Weekend Pattering for 7/21/2016-- SDCC Dreaming On Such a Winters Day

** The Review of all of the panels we've pattered about lately




** The San Diego Comicon is currently going on and that means that Friday night is the Eisner awards ceremony.  So let's take a look at the nominees and try to take a stab at who's going to walk away with comics' own version of the Oscars.  I've bolded my choices in the nominee lists.


Best Short Story
  • “Black Death in America,” by Tom King and John Paul Leon, in Vertigo Quarterly: Black(Vertigo/DC)
  • “Hand Me Down,” by Kristyna Baczynski, in 24 x 7 (Fanfare Presents)
  • “It’s Going to Be Okay,” by Matthew Inman, in The Oatmeal, theoatmeal.com/comics/plane
  • “Killing and Dying,” by Adrian Tomine, in Optic Nerve #14 (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • “Lion and Mouse,” by R. Sikoryak, in Fable Comics (First Second)

Let's just go with "Killing and Dying" here.  I'll admit that every year the Best Short Story category is one of the hardest ones for me because it's full of a lot of great sounding comics that I just haven't been able to track down.


Best Single Issue/One-Shot
  • A Blanket of Butterflies, by Richard Van Camp and Scott B. Henderson (HighWater Press)
  • I Love This Part, by Tillie Walden (Avery Hill)
  • Mowgli’s Mirror, by Olivier Schrauwen (Retrofit/Big Planet)
  • Pope Hats #4, by Ethan Rilly (AdHouse)
  • Silver Surfer #11: “Never After,” by Dan Slott and Michael Allred (Marvel)

Pope Hats was really good but I'd have to go with that Silver Surfer comic.  Slott and Allred are both doing some of the best work of their career and this moebius looped comic was quite a feat.  


Best Continuing Series
  • Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain)
  • Giant Days, by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, and Max Sarin (BOOM! Studios/BOOM! Box)
  • Invincible, by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, and Cliff Rathburn (Image/Skybound)
  • Silver Surfer, by Dan Slott and Michael Allred (Marvel)
  • Southern Bastards, by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour (Image)
This is another strong category.  This could go between Bandette, Silver Surfer and Southern Bastards. Let's go with Silver Surfer again here but there's 4 out of 5 books here that would all be the right pick for this year.

Best Limited Series
  • Chrononauts, by Mark Millar and Sean Murphy (Image)
  • The Fade Out, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
  • Lady Killer, by Joëlle Jones and Jamie S. Rich (Dark Horse)
  • Minimum Wage: So Many Bad Decisions, by Bob Fingerman (Image)
  • The Spire, by Simon Spurrier and Jeff Stokely (BOOM! Studios)
From an accomplishment viewpoint, it would be nice to see Bob Fingerman get this one.  From the gut, my personal favorite here was Brubaker and Phillips' The Fade Out.

Best New Series
  • Bitch Planet, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro (Image)
  • Harrow County, by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook (Dark Horse)
  • Kaijumax, by Zander Cannon (Oni)
  • Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)
  • Paper Girls, by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang (Image)
  • The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, by Ryan North and Erica Henderson (Marvel)
So far, the nominees in all of the categories have been strong.  I feel like the winner is either Paper Girls or The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl but my fingers are crossed for Bunn and Crook to take it home for Harrow County.

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)
  • Anna Banana and the Chocolate Explosion, by Dominque Roques and Alexis Dormal (First Second)
  • Little Robot, by Ben Hatke (First Second)
  • The Only Child, by Guojing (Schwartz & Wade)
  • SheHeWe, by Lee Nordling and Meritxell Bosch (Lerner Graphic Universe)
  • Written and Drawn by Henrietta, by Liniers (TOON Books)
Sadly, I haven't read any of these so I'm going to abstain from this one but I like Ben Hatke's stuff so that may count for something.   

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)
  • Baba Yaga’s Assistant, by Marika McCoola and Emily Carroll (Candlewick)
  • Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War, by Jessica Dee Humphreys, Michel Chikwanine, and Claudia Devila (Kids Can Press)
  • Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor, by Nathan Hale (Abrams Amulet)
  • Over the Garden Wall, by Pat McHale, Amalia Levari, and Jim Campbell (BOOM! Studios/KaBOOM!)
  • Roller Girl, by Victoria Jamieson (Dial Books)
  • Sunny Side Up, by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm (Scholastic Graphix)
Ditto here.  If pushed, I guess I'd go for Over the Garden Wall because I liked the cartoon. 

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)
  • Awkward, by Svetlana Chmakova (Yen Press)
  • Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans, by Don Brown (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
  • March: Book Two, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf/IDW)
  • Moose, by Max de Radiguès (Conundrum)
  • Oyster War, by Ben Towle (Oni)
  • SuperMutant Magic Academy, by Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)
March: Book Two was one of the best comics of last year.  It's got to be Lewis, Aydin and Powell.

Best Humor Publication
  • Cyanide & Happiness: Stab Factory, by Kris Wilson, Rob DenBleyker, and Dave McElfatrick (BOOM! Studios/BOOM! Box)
  • Deep Dark Fears, by Fran Krause (Ten Speed Press)
  • Sexcastle, by Kyle Starks (Image)
  • Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection, by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • UR, by Eric Haven (AdHouse)
Kate Beaton.  Kate Beaton.  Kate Beaton.  Kate Beaton.  

Yeah, I really liked Step Aside, Pops.

Best Digital/Webcomic
  • Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain/comiXology)
  • Fresh Romance, edited by Janelle Asselin (Rosy Press/comiXology)
  • The Legend of Wonder Woman, by Renae De Liz (DC Digital)
  • Lighten Up, by Ronald Wimberly (The Nib), thenib.com/lighten-up-4f7f96ca8a7e#.u45ffr3l1
  • These Memories Won’t Last, by Stu Campbell, memories.sutueatsflies.com/
Wimberly's Lighten Up was one of the most important comics of 2015.  Sadly the link at thenib.com doesn't seem to be working anymore but I'm sure you can Google that comic and find it.

Best Anthology
  • Drawn & Quarterly, Twenty-Five Years of Contemporary, Cartooning, Comics, and Graphic Novels, edited by Tom Devlin (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Eat More Comics: The Best of the Nib, edited by Matt Bors (The Nib)
  • 24 x 7, edited by Dan Berry (Fanfare Presents)
  • Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, vol. 3, edited by David Petersen and Rebecca Taylor (BOOM! Studios/Archaia)
  • Peanuts: A Tribute to Charles M. Schulz, edited by Shannon Watters (BOOM! Studios/KaBOOM!)
The Drawn & Quarterly book was quite a feat.  As well as being a wonderful retrospective of the publisher, the amount of talent and great comics makes it pound for pound the winner here.

Best Reality-Based Work
  • The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978–1984, by Riad Sattouf (Metropolitan Books)
  • Displacement: A Travelogue, by Lucy Knisley (Fantagraphics)
  • Hip Hop Family Tree, Book 3: 1983–1984, by Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)
  • Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist, by Bill Griffith (Fantagraphics)
  • March: Book Two, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf/IDW)
  • The Story of My Tits, by Jennifer Hayden (Top Shelf/IDW)
Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree continues to be quite an astonishment.  Reading this comic, I know how a non-superhero fan feels reading a Marvel comic but Piskor's cartooning continues to create a wonderful reality where rappers are the new superheroes.

Best Graphic Album—New
  • Long Walk to Valhalla, by Adam Smith and Matthew Fox (BOOM! Studios/Archaia)
  • Nanjing: The Burning City, by Ethan Young (Dark Horse)
  • Ruins, by Peter Kuper (SelfMadeHero)
  • Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen, by Dylan Horrocks (Fantagraphics)
  • The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, by Sydney Padua (Pantheon)
Another category where I've somehow missed all of the books. Off the top of my head, let's go with Dylan Horrocks here.

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
  • Angry Youth Comics, by Johnny Ryan (Fantagraphics)
  • Roses in December: A Story of Love and Alzheimer’s, by Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers (Kent State University Press)
  • The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal Omnibus, by E. K. Weaver (Iron Circus Comics)
  • Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson (Harper Teen)
  • Soldier’s Heart: The Campaign to Understand My WWII Veteran Father, by Carol Tyler (Fantagraphics)
Noelle Stevenson's Nimona seems like the powerhouse nominee here.

Best Adaptation from Another Medium
  • Captive of Friendly Cove: Based on the Secret Journals of John Jewitt, by Rebecca Goldfield, Mike Short, and Matt Dembicki (Fulcrum)
  • City of Clowns, by Daniel Alarcón and Sheila Alvarado (Riverhead Books)
  • Ghetto Clown, by John Leguizamo, Christa Cassano, and Shamus Beyale (Abrams ComicArts)
  • Lafcadio Hearn’s “The Faceless Ghost” and Other Macabre Tales from Japan, adapted by Sean Michael Wilson and Michiru Morikawa (Shambhala)
  • Two Brothers, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Dark Horse)
Going with Two Brothers feels like a kind of mainstream pick here but this was a powerful story about family and war.

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
  • Alpha . . . Directions, by Jens Harder (Knockabout/Fanfare)
  • The Eternaut, by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano Lòpez (Fantagraphics)
  • A Glance Backward by Pierre Paquet and Tony Sandoval (Magnetic Press)
  • The March of the Crabs, by Arthur de Pins (BOOM! Studios/Archaia)
  • The Realist, by Asaf Hanuka (BOOM! Studios/Archaia)
Asaf Hanuka's The Realist was a great book that showed of Hanuka's storytelling. 

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
  • Assassination Classroom, vols. 2–7, by Yusei Matsui (VIZ)
  • A Bride’s Story, vol. 7, by Kaoru Mori (Yen Press)
  • Master Keaton, vols. 2–4, by Naoki Urasawa, Hokusei Katsushika, and Takashi Nagasaki (VIZ)
  • Showa, 1953–1989: A History of Japan, by Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • A Silent Voice, by Yoshitoki Oima (Kodansha)
  • Sunny, vol. 5, by Taiyo Matsumoto (VIZ)
Taiyo Matsumoto's Sunny has been one of the most emotionally powerful comics I've read in a long, long time.  Love this series. and have to go with that as my pick.


Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
  • Beyond Mars, by Jack Williamson and Lee Elias, edited by Dean Mullaney (IDW/LOAC)
  • Cartoons for Victory, by Warren Bernard (Fantagraphics)
  • The Complete Funky Winkerbean, vol. 4, by Tom Batiuk, edited by Mary Young (Black Squirrel Books)
  • The Eternaut, by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano Lòpez, edited by Gary Groth and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
  • Kremos: The Lost Art of Niso Ramponi, vols. 1 and 2, edited by Joseph V. Procopio (Picture This Press/Lost Art Books)
  • White Boy in Skull Valley, by Garrett Price, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press)
Let's go with Funky Winkerbean.  Tom Batiuk for the win.

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
  • Frank Miller’s Ronin Gallery Edition, edited by Bob Chapman (Graphitti Designs/DC)
  • P. Craig Russell’s Murder Mystery and Other Stories Gallery Edition, edited by Daniel Chabon (Dark Horse)
  • The Puma Blues: The Complete Saga, by Stephen Murphy, Alan Moore, Michael Zulli, Stephen R. Bissette, and Dave Sim, edited by Drew Ford (Dover)
  • Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library, vols. 3–4, edited by David Gerstein (Fantagraphics)
  • Walt Kelly’s Fairy Tales, edited by Craig Yoe (IDW)
At C2E2 this year, I got to look through the Ronin Gallery Edition.  If I was the type to spend money on those original art editions of books, I would have walked out of the convetion with it.  Such a fantastic look at that comic.

Best Writer
  • Jason Aaron, Southern Bastards (Image), Men of Wrath (Marvel Icon), Doctor Strange, Star Wars, Thor (Marvel)
  • John Allison, Giant Days (BOOM Studios!/BOOM! Box)
  • Ed Brubaker, The Fade Out, Velvet, Criminal Special Edition (Image)
  • Marjorie Liu, Monstress (Image)
  • G. Willow Wilson, Ms. Marvel (Marvel)
Ms. Marvel is the book it is because of G. Willow Wilson.  

Best Writer/Artist
  • Bill Griffith, Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist (Fantagraphics)
  • Nathan Hale, Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor (Abrams)
  • Sydney Padua, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (Pantheon)
  • Ed Piskor, Hip-Hop Family Tree, vol. 3 (Fantagraphics)
  • Noah Van Sciver, Fante Bukowski, Saint Cole (Fantagraphics)
Flip a coin between Piskor and Van Sciver here.  There's no way to go wrong with either of those choices.

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
  • Michael Allred, Silver Surfer (Marvel); Art Ops (Vertigo/DC)
  • Cliff Chiang, Paper Girls (Image)
  • Erica Henderson, Jughead (Archie), Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (Marvel)
  • Joëlle Jones, Lady Killer (Dark Horse), Brides of Helheim (Oni)
  • Nate Powell, March, Book Two (Top Shelf/IDW)
Allred is doing some of his best non-Madman artwork in Silver Surfer but Powell's images in March really brought Congressman Lewis's actions and struggles to life.  

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist
  • Federico Bertolucci, Love: The Tiger and Love: The Fox (Magnetic Press)
  • Colleen Coover, Bandette (Monkeybrain)
  • Carita Lupattelli, Izuna (Humanoids)
  • Dustin Nguyen, Descender (Image)
  • Tony Sandoval, A Glance Backward (Magnetic Press)
Coover's artwork is such a great blend of Toth, Batman: The Animated Show, and 1950s caper films.  There's so much to see in her drawings and so much to just linger on and enjoy.

Best Cover Artist
  • David Aja, Hawkeye, Karnak, Scarlet Witch (Marvel)
  • Rafael Albuquerque, Ei8ht (Dark Horse), Huck (Image)
  • Amanda Conner, Harley Quinn (DC)
  • Joëlle Jones, Lady Killer (Dark Horse), Brides of Helheim (Oni)
  • Ed Piskor, Hip-Hop Family Tree (Fantagraphics)
Let's go Piskor here again. The Hop-Hop Family Tree covers help make the connection between rappers and superheroes even stronger as Piskor homages everyone from Gil Kane to Wally Wood in these covers.

Best Coloring
  • Laura Allred, Lady Killer (Dark Horse); Silver Surfer (Marvel); Art OPS (Vertigo/DC)
  • Jordie Bellaire, The Autumnlands, Injection, Plutona, Pretty Deadly, The Surface, They’re Not Like Us, Zero (Image); The X-Files (IDW); The Massive (Dark Horse); Magneto, Vision (Marvel)
  • Elizabeth Breitwiser, The Fade Out, Criminal Magazine, Outcast, Velvet (Image)
  • John Rauch, The Beauty (Image); Batman: Arkham Knight, Earth 2: Society (DC); Runaways (Marvel)
  • Dave Stewart, Abe Sapien, BPRD Hell on Earth, Fight Club 2, Frankenstein Underground, Hellboy in Hell, Hellboy and the BPRD, (Dark Horse); Sandman: Overture, Twilight Children (Vertigo/DC), Captain America: White (Marvel), Space Dumplins(Scholastic Graphix)
It could be Allred.  It will probably (and deservedly) be Bellaire but I'm going to go with Breitwiser.  The way that she creates light with her colors is just mesmerizing.  I've never seen anyone who colors with the strength and subtlety that she does.


Best Lettering
  • Derf Backderf, Trashed (Abrams)
  • Steve Dutro, Blood-C, Midnight Society, Plants vs Zombies (Dark Horse)
  • Lucy Knisley, Displacement (Fantagraphics)
  • Troy Little, Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Top Shelf/IDW)
  • Kevin McCloskey, We Dig Worms! (TOON Books)
Such a different list of letterers.  Knisley has a lettering style that perfectly compliments her artwork and her storytelling that makes it all one composition and work.  

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
  • Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
  • Back Issue, edited by Michael Eury (TwoMorrows)
  • Comic Riffs blog by Michael Cavna, washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/
  • Hogan’s Alley, edited by Tom Heintjes (Hogan’s Alley)
  • Jack Kirby Collector, edited by John Morrow (TwoMorrows)
Maybe some year, the Eisners will recognize podcasts but Comic Riffs is a fantastic site that really has a holistic view of comics.  We need more of that.

Best Comics-Related Book
  • Harvey Kurtzman: The Man Who Created Mad and Revolutionized Humor in America, by Bill Schelly (Fantagraphics)
  • King of the Comics: One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate, edited by Dean Mullaney (IDW/LOAC)
  • Only What’s Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts, by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear (Abrams ComicArts)
  • Out of Line: The Art of Jules Feiffer, by Martha Fay (Abrams ComicArts)
  • Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel, by Paul Levitz (Abrams ComicArts)
Another category that I'm abstaining from.  I really wanted to read that Kurtzman book but never got a chance to.


Best Academic/Scholarly Work
  • The Blacker the Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art, edited by  Frances Gateward and John Jennings (Rutgers)
  • Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan, edited by Mark McLelland et al. (University Press of Mississippi)
  • Graphic Medicine Manifesto, by M. K. Czerwiec et al. (Penn State University Press)
  • Superheroes on World Screens, edited by Rayna Denison and Rachel Mizsei-Ward (University Press of Mississippi)
  • Unflattening, by Nick Sousanis (Harvard University Press)
Another category that I wish I could have an opinion on.  The Graphic Medicine Manifesto sounds interesting.

Best Publication Design
  • Beyond the Surface, designed by Nicolas André, Sam Arthur, Alex Spiro, and Camille Pichon (Nobrow)
  • The Eternaut, designed by Tony Ong (Fantagraphics)
  • Eventually Everything Connects, designed by Loris Lora, Sam Arthur, Alex Spiro, and Camille Pichon (Nobrow)
  • King of the Comics: One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate, designed by Dean Mullaney (IDW/LOAC)
  • Only What’s Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts, designed by Chip Kidd (Abrams ComicArts)
  • Sandman Gallery Edition, designed by Josh Beatman/Brainchild Studios (Graphitti Designs/DC)
The Eternaut was a handsome looking  ook.




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Scott Cederlund

Scott Cederlund

Missing.
Presumed having a good time.
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