Eisner Award Nominees for Digital Comics
I thought it’d be good to do a bit on all the Eisner Award Noms for the brand spankin’ new digital comics category. I mostly agree with Tycho’s feelings (read: hatred) on the idea that Webcomics are subject to different scrutiny than the rest. Webcomics shouldn’t be set aside simply because they follow a different format. But I’m taking this for what it is: A step in the right direction. The fact that Webcomics are on the list at all this year is a pretty big deal, especially since the awards are mainly for the print side of the industry.
For the record, if you are unfamiliar, here are the nominees for the award:
Athena Voltaire, by Steve Bryant.
Copper, by Kazu.
Jonny Crossbones, by Les McClaine.
Mom’s Cancer, by Brian Fies.
Ojingogo, by Matt Forsythe.
(Bento & Starchky, by Peter Branting was a nominee at one point, but has been removed due to a rules discrepancy. That one was some interesting Dadaism in comic form, well executed as far as anyone knows (it’s Dada after all). Didn’t suit my personal tastes but seems to be a good bit of comicking by any standpoint.)
Athena Voltaire just doesn’t really grab me. It has a lot of good qualities, and I can see why it was nominated, I just don’t really like it. It looks and reads exactly like a serial book. The art is plenty skilled, with its very realistic style and method. Heavy inks are fun for me to look at, and the digital coloring does well with lighting effects. Although there’s one page in the previews that sticks out with its malformed faces. The story reflects a classic adventurer’s life style. Unfortunately, that’s just not my cup of tea. Anyway, I’d've liked to read more, but my cheapskate nature that I hold so dear prevents me from subscribing.
I really enjoyed reading Jonny Crossbones. It uses a classic art style that reminds me very much of Tin Tin. Another good ol’ adventure story, about pirate’s treasure. I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like a story of pirate’s treasure hunting. Also very noteworthy is Johnny Crossbones’ character design. Just what is he, anyway? Is that makeup, a full body suit? Whatever it is, it’s damned cool. And he’s a great lead: Smart but clumsy, aloof but charming, reluctant yet daring… He’s like Johnny Quest without the suck.
I read Ojingogo and honestly I have no fucking clue what is going on, but I don’t care because it’s still awesome. Very abstract and cool, and good use of Infinite canvas. And I really, really love that “Ak!” thing, whatever it is. Personally, I’d prefer the thing to be in English so I could maybe read it and understand it, which is my only real complaint. Otherwise, weird awesome stuff.
Mom’s Cancer is a pretty heartwarming story. I never got a chance to read Pekar’s “Our Cancer Year,” but I plan to prioritize it now, since the author of this one acknowledges the differences and similarities. Anyway, It’s weird to say the story was “Well written” because it’s a true story. So I’m going to go with “Well interpreted.” I really was a cool way to tell the story. So human, and with fun visual analogies to what’s going on. It may be selfish for me to say that I’m hoping this one doesn’t win based on the idea that it’s a cancer story. If it wins, it should win based on its creative merit. But that’s just me being a preferential dick.
All the entries impressed me, but Copper was the only one that floored me. This comic is beautiful and pure. The great stories of a boy and his dog with a weird apocalyptic undertone found in some of the strips. The art is just stupendous with its flawless cartoonism, use of light colors, and just… Gah! I’m trying to get the words out on this one. I’m trying to say how perfect this strip is. Let me say then that Copper is a spot-on definition of the idea of sequential art. I’m scouring for negative points on this, and the only one I can find is the fact that it only updates once a month. Which is fine, really. I mean, I crave more, but a month of time helps make sure that the comic is one polished piece of work.
I take Copper as my pick for the win.
April 18th, 2005 at 1:24 pm
Boy, nothing sadder than the reactions of a primadonna being snubbed for an award in favor of another primadonna… except for them being completely passive-agressive about it. Ha!
I just hope they dont send their fanbase out to attack Eisner’s gravesite!
Hahaha! What a bunch of dweebs.
April 18th, 2005 at 1:32 pm
Anyway, I’m betting on Athena Voltaire because it’s the most print-like of them all. And really, the Eisners are the “old men” of the comics business.
April 18th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
You’re probably right about Voltaire. Although if it were me…
April 18th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
Oh yeah, I’d have a completely different list up there.
April 18th, 2005 at 10:47 pm
Copper is an amazing comic. Got a hold of that one a while ago, and dammed if I couldn’t read that thing forever. WHY MUST IT BE SO SHORT. I know quality takes time, but that does little to slake my thirst for reading it.
Also, William: if there is any primadonnaing here, it seems, I would say that it is coming from you. I would like to avoid an argument out of respect for this being Phil’s site, but with all due respect, I feel compelled to say that you taking post-facto potshots at Tycho like this I think is rather low. If you’re going to touch on Tycho’s comments (which are the subject at hand), I would ask you please, for the sake of critique (which is ideally what all this is about, right?) focus on them, and not on your previous lambasting. If you did indeed review PA and PVP with the intent of examining them more fully, it does not help this claim if you go out of your way to add an unprovoked attack as a non-sequitur to this discussion. (but as this snarkblog famously claims, “I’m just sayin’ is all.”) And if it was meant jokingly, well… I ask you to recognize that this medium is not always the best one for clear communication of intent. Anyhow.
Speaking of which (and switching tracks back) what would your list be? Or delving more into the previous issue, SHOULD there even BE a “webcomics” list, or should it be grouped with the rest? If so, why, and if not, what criteria should be followed instead of just “oh, you can read it on the Inter-Net!” Should we be all Scott-McCloud-infinite-canvas-use-of-flash-etc. about it, or what? This is why my ’satiable curiousity begs me to ask of the creators and critiquers of webcomics alike.
With respect and curiosity, what say you all?
April 19th, 2005 at 6:36 am
Blue, while I do recognize your fannish over-protectiveness, you’re just going to have to start accepting that not everyone is as enamored with them as you are.
Anyway, the web IS a different medium from print. There is absolutely no reason for a print comic award ceremony to even acknowledge web based material, and they simply wouldn’t have done so unless Flight and Same Difference came thundering into the comic fan’s awareness the last couple of years…
But their criteria is pretty obvious, since it’s the same criteria they hold for most comics they give the nod to: Works that can stand up to the glare of the critical eye without a lot of whining from the creators. Art that looks good enough to make a coffeetable book out of. A story that makes you say, “Over already?! Dammit! That really sucked me in”. And an updating schedule that indicates that the creator knows how to meet a deadline.
Basically they want “the total package” and generally speaking, the webcomics world didn’t have it for the longest time. But that has been changing over the last few years, and they can see it as well as we can. But this list shows that they still havent been able to grasp (like a hefty percentage of webcomics creators and their audiences) the differences that make webcomics, webcomics. They’re still looking at them as print comics that just happen to be on the web, and their selections show that.
April 19th, 2005 at 6:44 am
Oh yeah my list of comics:
Keepers-
Copper
Mom’s Cancer
Replacements-
Dinosaur Comics and/or Diesel Sweeties
Ballad
A Lesson is Learned, But the Damage is Irreversible
I know Dinosaur Comics / Diesel Sweeties are iffy because of the art, but the writing is better than most gag-strips out there on the web.
April 19th, 2005 at 7:22 am
I think I agree on A Lesson is Learned. That shit’s damned artistic.
April 19th, 2005 at 8:54 pm
William: This has nothing to do with “fannish over-protectiveness,” as you put it. It has to do with staying on topic and not hijacking threads as a method of self-congradulation. I agree that no strip should be above criticism, and I have also said before that I completely disagree with the method you used. But that’s been SAID, and has no place here - as I argue your little snipe does not. I know very well that not everyone loves those strips, and really, _plenty_ of people have attacked them. Every strip, no matter HOW popular, will have people who love it and people who hate it, even (even? ESPECIALLY!) ones like PA and PVP. All I am saying here? Time and place for your statement, and here is not it.
Anyhow. I’m going against my own recommendation. I second A Lesson Is Learned, and possibly offer up Empty Words (http://www.emptywords.ca), Spiders (http://www.e-sheep.com/spiders/), and Nowhere Girl (http://www.nowheregirl.com/). And possibly Return to Sender (http://rts.lunistice.com/) although it is shifty with the updating.
Of these, I have to point to Spiders as the most “web-ish” in that it REQUIRES the viewing medium of the web in order to work. Empty Words, Nowhere Girl, A Lesson Is Learned, Return to Sender, and Copper could all exist in print format, but Spiders absolutely could not. Its a tricky medium, this web, and like the Nintendo DS vs. the Sony PSP (pardon the analogy: I am a gamer, after all) it’s hard to discover the deeper uses of something so attuned to gimmicks versus something that follows a familiar pattern. So a comic that embeds things like Flash, or little mini-gifs in a panel… more like a gimmick. What is the type of application that will bring in this deeper level of involvement? I don’t know. I haven’t seen it yet, really. Eager to uncover it when it shows up… and we’ll see how much it follows Scott McCloud’s predictions (in Reinventing Comics) and how much it strikes out on its own.
April 20th, 2005 at 7:28 am
Blue, I could just as easily point out that your grandstanding has no place here either, but really, it’s Phil’s decision, not ours.
I think the Tarquin Engine is the best bridge I’ve seen thus far between the world of print and pure web experimentation like Merlin Goodbrey’s other works like Sixgun. All the reader has to do is go “click” and the panel will slide into their field of view. It fits the browser window, and works done in it thus far (mostly infinite canvas) cannot be translated to print without major effort.