Showing posts with label Jacques Tardi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacques Tardi. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

CHEW Wins "Best Series" Eisner Award

Wilson and Dapper Men Tie for Best Graphic Album at 2011 Eisner Awards

IDW Garners Five Trophies

SAN DIEGO – The 2011 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, presented by Comic-Con International (Comic-Con®), ended on an unusual note Friday night with the Best Graphic Album-New category going to two winners: Jim McCann and Janet Lee's Return of the Dapper Men (published by Archaia) and Dan Clowes's Wilson (published by Drawn & Quarterly). The awards, considered the "Oscars®" of comics [Considered by whom? Morons? - Leroy], were presented in a gala ceremony at the Indigo Ballroom of the Hilton Bayfront. The "Eisners," which honor comics' best and brightest, were held as part of Comic-Con, the world's largest comic book and popular arts event in the Western Hemisphere.

The Graphic Album category is somewhat comparable to "Best Picture" in the comics industry [What a ridiculous thing to claim - Leroy]. Other notable winners included horror novelist Joe Hill for Best Writer (Locke & Key, IDW), Chew (Image) by John Layman and Rob Guillory for Best Continuing Series, Daytripper (Vertigo/DC) by Brazilian brothers Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon for Best Limited Series, and American Vampire (Vertigo/DC) by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque for Best New Series.

Creators who received multiple awards were Hellboy creator Mike Mignola (Best Cover Artist, Best Single Issue for Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, published by Dark Horse), famed French cartoonist Jacques Tardi (Best Reality-Based Work and Best U.S. Edition of International Material for It Was the War of the Trenches, published by Fantagraphics), and artist Skottie Young (Best Adaption from Another Work and Best Penciller/Inker for The Marvelous Land of Oz, published by Marvel).

The publisher taking away the most awards was IDW, with five total, including two for Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer Artist's Edition, in addition to Joe Hill's Best Writer nod and Darwyn Cooke's win for Best Writer/Artist. DC Comics had four winners plus two shared, along with bragging rights for the Best Comics-Related Book: 75 Years of DC Comics, by Paul Levitz. Dark Horse had three winners (including the two for Mignola) plus two shared. Marvel Comics received three trophies, while Archaia and Fantagraphics receive two. Other publishers taking home trophies included BOOM!, Drawn & Quarterly, Image, Scholastic, and VIZ.

The evening was presided over by Bill Morrison, creative director for Matt Groening's Bongo Comics. The evening was divided into three segments, each with special hosts. It kicked off with writer/actors Ben Garant and Tom Lennon (Reno 911, Night at the Museum), who acted out their script for a multimillion-dollar Eisner Awards opening number. The second segment was hosted by Comic-Con special guests Anina Bennett and Paul Guinan, creators of the steampunk bestseller Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel. The host for the final segment was actor/voice actor Phil LaMarr (Pee Wee's Playhouse, Futurama, Samurai Jack).

Presenters during the evening included actor/author Lance Henriksen (Millennium, Aliens); bestselling author Glen David Gold (Carter Beats the Devil); British talk show host and comics author Jonathan Ross; Eisner nominees Gerry Alanguilan, Ian Boothby, Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, Greg Rucka, and Jill Thompson; and Comic-Con special guests Dave Gibbons, Joëlle Jones, Patrick McDonnell, and Walter and Louise Simonson.

Sergio Aragonés once again presented the Hall of Fame Awards. The eight inductees and their acceptors were: Nancy creator Ernie Bushmiller (accepted by Denis Kitchen), MAD cartoonist Mort Drucker (accepted by MAD art director Sam Viviano), underground comix pioneer Jack Jackson (accepted by his son, Sam) Green Lantern co-creator Martin Nodell (accepted by his son, Spencer), autobiographical comics writer Harvey Pekar (accepted by his wife, Joyce Brabner), comics writer/editor Roy Thomas, pioneer graphic novelist Lynd Ward (accepted by his daughter, Robin Ward Savage), and comics writer/artist Marv Wolfman.

Among the other awards given out over the evening were the Comic-Con's Clampett and Manning awards. The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, presented by Bob's daughter Ruth, went to Mutts cartoonist Patrick McDonnell, for his efforts for animal welfare. The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award went to Nate Simpson (writer/artist of Nonplayer, published by Image Comics) and was presented by past Manning recipient Chris Bailey.

The seventh annual Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing was presented by Mark Evanier to 93-year-old Del Connell (prolific Dell Comics/Disney writer, Space Family Robinson), accepted by his son, Brady, and to the late Bob Haney (Metamorpho, Brave & the Bold, Doom Patrol), whose award was accepted by Ramona Fradon. Maggie Thompson (editor of Comics Buyers Guide) introduced the special In Memoriam video salute.

The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, given to a store that has done an outstanding job of supporting the comics art medium both in the community and within the industry at large, went to Comics & Vegetables of Tel Aviv, Israel. Baby Tattoo, publishers of books for kids and adults, sponsored the retailer award.

The title sponsor for this year's Eisner Awards was Advanced Micro Devices which gave away a free computer to a lucky audience member. The principal sponsors were Gentle Giant Studios and Lebonfon Printing. Supporting sponsors were Alternate Reality Comics of Las Vegas; Atlantis Fantasyworld of Santa Cruz, CA; Diamond Comic Distributors; Flying Colors and Other Cool Stuff of Concord, CA; mycomicshop.com; Strange Adventures of Halifax, Nova Scotia; Warp 1 of Edmonton, Alberta; and Mel Thompson and Associates.

The Eisner Awards are part of, and underwritten by, Comic-Con International: San Diego, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture.


Saturday, March 5, 2011

Jacques Tardi Retrospective at Fantagraphics Bookstore March 12 2011



Master French cartoonist Jacques Tardi featured at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, March 12.
 
The work of French cartoonist Jacques Tardi was introduced to American audiences more than three decades ago. His work was championed by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly, who included him in their prestigious RAW anthology in the early 1980s. For the remainder of the century, several North American publishers endeavored to draw attention to Tardi. Yet with the exception of the alternative comics cognoscenti, his work remained marginalized in the United States. Only with the persistence of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books – who have published no fewer than five Tardi titles in the past 2 years – has this acknowledged genius found a substantial American following.

“Better Tardi Than Never: How France's Greatest Living Cartoonist Took a Mere 32 Years to Break Through to American Audiences” examines the life’s work of Jacques Tardi. Organized by Fantagraphics Books co-publisher, editor, and Tardi translator Kim Thompson, the exhibition includes pages from the artist’s earliest English translations dating back to 1977. Thompson began translating Tardi in 1983 with an excerpt from It Was the War of the Trenches in RAW #5. He has been a tireless advocate of this extraordinary artist, translating and publishing his work in several anthologies until American readers finally caught on. The exhibition will include examples of each Tardi translation to reach American soil, along with a narrative explaining the context.

The opening reception on Saturday, March 12 will feature a slide lecture by the show’s curator Kim Thompson at 6:30 PM. “You Don’t Know Jacques. Tardi: 20 Books in 20 Minutes” examines the cartoonist’s career in France. The event will also feature the world premiere of Fantagraphics' fifth Tardi book, the epic “icepunk” tale The Artic Marauder.

The opening on March 12 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM coincides with the colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring visual and performing arts presentations throughout the historic neighborhood. For more information and a map of participants see: www.geogetownartattack.com.

Listing information:
BETTER TARDI THAN NEVER
How France's greatest living cartoonist took a mere 32 years to break through to American audiences.
Curated by Kim Thompson
Opening Saturday, March 12, 6:00 – 9:00 PM

YOU DON'T KNOW JACQUES
Tardi: 20 books in 20 minutes
A slide presentation by Fantagraphics co-publisher, editor and translator Kim Thompson at 6:30 PM on March 12.
http://www.fantagraphics.com/news/bettertardi

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.)
Seattle, WA 98108 206.658.0110
Open daily 11:30 – 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM
http://www.fantagraphics.com/