Studios
David Mazzucchelli, Asterios Polyp, Pantheon
Seth, George Sprott (1894-1975), Drawn and Quarterly
BEST LETTERER
Chris Eliopoulos, "FRANKLIN RICHARDS: SON OF A GENIUS" stories, Marvel Comics
Brian Fies, "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?", Abrams ComicArts
Thomas Mauer, "RAPTURE", Dark Horse Comics
David Mazzucchelli, "ASTERIOS POLYP", Pantheon
Richard Starkings, "ELEPHANTMEN", Image Comics
BEST INKER
Oclair Albert, "BLACKEST NIGHT", DC Comics
Steve Ellis, "HIGH MOON", Zuda/DC Comics
Klaus Janson, "AMAZING SPIDER-MAN", Marvel Comics
Jeff Kinney, "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID #3: THE LAST STRAW", Amulet Books
Mark Morales, "THOR", Marvel Comics
BEST COLORIST
Brian Fies, "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?", Abrams ComicArts
Steve Hamaker, "BONE: CROWN OF HORNS", Graphix
Laura Martin, "THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES", IDW
David Mazzucchelli, "ASTERIOS POLYP", Pantheon
Dave Stewart, "BPRD: BLACK GODDESS", Dark Horse Comics
BEST COVER ARTIST
Jenny Frison, "THE DREAMER", IDW
Mike Mignola, "HELLBOY: THE BRIDE OF HELL", Dark Horse Comics
Michael Avon Oeming, "MICE TEMPLAR: DESTINY, PART I", Image Comics
Frank Quitely, "BATMAN AND ROBIN", DC Comics
JH Williams III, "DETECTIVE COMICS", DC Comics
BEST NEW TALENT
Kevin Cannon, "FAR ARDEN", Top Shelf
Rob Guillory, "CHEW", Image Comics
Reinhard Kleist,"JOHNNY CASH: I SEE A DARKNESS", Abrams ComicArts
Nathan Schreiber, "ACT-I-VATE: POWER OUT", http://act-i-vate.com
Matthew Weldon, "NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY", Image Comics
BEST NEW SERIES
"BATMAN AND ROBIN", DC Comics
"CHEW", Image Comics
"IRREDEEMABLE", BOOM! Studios
"SWEET TOOTH", Vertigo/DC Comics
"UNWRITTEN", Vertigo/DC Comics
BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES
"BEASTS OF BURDEN", Dark Horse Comics
"DIARY OF A WIMPY KID", Amulet Books
"GANGES", Fantagraphics Books
"INVINCIBLE", Image Comics
"SCALPED", Vertigo/DC Comics
"THE WALKING DEAD", Image Comics
BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC PUBLICATION FOR YOUNGER READERS
"AMULET: THE STONEKEEPER'S CURSE", Graphix
"DIARY OF A WIMPY KID #3: THE LAST STRAW", Amulet Books
"GROWN-UPS ARE DUMB", Hyperion Books
"THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK", BOOM! Studios
"NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY", Image Comics
"3-2-3 DETECTIVE AGENCY", Amulet Books
BEST ANTHOLOGY
"ACT-I-VATE PRIMER", IDW
"FLIGHT # 6", Villard
"POPGUN # 3", Image Comics
"STRANGE TALES", Marvel Comics
"WEDNESDAY COMICS", DC Comics
BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC ALBUM
"ASTERIOS POLYP", by David Mazzucchelli, Pantheon
"BOOK OF GENESIS", by Robert Crumb, W.W. Norton
"GEORGE SPROTT (1894-1975)", by Seth, Drawn and Quarterly
"FOOTNOTES IN GAZA", by Joe Sacco, Metropolitan Books
"STITCHES", by David Small, W.W. Norton
"WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?", by Brian Fies, Abrams ComicArts
BEST PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED GRAPHIC ALBUM
"A.D.: NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE DELUGE", by Josh Neufeld, Pantheon
"COLLECTED ESSEX COUNTY", by Jeff Lemire, Top Shelf
"GRAVESLINGER", by Shannon Denton, Jeff Mariotte, John Cboins & Nima Sorat, IDW
"MASTERPIECE COMICS", by R. Sikoryak, Drawn and Quarterly
"MICE TEMPLAR VOLUME 1", by Bryan J.L. Glass and Michael Avon Oeming, Image Comics
BEST SYNDICATED STRIP OR PANEL
"CUL-DE-SAC", by Richard Thompson, Universal Press Syndicate
"FOXTROT", by Bill Amend, Universal Press Syndicate
"GET FUZZY", by Darby Conley, United Feature Syndicate
"MUTTS", by Patrick McDonnell, King Features Syndicate
"PEARLS BEFORE SWINE", by Stephan Pastis, United Feature Syndicate
BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT
"THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY", by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; edited by Steve Saffel, Titan Books
"HUMBUG", conceived and edited by Harvey Kurtzman and created by Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Will Elder, Al Jaffee and Arnold Roth; edited by Gary Groth, Fantagraphics Books
"RIP KIRBY", by Alex Raymond; edited by Dean Mullaney, IDW
"THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES", by Dave Stevens; edited by Scott Dunbier, IDW
"THE TOON TREASURY OF CLASSIC CHILDREN'S COMICS", edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly, Abrams ComicsArt
BEST AMERICAN EDITION OF FOREIGN MATERIAL
"THE ART OF OSAMU TEZUKA: GOD OF MANGA", by Helen McCarthy, Abrams ComicArts
"MANGA KAMISHIBAI", by Eric P. Nash, Abrams ComicArts
"THE PHOTOGRAPHER", by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier LeFevre and Frederic Lemercier, First Second
"PLUTO: URASAWA X TEZUKA", by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki, Viz Media
"20TH CENTURY BOYS", by Naoki Urasawa, Viz Media
BEST ONLINE COMICS WORK
"HARK! A VAGRANT", by Kate Beaton, http://harkavagrant.com
"HIGH MOON", by Steve Ellis, David Gallaher and Scott O. Brown, http://www.zudacomics.com/high-moon ,
"POWER OUT", by Nathan Schreiber, http://act-i-vate.com ,
"PVP", by Scott Kurtz, http://www.pvponline.com
"SIN TITULO", by Cameron Stewart, http://www.sintitulocomic.com
SPECIAL AWARD FOR HUMOR IN COMICS
Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, BEASTS OF BURDEN, Dark Horse Books
Jeff Kinney, "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID #3: THE LAST STRAW", Amulet Books
Roger Landridge, "THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK", BOOM! Studios
Bryan Lee O'Malley, "SCOTT PILGRIM #5", Oni Press
Andrew Pepoy, "THE ADVENTURES OF SIMONE & AJAX: A CHRISTMAS CAPER", ComicMix
SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION
"ART OF HARVEY KURTZMAN: THE MAD GENIUS OF COMICS", by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle, Abrams ComicArts
"THE BRINKLEY GIRLS: THE BEST OF NELL BRINKLE'S CARTOONS FROM 1913-1940", edited by Trina Robbins, Fantagraphics Books
"GEORGE SPROTT (1894-1975)", by Seth, Drawn and Quarterly
"THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES", by Dave Stevens, edited by Scott Dunbier, IDW
"SECRET IDENTITY: THE FETISH ART OF SUPERMAN'S CO-CREATOR JOE SHUSTER", edited by Craig Yoe, Abrams ComicArts
"WEDNESDAY COMICS", edited by Mark Chiarello, DC Comics
BEST BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL OR JOURNALISTIC PRESENTATION
"ALTER-EGO", edited by Roy Thomas, TwoMorrows
"ART OF HARVEY KURTZMAN: THE MAD GENIUS OF COMICS", by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle, Abrams ComicArts
"THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY", by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; edited by Steve Saffel, Titan Books
"THE COMICS JOURNAL", edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean and Kristy Valenti, Fantagraphics Books
"UNDERGROUND CLASSICS", by James Danky and Denis Kitchen, Abrams ComicArts
BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY
ALEC: THE YEARS HAVE PANTS, by Eddie Campbell, Top Shelf
"ASTERIOS POLYP", by David Mazzucchelli, Pantheon
"GANGES #3", by Kevin Huizenga, Fantagraphics Books
"GEORGE SPROTT (1894-1975)", by Seth, Drawn and Quarterly
"JONAH HEX #50", written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, artwork by Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics
"RICHARD STARK'S PARKER: THE HUNTER", by Darwyn Cooke, IDW
"WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?", by Brian Fies, Abrams ComicArts
1st ANNUAL DICK GIORDANO HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR
Tim Sale
Jerry Robinson
THE HERO INITIATIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Walt Simonson
Congratulations to all the winners of this year's Harvey Awards! After this year's Eisner Awards, combined with these Harvey Award winners, it's going to be hard to challenge that 2009 was a banner year for comics and graphic novels.
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Yes! More Chew and Walking Dead love! Kirkman is my favorite writer and Chew is the best new series in a while. Its great to see Rob Guillory get some recognition.
I need to add the Rocketeer to my wishlist I guess. Lots of Chew and Kirkman love.
Old School beating out the new school in ‘Best Artist’! Seriously, I didn’t expect Robert Crumb, of all people, to beat Quitely and Williams III. Gotta read Book of Genesis now.
Also shocked to see Mignola win for ‘Best Cover Artist’. Not that Bride of Hell doesn’t have a great cover; but again he beat out the likes of Quitely and Williams III….I see a trend here.
Marvel and DC only got one award each.
I don’t have any real problems here with the winners but I certainly would have gone a different way. I love Chew but I do think that Unwritten is decidedly better and the best new series of the year. And I have a hard time believing that anything is better than Scalped, especially not Wakiing Dead, which I have had trouble even getting past the first book. And, man, I can’t believe that Williams III didn’t walk away with the art award because, no offense to R Crumb, no book looked better last year than Detective Comics.
While I may have made differenc choices if I were part of the committee, I’m overall really impressed with their selections for both nominations and awards. Congrats to everyone who won.
I know Asterios Polyp was B.O.T.M. when it was released. Have people read it? Is it as good as all the awards say?
@finbarbat yes, without hesitation, yes
OoooH My first Ron Richards response!! I think I’ve collected all three!!! Thanks Ron!
Yeah, much deserved wins for Asterios Polyp. Not a perfect work (I think the red/blue dichotomy was a bit simplistic), but still really, really, really, really, really good. Like "OGN of the decade" good.
I would say that Batman & Robin got robbed for best new series, even though I like Chew, but…issues 4-6 of B&R had awful art, and then there was a huge delay before #7, so I can see how given the timeframe B&R could lose. Heh.
I love Crumb. Haven’t read Genesis, though. Could it possibly be better than what JH Williams did? I doubt it. But I love Crumb, so I ain’t mad.
Kirkman as best writer? I like the guy, but have never really thought of him as an elite artist. Then again, looking at the other candidates…I like Johns too, but don’t think of him as anywhere near the "best writer" in comics. I could see giving it to Aaron, because people seem to really like Scalped, but personally I couldn’t get past the first trade (same with Walking Dead). So I don’t have a dog in that race.
^Oops, I meant "writer" when I was talking about Kirkman, not "artist". Though I guess writers are "artists" in a larger sense of the term.
Janson? Really? Well, at least not for his work on Avengers.
I like Mignola’s covers but JH on Detective was on another level, in my opinion.
While it’s nice to see the love for Darwyn Cooke, I would have to argue that Williams III was robbed as best artist. Incidentally what is it that qualifies you as "cartoonist" as opposed to the other writer/artist categories? Do you have to do both?
I would also have given more to Scalped. Walking Dead’s a good series and it’s certainly unique in atmosphere and structure, but nothing is as accomplished as Scalped. It’s the only book to have brought me close to tears this past year.
Will I get banned for thinking Asterios Polyp was a little dull and overrated?
@odare77: Goota agree, Scalped just gets better and better. I love Walking Dead, but thought it was at it’s creative peak a few years ago.
I too think Asterios Polyp gets an awful lot of pub and love for what it is. I do appreciate Mazzuchelli’s use of the strengths of the art form to show what comics does better than any other medium, but as a story, I just found it sorta okay.