Comic-Con International has announced the nominees for this year’s Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award, which will be presented in July.
Named for the creator of Magnus, Robot Fighter, the award recognizes a new artist who “shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics.”
Previous winners include Dave Stevens, Eleanor Davis, Jeff Smith, Marion Churchland, David Petersen, Tyler Crook, Dan Mora, Lorena Alvarez, Nate Simpson, Luana Vecchio and Zoe Thorogood. The Mushroom Knight creator Oliver Bly won the Manning Award last year.
Here are this year’s nominees:
Richard Blake, writer/artist of Hexagon Bridge (Image)
Pierre-Alexandre Comtois, writer/artist of Sunder, vol. 1 (Mad Cave)
Adrian Gutiérrez, artist of Batman/Superman: World’s Finest and Blue Beetle (DC)
S.S. Julian, writer/artist of Octopolis (Cephalotype)
Barbara Mazzi, writer/artist of Hourglass (Silver Sprocket)
The nominees were chosen by a panel of board and committee members of Comic-Con International and a San Diego comics retailer, and the winner will be chosen by past Manning award winners and Russ Manning assistants. The winner will be announced during the Eisner Awards on July 25 at the San Diego Comic Con.