BEST WRITER: Jason Aaron, “SCALPED”, Vertigo/DC Comics. I thought Blackest Night was a joyless, boring slog and Irredeemable isn’t much better. (Of course, at least Geoff Johns isn’t complaining about superheroes being dark and joyless while writing a dark, joyless superhero book, so he’s still ahead of Waid right now.) Diary of a Wimpy Kid isn’t my thing, although I think it’s decent work. That leaves The Walking Dead as Aaron’s sole competition for Best Writer, and although Robert Kirkman does good, steady work that cumulatively knocks your socks off over a pace of years, over any single year it’s just a good, solid comic. Aaron gets my nod, although it’s as much for Ghost Rider as it is for Scalped. Should have been nominated: Fred van Lente.
BEST ARTIST: JH Williams III, “DETECTIVE COMICS”, DC Comics. It’s hard to pick between Frank Quitely and Williams, but Batman and Robin, while a beautiful comic, isn’t even in the top ten things Quitely’s done in the last decade. What Williams did in his Batwoman arcs on Detective was simply staggering in so many ways: beautiful, original, workmanlike… you need more adjectives. Should have been nominated: Steve Dillon.
BEST CARTOONIST: David Mazzucchelli, “ASTERIOS POLYP”, Pantheon. I never get the point of this category, which exists seemingly only to make sure that Seth doesn’t have to compete with Jim Lee. Anyway, Mazzucchelli’s got this one in a walk, and that comes in an exceptional year: George Sprott is my favorite thing Seth’s ever done, Darwyn Cooke on Parker is Darwyn Cooke being Darwyn Cooke, and Roger Langridge’s Muppet Show comics are things of pure joy. But they don’t stand up against Asterios Polyp. Should have been nominated: Art Baltazar.
BEST LETTERER: David Mazzucchelli, “ASTERIOS POLYP”, Pantheon. Everybody else nominated does really great stuff, but I always judge this by the Todd Klein rule, which is “does the lettering transcend mere workmanship to become art in and of itself,” and only Mazzucchelli qualifies for me; his work on Polyp was just goddamned graceful. There’s no other word for it. Should have been nominated: Did Todd Klein do anything this year?
BEST INKER: Klaus Janson, “AMAZING SPIDER-MAN”, Marvel Comics. Klaus Janson will always get my vote whenever he gets nominated. His inks are brutal, awesome violence.
BEST COLORIST: Steve Hamaker, “BONE: CROWN OF HORNS”, Graphix. I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it must be to colorize Bone, a work so intrinsically black and white that colors applied inartfully would only serve to destroy the overall integrity of the work. Hamaker does it so brilliantly that you could almost forget that the black-and-white version ever existed. Laura Martin’s gorgeous recoloring work on The Rocketeer is a close second and I had to decide this one over time.
BEST COVER ARTIST: Frank Quitely, “BATMAN AND ROBIN”, DC Comics. Another duel to the death between Quitely and JH Williams III, but this round Quitely walks away with the prize; his covers on Batman and Robin manage to both feel like traditional superhero covers and new-wave Morrisonia at the same time. A narrow victory, though, considering how great Williams’ covers were on Detective.
BEST NEW TALENT: Not voting; I haven’t read any of them except Chew and Power Out, and the former doesn’t impress me as much as it does other people (cute idea, but I’m far from sold thus far), and the latter is promising but in progress. So no vote.
BEST NEW SERIES: “BATMAN AND ROBIN”, DC Comics. Even with Grant Morrison more and more getting away from writing stories and getting more involved with long metaplots which don’t seem to go anywhere – and I know people can argue about this for hours at a time so let’s not start another round – this is still the most vital comic on the stands; it’s just got juice to it, you know? The two Vertigo entries are also both really strong and I had to think about it before passing them over. Also, I have no idea why Irredeemable keeps getting all these nominations because it’s not very good. Should have been nominated: The Muppet Show.
BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES: “THE WALKING DEAD”, Image Comics. Remember what I said before about how Kirkman’s real strength is simple tenacity? That’s why I vote for him here. Should have been nominated: Incredible Hercules.
BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC PUBLICATION FOR YOUNGER READERS: “THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK”, BOOM! Studios. I am biased. Sue me.
BEST ANTHOLOGY: “FLIGHT # 6”, Villard. I love the Flight collections, each and every one. They’re gorgeous comics and I always find new things to like in every collection, which is why they always get my vote.
BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC ALBUM: “GEORGE SPROTT (1894-1975)”, by Seth, Drawn and Quarterly. After losing out to Asterios Polyp in previous categories, why do I give the nod to Seth now? Because Polyp has a horrible, horrible ending. It’s just that simple: the ending is so annoying it cuts the enjoyment value of the book in half. Seth does not do that to you with George Sprott. So he gets my vote.
BEST SYNDICATED STRIP OR PANEL: “PEARLS BEFORE SWINE”, by Stephan Pastis, United Feature Syndicate. Every year it seems like this is just a list of comics people don’t actively despise, and the list gets shorter every year as the Comics Curmudgeon has ever more targets. Pearls is my favorite; it wins.
BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT: “THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES”, by Dave Stevens; edited by Scott Dunbier, IDW. Gorgeously recolored as previously mentioned, but now all the Rocketeer stuff is in one book. The only way this could be any better is if it had a slip pocket on the inside cover to hold the DVD of the (deeply enjoyable) movie.
BEST ONLINE COMICS WORK: “HARK! A VAGRANT”, by Kate Beaton, http://harkavagrant.com. Nothing else even comes close. Sadly, Scott Kurtz is campaigning to win the award on the basis that, I dunno, it’s his turn or something. Go vote for Kate Beaton instead! She can actually write a punchline!
SPECIAL AWARD FOR HUMOR IN COMICS: Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, “BEASTS OF BURDEN”, Dark Horse Books. Not so much because it’s hilarious (it’s fun, but Muppet Show is funnier), but because I can’t not vote for Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson working together at least once.
BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY: “JONAH HEX #50”, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, artwork by Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics. Putting this lovely single issue up against the likes of book-length projects like George Sprott, Asterios Polyp and Parker just seems criminally unfair; a single issue isn’t a full book and shouldn’t be judged on the same merit, just as a short story shouldn’t compete against a novel. This gets my vote out of rebellion. And because it was a really great comic.
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If Scott Kurtz would agree to retire and shut up forever in exchange for a Harvey, I would vote for him in a heartbeat.
Good to see some love for Incredible Hercules, even if it wasn’t nominated.
obligatory defense of Kurtz given that I still enjoy him.
But i totally agree with you on muppet show being great and irredeemable being terrible. also, is there a reverse harvey awards? and can we nominate mark millar for one of those?
Sorry, but Unwritten beats Batman and Robin, hands down for best new series. It’s just flat out incredible, and it’s doing some really interesting, innovative stuff.
I’d also be inclined to give Scalped or Invincible the nod over Walking Dead, but any of those three is a deserving winner.
Hm. In checking last year’s nominees for online work, Least I Could Do? Seriously? Really?
Awwwwww I loved the ending to Polyp lovely black comedy that I could not suppress a chuckle from.
I love me some Kate Beaton. It’s easily one of my favorite comics of the last year.
I’m a bit confused by the should’ve-been-nominated-for-artist selection of Steve Dillon. I’ve only seen a couple of panels of his work from this year, but they looked like the same old stuff…which I confess I don’t see the appeal of.
(Although I might be too easily annoyed by the whole Dillon-Head phenomenon. You know, how every character has the same head, that classic Dillon-Head with its nice round cranium and strangely proportioned lips? Yeah, you do. Everyone who’s seen his art knows what that looks like, it’s how you can tell Steve Dillon drew the comic without having to look at the credits.)
I love Kate Beaton, but Kurtz has really improved his art in the recent years so I want him to finally win a Harvey Award. He’s been nominated like five times. At this point it’s a little cruel.
Still, it’s a good list. The only thing that really perplexes me on that list is Steve Dillon. He’s a very solid artist, but his faces are incredibly bland and I feel his work has become regressed and smoother over time. Some might say it’s the art stabilizing, but it just looks like less detail is going in year after year.
The trouble with Asterios Polyp isn’t just its ending, it’s that it’s really the sort of thing Paul Auster, Don DeLillo, or T.C. Boyle could fart out in a weekend, and then bury in the back of their short story collections labeled “early works”. Despite Mazzucchelli’s immesurable artistic talent, the story has very little to say.
Hey, MGK: I’m holding you to that vote!!
What Coren said. Unwritten is far and away the best new series of 2009. Nothing else even comes close.
Mostly agree with you on everything else, although that’s likely because a lot of stuff got cut from the finals for god only knows why. Scott Pilgrim only gets a nod in the special humor category? Gunnerkrigg Court isn’t nominated in the Online category? Really? I mean, why.
I like Kurtz’s blaminations with Kris Straub. Was Penny-Arcade nominated for anything?
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Irredeemable would be considered awful if it was set in the DCU (either in-continuity or as an Elseworlds). But for some reason having filed off version of Superman and other DC characters (and not even bothering to give the filed off versions much in the way of personalities), lots of people seem to like it.
Of course, at least Geoff Johns isn’t complaining about superheroes being dark and joyless while writing a dark, joyless superhero book, so he’s still ahead of Waid right now.
I think Waid’s complaint is more specific: it’s about Silver Age DCU superheroes being written as dark and joyless.
Of course, that just means we should laugh at Waid for putting the Silver Age DCU on a pedestal and not being able to recognize that all stories about superheroes influence each other to some extent.
Why is James Jean always being snubbed for best cover artist?
I’ll vote for Steve Dillon if he has learned how to draw a dog. That was the strangest part of Preacher, seeing Jesse befriend that fox-thing.
I’m with the above: Unwritten is the comic of the year. Although I’m also tempted to give best mini to Daytripper or Joe the Barbarian – Vertigo is absolutely knocking it out of the park at present. Actually, Sean Murphy should have picked up a “Best New Talent” nomination…
And judging by his failure to be nominated for any Eisners or, well, anything, I think it’s safe to say that all awards for “Best Letterer” have unofficially become “Best Letterer (apart from Todd Klein)”.
Asterios Polyps sort of reminds me of Inception, in that the very final shot/page hugely frustrates me.
If by “improved” you mean “has gotten more detailed and uglier at the same time,” then yes, he has improved.
Well, let’s be fair. Kurtz does have bigger tits than Susan Lucci, so therefore he probably should have to wait longer for his statuette. Or something.
(Yes, a fat joke is cheap, but can you come up with another point of common reference for Kurtz and Susan Lucci?)
The only thing that bugs me about Kurtz’s new style is that it doesn’t extend to the main characters, who look exactly the same as before.
Also, it’s still not funny, but the strip can’t lose what it never had.
I’m with you on almost everything. I’d go with Unwritten for best new series and High Monn for Best Online Comic.
I am simply thrilled to bits that Kate Beaton is nominated. Obviously I hope she wins, but to see her recognized is nice.
On the other hand I really hope Blackest Night loses, like as much as I really hoped Avatar would lose Best Picture, and for similar reasons.
@MGK: Kay.
I dunno. Has Quitely stopped using potatoes as facial models?
I hate how Mignola is never nominated ever. EVER.
Oh, thank dog, Panthyr, I was starting to think I was the only one who didn’t like Quitely’s weirdly bloated faces.
My one complaint about Klaus Janson, which would make me hesitate just a tad in voting for him, is that everyone he inks tends to look like Klaus Janson. I do kind of like it when an inker brings out the strengths of the penciler.
Yes, I think Scott Kurtz is a decent cartoonist and his art has improved, et cetera.
No, I don’t think he deserves it.
I’m from the school of thought which finds Scott Kurtz to be kind of a douche, as webcomic artists go. He’s a bitter man for never having been syndicated, and now considers all syndicated comic strips fated to die a slow death.
I think the dude needs to chill and not go around demanding he win an award just because he’s been nominated so many times. I read a plethora of webcomics, and for humour he’s not even in the top fifteen.
Source for Kurtz being a douche here: http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/03/31/aaec-convention-plans-shaping-up/
I thought ASM #600 deserved a nod for best single-issue comic/storyline. That, my friends, is how milestone comics should be done. Now that I think about it, though, not sure if that would qualifies as this years’ nominee or from last year?