(Wow, this took me a very long time to get done. Almost a week here. Beyond distractions, work, and “internet controversy,” my connection has been especially wonky lately. So that’s why I haven’t posted yesterday and the day before. Let’s hope my connection returns to normal. I feel ill at ease when I’m not blathering.)
The WCCA finalists are in, and damn but I’m excited. Here’s the shortlist of nominees, followed by commentary where I feel necessary. Under a cut, due to super length.
Ready go.
KEY:
Italics = One of my picks that made it to the final round
Bold = Finalist I’m voting for
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OUTSTANDING COMIC FINALISTS:
Copper by Kazu Kibuishi
Ctrl-Alt-Del by Tim Buckley
Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques
Scary Go Round by John Allison
I knew QC was worthy for the overall best award, as it’s been the most efficient comic as a business model, while also being stupendous in art and writing. If any up and comers want to know how to run their comic, they want to look at Questionable Content. But me? My vote’s going to Copper because it’s just phenomenal. QC is awesome, but Copper floors me.
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OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER FINALISTS:
Beaver & Steve by James Turner
A Lesson is Learned but the Damage is Irreversible by Dale Beran & David Hellman
Pet Professional by Jason Salsbury & Matt Kaufenberg
Punks & Nerds by Josh Mirman
The Tenth Life of Pishio the Cat by Zack Giallongo
Beaver and Steve managed to make a name for itself as a great comic and a unique voice in a very short amount of time, so it gets my vote for Best Newcomer.
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OUTSTANDING ART:
John Allison (Scary-Go-Round)
Sarah Ellerton (Inverloch)
David Hellman (A Lesson is Learned but the Damage is Irreversible)
Kazu Kibuishi (Copper)
Ian MacConville (Mac Hall)
I was pleased to see all my noms make it to the final round, but still this is where I think Copper is strongest, in its art. So my vote’s going to Copper.
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OUTSTANDING WRITING:
Shaenon Garrity (Narbonic)
Jerry Holkins (Penny Arcade)
Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics)
Chris Onstad (Achewood)
Love it or hate it, Penny Arcade has some of the smartest, driest, and scathing wit out there. And the news posts. The award is for the comic, but the news posts add the boost to my decision. the award is for overall writing, and that to me includes all on the site. So PA wins for quality and quantity.
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OUTSTANDING BLACK AND WHITE ART:
Digger by Ursula Vernon
Megatokyo by Fred Gallagher
Sam and Fuzzy by Sam Logan
Wapsi Square by Paul Taylor
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OUTSTANDING USE OF COLOR:
Copper by Kazu Kibuishi
A Lesson is Learned but the Damage is Irreversible by Dale Beran & David Hellman
Mac Hall by Ian MacConville
VG Cats by Scott Ramsoomair
Again, pleased to see all my noms made it to the final round. But if the award is for color, I give it to Lesson. Because it is essentially only color on black canvas.
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OUTSTANDING CHARACTER (Visual):
Earthsong by Crystal Yates
Penny Arcade by Mike Krahulik & Jerry Holkins
PowerPuff Girls Doujinshi by Bleedman
Wapsi Square by Paul Taylor
I was surprised and very pleased to see PPGD make it to the final round, and it definitely gets my vote for character art. Because his character art is beautiful.
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OUTSTANDING NEW CHARACTER DESIGN:
Automatic winner to be announced.
Interesting… Didn’t even know this was going on. I personally don’t have a pick for the win, as I can’t really narrow it down. Still, this oughtta be cool.
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OUTSTANDING CHARACTER (Writing):
College Roomies From Hell by Maritza Campos
Dicebox by Jenn Manley Lee
Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques
Something Positive by R.K. Milholland
My vote goes to the hardest working man in webcomics, Randy Milholland. He’s put out a very strong year in character writing. Between Davan and Branwen and the evolution of Mike, it seems obvious to me that Randy deserves this one.
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OUTSTANDING COMEDIC COMIC:
Dinosaur Comics by Ryan North
Narbonic by Shaenon Garrity
The Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew
Penny Arcade by Mike Krahulik & Jerry Holkins
The Perry Bible Fellowship by Nicholas Gurewitch
Something Positive by R.K. Milholland
VG Cats by Scott Ramsoomair
Damn. Seven finalists. This is very tough. To me, it comes down to PA and PBF. And my vote goes to PBF. Both are consistently funny. But the recognition I think goes to PBF because it’s hilarious in a larger variety of ways, with more diverse ideas. It’s a tough call, but it’s the one I made.
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OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC COMIC:
Jack by David Hopkins
Reman Mythology by Amy Kim Ganter
Star Cross’d Destiny by Blair B
The Stiff by Jason Thompson
*shrug* I don’t read any of them, so I’m not about to cast a blind vote.
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OUTSTANDING LONG FORM COMIC:
Alpha Shade by Christopher Brudlos & Joseph Brudlos
Dicebox by Jenn Manley Lee
Reman Mythology by Amy Kim Ganter
See above.
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OUTSTANDING SHORT FORM COMIC:
Dinosaur Comics by Ryan North
Penny Arcade by Mike Krahulik & Jerry Holkins
The Perry Bible Fellowship by Nicholas Gurewitch
VG Cats by Scott Ramsoomair
I still wish Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal could win this one. But since it’s not in the running, I’m giving my vote to PBF for essentially the same reasons as the Outstanding Comedy category.
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OUTSTANDING ANTHROPOMORPHIC COMIC:
Dinosaur Comics by Ryan North
Dan & Mab’s Furry Adventures by Amber M. Panyko
Digger by Ursula Vernon
Detective Fork by Kevin J. Guhl
Near the Delta by Andrew Batog
Dinosaur Comics?! I mean… it’s good. But it’s not what I’d call anthro. Still, not voting on this one due to unfamiliarity of content.
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OUTSTANDING FANTASY COMIC:
Digger by Ursula Vernon
Errant Story by Michael Poe
Inverloch by Sarah Ellerton
The Order of the Stick by Rich Burlew
Reman Mythology by Amy Kim Ganter
Again, taken slightly aback to see Order of the Stick in this category. While it’s a fantasy comic it’s much more a gaming comic in my mind. But that’s just my nit-picky thoughts as above in the anthro category. Not voting due to unfamiliarity of content.
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OUTSTANDING GAMING COMIC:
Ctrl+Alt+Del by Tim Buckley
Penny Arcade by Mike Krahulik & Jerry Holkins
Player vs. Player by Scott Kurtz
VG Cats by Scott Ramsoomair
I didn’t nominate CAD, PA or PVP because I knew they’d make it to the final. But I did nominate VG Cats, and I’m proud to see it there. I’m voting for it, mostly because I want to root for the underdog. And I want VG Cats to get the recognition it deserves.
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OUTSTANDING REALITY COMIC:
American Elf by James Kochalka
The Devil’s Panties by Jennie Breeden
Real Life by Greg Dean
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
Heh. I love Real Life. It was one of the first webcomics I ever read. But I didn’t nominate it for the category because lately, while good, it’s been a lot less… realistic. But I’m voting for Devil’s Panties because it is the best example of a quality reality comic I could ever think of.
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OUTSTANDING ROMANTIC COMIC:
It’s About Girls by William G
Questionable Content by J. Jacques
Red String by Gina Biggs
Two Kinds by Tom Fischbach
Nice work on the nomination, Will. Good luck against Questionable Content, Will. Haha… I’m just busting his chops there. But I decline from voting because I’m not familiar with the other two.
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And that seems to be everything I had a comment on/voted for. Thanks for reading.
Let me inform you about the romance category:
1) Like one of those books people dont want assigned by the professor in second year English Lit
2) Friends v.2
3) “Them guys sure have big eyes for Japanese people”
4) see #3
Red String is actually the only true romance comic (as people know the term) in there.
I’m of the opinion that: “Dinosaur Comic’s Funny” > “Penny Arcade’s Funny”, but you knew that. And I dont think PPG Doujinshi should be in there. For while it’s pretty, they aint the artists’s characters. That’d be like me accepting an award for that Thor sketch I put on my blog a few weeks ago.
Perhaps, but the award isn’t for best original character. It’s for best character art. As in art of characters. And PPGD rocks that.
Well, that is an interpretation of the category that the committe seems to agree with.