‘Monstress’ takes home another Hugo; Takeda named best artist

In the “Graphic Story” category, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s fantasy series beats out ‘Saga,’ ‘Black Bolt’ and more to win the award.

Monstress, the fantasy series written by Marjorie Liu, drawn by Sana Takeda and published by Image Comics, has again won the Hugo Award in the “Graphic Story” category for its second volume, Monstress, Volume 2: The Blood. In addition, Takeda also won in the “Best Professional Artist” category.

Presented annually since 1955, The Hugo Awards recognize the best science fiction in books, comics, movies, TV and more. The Hugo Awards are voted on annually by members of the World Science Fiction Convention. The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story has been awarded annually since 2009, with previous winners including Saga, Ms. Marvel, Girl Genius and The Sandman: Overture. Other nominees in the category this year included Saga, Paper Girls, My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Bitch Planet and Black Bolt.

The 2018 Hugo Awards were presented this evening at a ceremony at the 76th World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, California.

Monstress has been racking up awards left and right over the last year, winning an NCS Divisional Award, a British Fantasy Award and several Eisner Awards, among others. Congratulations to Liu, Takeda and the whole Monstress team.

Harvey Awards announce 2018 nominees

Streamlined awards will feature only six categories and will be presented during the New York Comic Con this October.

After taking a year off to regroup and prepare for arrival at their new home, the Harvey Awards have announced their nominees for 2018. It’s a very slimmed-down list of categories — just six, when typically they’ve had more than 20.

The most noticeable change is the lack of any awards recognizing creators; instead, the six categories recognize specific works. The other oddity is the addition of a “Best Adaptation” category, recognizing films, TV and any adaptations based on comics. Both of these changes have received criticism from comic creators since the nominees were announced yesterday.

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Fiona Staples nominated for a World Fantasy Award

The ‘Saga’ artist adds another award nomination to her long list, just as she and Brian K. Vaughan announce the book will go on hiatus for a year.

Saga artist Fiona Staples has been nominated for a World Fantasy Award, in the “Artist” category. Although other nominees have created comics or comic covers in the past, she’s the only nominee in the category who is known primarily for her comics work.

The winners will be announced at the World Fantasy Convention in November.

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For the first time, a graphic novel makes the longlist for the Man Booker Prize

Nick Drnaso’s ‘Sabrina,’ published by Drawn and Quarterly and Granta Books, up for the prestigious prize this year.

Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina, published by Drawn and Quarterly and Granta Books, has been nominated for the Man Booker Prize — the first such nomination for a graphic novel.

A baker’s dozen of books made the prize’s longlist, with the shortlist due out in September. The final winner will be announced in October.

The Man Booker Prize is awarded every year for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the UK. Established in 1969, the award includes £50,000 in prize money as well as the £2,500 awarded to each of the shortlisted authors.

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Monstress and Monsters rule the 2018 Eisner Awards

Diversity wins as ‘Monstress’ sweeps with 5 awards with Liu is the first woman to win Best Writer, and ‘My Favourite Thing is Monsters’ gets 3.

Last night at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel during Comic-Con International, the 2018 Eisner Awards were presented in a passionate and empowering three-hour ceremony.

It was the night for monsters as Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda won five Eisner Awards including best continuing series, best painter/multimedia artist, best cover artist and best publication for teens. Liu made history by becoming the first woman to ever win the best writer award in the 30-years of the Eisners being handed out. Liu was in attendance to receive all of the awards for Monstress, but used FaceTime so Sana Takeda, in Japan, can “be on stage” with her to receive the best continuing series award.

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris won three including best graphic album, best coloring and best writer/artist. “You did it again. You made an old lady cry, ” declared Ferris as she accepted the best coloring award.

Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill, and the Akira 35th Anniversary Edition each received two of the coveted awards.

The award winners were noticeably diverse as a large number of people of colour, women, and LGBTQ+ creators all received awards.

Surprise celebrity guests graced the stage Nichelle Nichols, Phil Lamar, Cas Anvar, Benedict Wong, and Felicia Day were on hand to present awards.

Check out the complete list of winners and some reactions below.

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Nominees announced for the 2018 British Fantasy Awards

‘Bitch Planet,’ ‘Monstress,’ ‘The Wicked + The Divine’ among this year’s nominees for the comics category.

The British Fantasy Society has announced the nominees for the 2018 British Fantasy Awards, including the “Best Comic/Graphic Novel” category.

The entrants are selected after two rounds of nominations, and votes are tallied from the members of the British Fantasy Society and FantasyCon. Winners will be announced Oct. 21 at FantasyCon 2018. Monstress took home the award last year.

The nominees in the “Best Comic/Graphic Novel” category include:

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Nominees announced for the 2018 Ringo Awards

The nominees for the Ringo Awards have been announced, marking the second year for the awards program named for artist Mike Wieringo, who passed away in 2007.

While fans could participate in the nomination process, only comic book professionals can vote for the winners. The awards will be presented at Baltimore Comic-Con Sept. 29.

Congratulations to all the nominees:

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Nominees announced for the 2018 Russ Manning Award

Annual award for the “Most Promising Newcomer” comic artist will be presented during the Eisner Awards in July at Comic-Con International.

The nominees have been announced for the 2018 Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award, named for the creator of Magnus, Robot Fighter and illustrator of the Tarzan and Star Wars comic strips.

Presented annually since 1982, the award recognizes an artist who, early in his or her career, “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 and Anne Szabla.

Congratulations to this year’s nominees:

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For the first time, two women comic writers will receive this year’s Bill Finger Award

Joye Hummel Murchison Kelly and Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk, two comic book pioneers who kicked off their careers in the 1940s, will receive the award during the Eisners ceremony at Comic-Con International.

Comic-Con International has announced the recipients of this year’s Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Writing, which goes to writers who have not been given due recognition for their work.

Joye Hummel Murchison Kelly and Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk, two comic book pioneers active in the 1940s, will be the first women to receive the award.

“We’re really excited about this one,” committee chair Mark Evanier said in a statement. “The comic book industry employed too few women in its early decades. Back when this year’s honorees were active, their gender was horribly unrepresented among the creative talents that made the comics—and what few there were went totally unrecognized. The work of these two extraordinary ladies deserves to be acknowledged and celebrated.”

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The 2018 Joe Shuster Award Nominations

Awards celebrate excellence in the Canadian comic creators and publications.

The nominations for the 2018 Joe Shuster Awards have been announced this week.  Commonly nickednamed “The Shusters”, they are Canada’s national comic book awards that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell comic books, digital comics and graphic novels.

The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

The ceremony will take place at the Montreal Comic Con July 6-8, 2018 at the Palais des congrès, Montreal, QC.

And the nominees are:

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‘Monstress,’ ‘My Favorite Thing is Monsters’ win NCS Divisional Awards

Glen Keane honored with the Reuben as 2017’s ‘Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year,’ while John Allison and Gemma Correll win in the webcomics categories.

My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris and Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda continued their winning streaks this weekend, as the National Cartoonists Society honored both with divisional awards. Ferris’ work won for “Best Graphic Novel” while Monstress won for “Best Comic Book.”

In addition, John Allison was honored for his work on Bad Machinery in the “Online Comics – Long Form” category, while Gemma Correll won in the “Online Comics – Short Form” category.

The Daily Cartoonist reports that Academy Award-winning animator and Disney Legend Glen Keane won the 2017 Reuben Award, presented to the NCS’s pick for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.”

The Reuben Awards ceremony took place Saturday at the National Cartoonists Society’s annual get-together in Philadelphia. The complete list of nominees, with the winners in bold, can be found below:

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Stan Sakai honored with the first Joe Kubert Distinguished Storyteller Award

The award was presented on Saturday at Ontario’s Comic Con Revolution.

Stan Sakai, creator of the long-running and always excellent Usagi Yojimbo, has been awarded the first Joe Kubert Distinguished Storyteller Award, as first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The award was presented on Saturday at Ontario’s Comic Con Revolution.

Named for legendary artist and teacher Joe Kubert, The Joe Kubert Distinguished Storyteller Award was created to “recognize comic book creators who not only produce high-quality work, but also display a commitment to helping nurture and grow the comic book community as a whole, to which Kubert dedicated his life.” In addition to a career creating comics like Sgt. Rock, Hawkman and Fax from Sarajevo, the Eisner Hall of Fame member also founded the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in the 1970s, which still operates as the Kubert School today. Joe Kubert passed away in 2012.

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