The Inkwell Awards, sponsored by an organization of the same name that works to promote the work of inkers in comics, has opened its voting for their 2015 awards. The point of the Inkwell Awards, as both an organization and as an award, is to give some love and attention to a part of the comic-making process that is all-too-often getting skipped these days.
I hate to bring up the "I've been reading comics for three decades" thing again, but I'll do it here. One of the disturbing trends I've seen in comics is trying to end around the inker, going straight from finished pencils to coloring. That means that in addition to everything else the colorist has to do, now they have to try to bring depth and shadow to a book in a way that they weren't meant to. There's a reason why comics has had a tradition of having someone bring their own style to the lines of the penciler or for the creator to take on both roles. An inker can destroy pencils, sure--especially if they erase them, Colletta-style--but they also can enhance them. Just look at someone like John Buscema. His pencils look so very different in the hands of Ernie Chan, brother Sal Buscema, Bill Sienkiwicz, or any number of others.
So I'm very happy that Inkwell Awards exists as an organization, and while the nominees are mostly for comics I didn't read, coming strongly out of the Marvel-DC orbit, I'd love for those of you who read more mainstream books to chime in an offer your opinions on who the best inkers were in 2014.
Categories include: Favorite Inker, Most Adaptable Inker, and an award for penciller/inkers.
The deadline is May 15th, so you need to act quickly. What's nice is that there's no registration or future spamming. You vote, you're done. The awards will be announced at one of my favorite mainstream shows, Heroes Con, later this year. Happy voting!
