2013 Will Eisner Award Winners - Complete List

by Leroy Douresseaux

The winners of the 2013 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards were announced at a ceremony held during the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, on Friday, July 19, 2013.

Since the people that manage (or own) the Eisner Awards and many of their supporters hilariously call the Eisners the "Oscars of the comic book industry," that must mean either the "Best Continuing Series" winner (Saga) or the "Best Graphic Album" winner (Building Stories) is the Eisner "Best Picture" winner - or maybe both.

Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Winners 2013

Best Short Story: “Moon 1969: The True Story of the 1969 Moon Launch,” by Michael Kupperman, in Tales Designed to Thrizzle #8 (Fantagraphics)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot): The Mire, by Becky Cloonan (self-published)

Best Continuing Series: Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)

Best New Series: Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7): Babymouse for President, by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random House)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 8–12): Adventure Time, by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb (kaboom!)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13–17): A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle, adapted by Hope Larson (FSG)

Best Humor Publication: Darth Vader and Son, by Jeffrey Brown (Chronicle)

Best Digital Comic: Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain)

Best Anthology: Dark Horse Presents, edited by Mike Richardson (Dark Horse)

Best Reality-Based Work (TIE):

• Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller, by Joseph Lambert (Center for Cartoon Studies/Disney Hyperion)
• The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song, by Frank M. Young and David Lasky (Abrams ComicArts)

Best Graphic Album—New: Building Stories, by Chris Ware (Pantheon)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint: King City, by Brandon Graham (TokyoPop/Image)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips: Pogo, vol. 2: Bona Fide Balderdash, by Walt Kelly, edited by Carolyn Kelly and Kim Thompson (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: David Mazzucchelli’s Daredevil Born Again: Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW

Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Blacksad: Silent Hell, by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (Dark Horse)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia: Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)

Best Writer: Brian K. Vaughan, Saga (Image)

Best Writer/Artist: Chris Ware, Building Stories (Pantheon)

Best Penciler/Inker (TIE):

• David Aja, Hawkeye (Marvel)
• Chris Samnee, Daredevil (Marvel); Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom (IDW)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art): Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist: David Aja, Hawkeye (Marvel)

Best Coloring: Dave Stewart, Batwoman (DC); Fatale (Image); BPRD, Conan the Barbarian, Hellboy in Hell, Lobster Johnson, The Massive (Dark Horse)

Best Lettering: Chris Ware, Building Stories (Pantheon)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: The Comics Reporter, edited by Tom Spurgeon, www.comicsreporter.com

Best Comics-Related Book: Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, by Sean Howe (HarperCollins)

Best Educational/Academic Work: Lynda Barry: Girlhood Through the Looking Glass, by Susan E. Kirtley (University Press of Mississippi)

Best Publication Design: Building Stories, designed by Chris Ware (Pantheon)

Hall of Fame: Lee Falk, Al Jaffee, Mort Meskin, Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, Joe Sinnott

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Russel Roehling

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Chris Sparks and Team Cul deSac

Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award: Steve Gerber, Don Rosa

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Challengers Comics + Conversation, Chicago, IL


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Review: STAN LEE'S How to Draw Superheroes

STAN LEE’S HOW TO DRAW SUPERHEROES
WATSON-GUPTILL PUBLICATIONS/Dynamite Entertainment – @CrownPublishing and @dynamitecomics

WRITERS: Stan Lee with Danny Fingeroth, Keith Dallas, and Robert Sodaro
COVER:  Ardian Syaf; back cover by Alex Ross
ISBN: 978-0-8230-9845-3; paperback (July 9, 2013)
224pp, Color, $24.99 U.S., $28.99 CAN

Excelsior!  Stan Lee’s back!  And he is here to teach us about comic books – this time focusing on superheroes.  That is the case in the recently released Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes.

This paperback book is the third in a series “how-to” books published under Stan Lee’s name by Watson-Guptill Publications (a division of the Crown Publishing Group).  Under a cover by Ardian Syaf, this 2013 book is co-written by Danny Fingeroth, Keith Dallas, and Robert Sodaro.  Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes is a follow-up to Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics and Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics.

The stated purpose of Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes is to give aspiring superhero creators information on just about everything related to the comic book superhero genre: from sidekicks and secret hideouts to super-villains and monsters.  The book also has 24 step-by-step exercises designed to help readers learn how to draw a variety of superhero types – from poses and powers to secret identities and secret bases.

I did not have to peruse through too many chapters of Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes before I began to think that the book was about superheroes as much as it was a “how-to” art book, if not more so.  There are 13 chapters in this book, and all of them are basically written surveys of superheroes, costumed heroes, and super-powered humans and heroes, from Gilgamesh all the way to the new superheroes being introduced by Dynamite Entertainment.

With chapters devoted to “Sidekicks and Teen Heroes” and “Robots, Androids, and Cyborgs,” Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes is a broad overview of the elements that make up and the ideas that shape and structure superhero comic books.  This book can either be a refresher course for those familiar with superheroes or a guide for those unfamiliar who want to enter the unique world of reading that is American superhero comic books.

As a book about superheroes, Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes is good.  As a how-to art book:  well, there are better, and that includes Lee’s own How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (1978), produced with the late John Buscema.  In fact, the earlier Watson-Guptill book, Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics, offers more about drawing theory and procedure than Stan Lee’s How to Draw Superheroes.  So buy this book for what it is (about superheroes) and not for what it is advertised as (a how to draw book).

B

www.crownpublishing.com
www.watsonguptill.com


Contributing artists:  Vinicius Andrande, Javier Aranda, Mark Bagley, Ed Benes, John Byrne, Tim Bradstreet, John Buscema, J. Scott Campbell, Jim Cheung, Chris Caniano, Will Eisner, David Enebral, Francesco Francavilla, Ale Garza, Phil Hester, Joe Jusco, Jack Kirby, Jim Lee, Adriano Lucas, Steve McNiven, Frank Miller, Ivan Nunes, Lucio Parillo, Paul Renaud, John Romita, Jr., Alex Ross, Tim Seeley, Joe Shuster

07-Ghost: Fellowship of the Curse Tickets

I read 07-Ghost 05

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics).

Review: THE STRAIN: The Fall #1

THE STRAIN: THE FALL #1
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

STORY: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
SCRIPT: David Lapham
ART: Mike Huddleston
COLORS: Dan Jackson
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: E.M. Gist
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2013)

Part 1

Guillermo del Toro has directed such movies as Blade 2, the Hellboy movies, the Oscar-nominated Pan’s Labyrinth, and the new release, Pacific Rim.  Chuck Hogan wrote a novel entitled Prince of Thieves, which Ben Affleck took and adapted into the Oscar-nominated film, The Town (2010).

In 2011, Dark Horse Comics began an 11-issue comic book adaptation of Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s 2009 vampire novel, The Strain, the first book in The Strain Trilogy.  Now, the second book in the trilogy, The Fall (2010), is also getting the comic book treatment.

The Strain: The Fall is produced by the same team behind The Strain comic book series.  David Lapham is writing the comic book adaptation.  Mike Huddleston is the artist with colors by Dan Jackson and letters by Clem Robins.

The Strain’s central character is Dr. Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather, head the CDC’s Canary Project.  Eph began tracking a mystery illness at J.F.K. International Airport in New York City, after a Boeing 777 landed with everyone aboard dead, except for three individuals.  That was the beginning of a plague of vampires.

In The Strain: The Fall #1, the war against The Master, the dark lord behind this vampire invasion continues.  Eph, Nora Martinez (his second-in-command), Professor Abraham Setrakian (an aging Holocaust survivor familiar with The Master), and Vasiliy Fet (the rat exterminator) prepare to make their next move.

The Professor tells Vasiliy the centuries-spanning tale of the Occido Lumen, the book that might have the answers to stopping the Master.  Meanwhile, Eph’s ex-wife, Kelly, now a vampire, stalks her “dear one,” their son, Zack.  Eldritch Palmer, the CEO who helped the Master, makes his strongest demand yet for his reward.

Not that it is a bad thing, but The Strain: The Fall simply continues the earlier series.  In fact, The Strain: The Fall #1 could well be The Strain #12.  But that is a good thing.  The Strain is one of the best comic books of the last two years and is also a superb horror comic book.

David Lapham and Mike Huddleston are maintaining the high-quality that has become a hallmark of this comic book adaptation of The Strain Trilogy.  I will say that this first chapter seems like too small a slice of a larger story, as if issue #1 was holding off before beginning the real drama of this new series.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Review: The Strain #1

STRAIN #1
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

STORY: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
SCRIPT: David Lapham
ART: Mike Huddleston
COLORS: Dan Jackson
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Mike Huddleston
VARIANT COVER: Steve Morris
32pp, Color, $1.00 U.S. (December 2011)

Guillermo del Toro is a filmmaker known for directing such movies as Blade 2, the Hellboy movies, and the Oscar-nominated Pan’s Labyrinth.  Chuck Hogan is an American novelist, and he wrote Prince of Thieves, the novel that Ben Affleck adapted into the Oscar-nominated film, The Town (2010).

Together, del Toro and Hogan produced The Strain, a 2009 vampire novel, the first installment of The Strain trilogy.  I’m assuming that Hogan did the actual prose writing for The Strain, but del Toro’s hand in this concept is clear.

Beginning in 2011, Dark Horse Comics began publishing an 11-issue comic book adaptation of the book, also entitled The Strain.  David Lapham wrote the script adapting the novel, and Mike Huddleston drew the series, with colors by Dan Jackson.

The Strain #1 begins in Romania, 1927.  A grandmother tells her young grandson a frightening fairy tale over dinner.  It is the story of Josef Sardu, a 19th century Polish nobleman, afflicted by gigantism, and a disastrous hunt of which he was part.

The story jumps to the present day and finds Dr. Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) trying to spend some quality time with his son, Zach.  Work, however, intrudes.  Dr. Goodweather is the head of the Canary Project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats.

Apparently, there is a big threat brewing at J.F.K. (John F. Kennedy International Airport) in New York City.  That’s where a Boeing 777 went dead silent with window shades pulled down and all lights out.  With his second-in-command, Nora Martinez, at his side, Goodweather makes a bizarre discovery.  Meanwhile, a Nazi concentration camp survivor recognizes something bad.

I hope that Dark Horse Comics’ decision to offer this first issue at a $1 cover price paid off for the publisher in sales.  The Strain #1 is good.  It reminds me of a Mike Mignola comic book or at least one created under his supervision.  That would make sense with the del Toro-Mignola connection on the Hellboy movies.

Lapham has fashioned a chilling tale in which the sense of dread grows with each new scene.  He drags you along into a riveting story that will take you to a bad place, but the kind that’s fun if you’re reading about it.  This is well-written enough that any veteran comic book artist with experience in horror comic books could be the series artist.  That is no swipe at artist Mike Huddleston, however.  He’s good here, and creates atmosphere without artistic bells and whistles.  If the series maintains a high level of quality, Huddleston might end up being called a master of horror for it.

Fans of horror comic books, particularly titles like Hellboy and BPRD, will like The Strain.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Case Closed: Mr. Masakage's Disciples

I read Case Closed, Vol. 47

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.

I Reads You Review: UNCANNY X-MEN #5

UNCANNY X-MEN #5
MARVEL COMICS

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
ARTIST/COVER: Frazer Irving
LETTERS: VC’s Joe Caramagna
VARIANT COVER: Ed McGuiness and Morry Hollowell
32pp, Colors, $3.99 U.S. (June 2013)

Rated T+

As part of the Marvel NOW initiative, Marvel Comics re-launched their longest running X-Men comic book series, Uncanny X-Men.  The new series is written by Brian Michael Bendis (who is also writing All-New X-Men).  The series artist is Chris Bachalo and various inkers, especially longtime Bachalo collaborator, Tim Townsend.  The roster of this incarnation of the Uncanny X-Men includes Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost the White Queen, and Magik, along with some recently recruited new mutants.

Uncanny X-Men #5 is the start of a new storyline and the arrival a new artist, Frazer Irving.  This fifth issue opens on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, in a meeting in which Cyclops’ “mutant revolution” activities are the hot topic.  Meanwhile, at the New Xavier School for the Gifted, Magik is the hot topic.  She’s called back to her abandoned kingdom, Limbo, by an unexpected guest/interloper.

I had not planned on writing about this fifth issue of Uncanny X-Men.  In fact, after reviewing the first issue, I didn’t plan on again reviewing the series for a long time (if ever).  Frazer Irving, however, proved to be a delightful surprise for me.  His art for this issue reminds me of David Lloyd’s art for V for Vendetta (written by Alan Moore).  His pop art graphic style, with its velvet texture and photographic effects-like color, is perfect for this story of Magik’s misadventure in Limbo.

This is the kind of art that draws your attention.  In my review of Uncanny X-Men #1, I ended the review with, “Thank God for Bendis.”  Now, I am also thankful for Frazer Irving.  He made reading this particular comic book a joy for me.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux