Comics Lowdown: Manga pirates can’t go legit

Plus: ‘Check Please’ goes to First Second, ‘Infini-T’ Force goes to Udon, Jill Thompson, Red Planet and more.

A Pirate’s Life… Ain’t what it used to be. Cecilia D’Anastasio talks to several former scanlators (including NJT, who set up MangaHelpers back in the day) about their struggles to go legit, and she also talks to some legitimate translators about what they do. While scanlators defend what they do as providing a service by fans, for fans—no ugly profit involved—it’s also true that publishers may not want to license a series that is already being widely read on bootleg sites. Also, they are finding that publishers don’t want to hire them, and the pay isn’t enough to let them quit their day jobs. Because, as Kodansha Comics’ Ben Applegate observed, “Whenever there’s a large group of people giving away their labor for free, it’s going to depress pay for those who are trying to do things legitimately.”

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National Cartoonists Society honors Lynda Barry, Ann Telnaes and more

Telnaes takes home the Reuben and Barry receives the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual award presentation.

The Reuben Awards ceremony took place this past weekend at the National Cartoonists Society’s annual get-together.

Lynda Barry was presented with the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award by her old friend, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Ann Telnaes received the Cartoonist of the Year award. Ngozi Ukazu took top honors in the Online Comic: Long Form category for OMG Check Please, and Ruben Bolling’s Donald & John won the prize for Best Online Comic: Short Form. John Allison, Max Sarin, and Liz Fleming’s Giant Days was named Best Comic, and Rick Geary’s Black Dahlia won the Best Graphic Novel award.

The complete list of winners can be found below.

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