Artist Aaron Conley won the 2014 Russ Manning Newcomer Award at the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, held on Friday, July 25 at Comic-Con International. Conley is the artist The Sabretooth Swordsman, published by Dark Horse Comics. Former Manning Award recipient Jeff Smith (BONE) presented the award.

The Manning Award has been given out annually at the San Diego Comic-Con since 1982. It is presented to a comics artist who, early in his or her career, shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics. It is named for Russ Manning, the artist best known for his work on the Tarzan and Star Wars newspaper strips and the Magnus, Robot Fighter comic book. Russ was a popular guest at the San Diego convention in the 1970s.

The first recipient of the award was former Manning assistant Dave Stevens. Other past recipients include Jan Duursema, Steve Rude, Scott McCloud, Art Adams, Eric Shanower, Dan Brereton, Jeff Smith, Gene Ha, Alexander Maleev, Goran Sudzuka, Eric Wight, David Petersen, Cathy Malkasian, Eleanor Davis, Marion Churchland, and Tyler Crook. For a complete list of Manning Award recipients, click here.

This past Friday, Dark Horse Comics, the number-one independent publisher in the industry, took home an impressive number of awards at this year’s Eisner Awards ceremony.

Below is a list of the company’s wins.

Congratulations to all winners and nominees!

Named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, the Eisner Awards are in their twenty-sixth year of highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels.

BEST PUBLICATION FOR EARLY READERS (UP TO AGE 7): Itty Bitty Hellboy, by Art Baltazar and Franco

BEST PUBLICATION FOR KIDS (AGES 8-12): Adventures of Superhero Girl, by Faith Erin Hicks

BEST ANTHOLOGY: Dark Horse Presents, edited by Mike Richardson

BEST REALITY-BASED WORK: The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story, by Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, and Kyle Baker

BEST COLORING: Jordie Bellaire, The Manhattan Projects, Nowhere Men, Pretty Deadly, Zero (Image); The Massive (Dark Horse); Tom Strong (DC); X-Files Season 10 (IDW); Captain Marvel, Journey Into Mystery (Marvel); Numbercruncher (Titan); Quantum and Woody (Valiant)

Image Comics creators honored with awards, congratulates fellow creator-owned publishers for wins

Click heLast night’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2014 marked a clear victory for creator-owned comics in the industry with creator-owned work—published by Image Comics, as well as Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, Vertigo, First Second, Cartoon Books, and Image Comics creators Scott Snyder, Jeff Smith, Matt Fraction, Paul Pope, and Sean Murphy for their projects with various other publishers—sweeping the awards. 

Image Comics was honored with four Eisner Awards: Best Colorist went to Jordie Bellaire (PRETTY DEADLY, NOWHERE MEN), Best Artist to Fiona Staples (SAGA), Best Writer to Brian K. Vaughan (SAGA), best new series was awarded to SEX CRIMINALS by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, and SAGA by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples took Best Continuing Series. 

Fellow comics publisher Fantagraphics took the Best Short Story (Untitled by Gilbert Hernandez), Best U.S. Edition of International Material (Goddam This War! by Jacques Tardi and Jean-Pierre Verney), Best Writer/Artist (Jaime Hernandez, Love and Rockets New Stories #6). In addition, Dark Horse won Best Publication for Kids, ages 8-12 (The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks). Collectively the wins denote the ever-growing importance and rising appreciation of creator-owned work.

“This year’s Eisner Awards only underscored the power and importance of creator-owned comics, and we couldn’t be prouder to be amongst this year’s winners,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “We work with some amazing men and women, and there’s nothing more gratifying than knowing others value their efforts just as much as we do.”

The Will Eisner Comic Industry awards are voted on by comics industry members and the awards ceremony is held in conjunction with San Diego Comic-Con International every year. This year Image Comics was honored with 17 nominations and four wins. re to edit.

Vivek J. Tiwary’s debut graphic novel, The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story, with art by Andrew C. Robinson and Kyle Baker, is the 2013 IndieFab Award Winner for the Foreword Reviews’ 16th Annual Book Of The Year Awards in the Graphic Novels & Comics category. Foreword Reviews, the only review magazine solely dedicated to discovering new indie books, announced the winner on Friday, June 27th at the 2014 American Library Association Annual Conference. Each year, Foreword Reviews highlights a small group of indie authors and publishers whose innovative work stands out among the crowd. "I learned to love literature by hanging out in independent bookstores in New York's East Village, and by spending hours in my local school and neighborhood libraries. So it's a particular honor for 'The Fifth Beatle' to receive Foreword Review's IndieFab Gold Medal for Graphic Novels and Comics. And I'm thrilled that this recognition will help to further spread Beatles' manager Brian Epstein's inspiring story around the world,” Tiwary says.

Vivek J. Tiwary, who is a multiple Tony Award–winning producer (Green Day’s American Idiot, The Addams Family, A Raisin In The Sun) wrote the novel, which was painted by fanboy favorites Andrew C. Robinson (Dusty Star, King Conan, Starman, Superman) and Kyle Baker (The Shadow, Plastic Man, Why I Hate Saturn) The Fifth Beatle is the untold true story of Brian Epstein, the visionary manager who discovered and guided the Beatles to unprecedented international stardom. The Fifth Beatle is an inspirational story about the struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Epstein was homosexual when it was illegal to be so in the UK, Jewish during a period of pervasive anti-Semitism, and from Liverpool when it was considered just a dingy port town. He helped spread the Beatles’ message of love to the entire world, yet died painfully lonely at the young age of thirty-two, consumed by staggering ambition and the endless struggles that came with it. The Fifth Beatle is available in bookstores everywhere and on Amazon.com.

The Fifth Beatle film adaptation, written and produced by Tiwary, is the first ever feature film about The Beatles to secure music rights to their songs, having been granted unprecedented access to the Lennon/McCartney music catalog. It is scheduled to begin shooting in early 2015 and more info can be found at www.FifthBeatle.com.

For more information on the IndieFab Awards and Foreword Reviews please visit: https://indiefab.forewordreviews.com/

You can read our review of The Fifth Beatle here

Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson was honored with the 2014 ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation award this past Friday at the annual Comics Professional Organization convention. ComicsPRO is the only trade organization for direct-market comic book retailers.

After being nominated three years in a row, this is Stephenson’s first win. He received the award shortly after giving an address on the importance of the Direct Market and retailers’ involvement in the ever-changing comics industry. 
 
"I'm honored to be the recipient of this year's Industry Appreciation Award," said Stephenson. "The retailers who make up ComicsPRO are among the industry's very best and I think they do some very important work on behalf of comics and the Direct Market, so as awards go, I think it's really cool.” 
 
"I also think that even though it's my name on the award, it's actually more of a testament to how far Image has come over the last few years, and that couldn't have happened without the hard work and dedication of all the talented men and women at Image Comics,” continued Stephenson. “Jessica Ambriz, Emilio Bautista, Branwyn Bigglestone, David Brothers, Jonathan Chan, Jennifer de Guzman, Addison Duke, Monica Garcia, Drew Gill, Emily Miller, Patricia Ramos, Ron Richards, Kat Salazar, Jenna Savage, Tyler Shainline, Jeremy Sullivan, and Meredith Wallace don't get enough credit for the incredible support they provide to all the creators Image works with, but I absolutely would not be able to do what I do without them."
 
The award nominations are submitted by ComicsPRO members, narrowed down by the organization’s Board of Directors, and voted upon by members of ComicsPRO. The award was created to honor individuals who have shown particular support of the Direct Market in the comic industry.
 
About ComicsPRO:
Comics Professional Retail Organization (ComicsPRO) is the only trade organization for direct-market comic book retailers. ComicsPRO's goals are to promote advocacy, education, and opportunity for their members. Joining ComicsPRO makes members part of a group facing—and overcoming—many of the same challenges. ComicsPRO allows members, as a small business, to receive benefits that are often only available to much larger groups, including discounted credit card rates and deals on health insurance. But the most important goal of ComicsPRO is to provide a voice for the often overlooked concerns of direct-market retailers. 

Last week, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) committee published their much-anticipated 2014 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, adding, for the first time, a top-ten list. Not surprisingly, given the tremendous success of Dark Horse’s 2013 publishing line, the publisher landed six titles on this year’s list, with two making it into the top ten--The Adventures of Superhero Girl and MIND MGMT! This year’s Dark Horse selections are as follows:

•       Faith Erin Hicks. The Adventures of Superhero Girl (978-1616550844).


•       Sam Humphries and Dalton Rose. Sacrifice (978-1595829856).


•       Matt Kindt. MIND MGMT Volume 1: The Manager (978-1595827975).


•       Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo. Hellboy: The Midnight Circus (978-1616552381).


•       Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover. Bandette Volume 1: Presto! (978-1616552794).


•        Brian Wood and Kristian Donaldson. The Massive Volume 1: Black Pacific (978-1616551322).

“Dark Horse has always considered librarians to be essential to the cause of bringing graphic novels to a broader audience, just as we feel visionary writers and artists push the boundaries of the medium,” said Dark Horse’s VP of book trade sales, Michael Martens. “With the selections of these titles to the 2014 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, the boundaries will be pushed and the audience broadened! Thanks to both YALSA and our authors for making this happen!”

Dark Horse congratulates the editors, writers, and artists who worked on each of the above titles, and thanks the Young Adult Library Services Association for recognizing these works!

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Top Shelf Productions is both proud and honored to congratulate Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, the creators of March: Book One, on yesterday's announcement that their graphic novel is a Coretta Scott King Honor Book.

Since 1970, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards have celebrated outstanding books for young people about the African American experience. The honor for March: Book One (the first in a planned trilogy of graphic novels in which Congressman Lewis recounts his astonishing life in the civil rights movement) is only the second time the CSK committee has selected a book in comics format. It marks the first Coretta Scott King honor for Lewis, Aydin, or Powell, as well as for publisher Top Shelf.

March: Book One ended 2013 being listed among the year's best books by USA Today, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and many more publications, and was recently selected by comic book retailers to receive Diamond Comic Distributors' Gem Award as Independent Graphic Novel of the Year. It is currently in its 21st week on the New York Times bestseller list.

For more information or to download the free Teacher's Guide to March: Book One, please visit www.topshelfcomix.com/march.

Last week, Diamond Comic Distributors announced the 2013 Gem Awards, boasting a record number of accolades for Dark Horse! While DC Entertainment topped the list with six awards, Dark Horse dominated among the independent publishers, with Dark Horse Presents winning Anthology of the Year for the second year in a row!

This year’s Dark Horse wins are as follows:

·     Licensed Comic Book of the Year: The Star Wars #1 (SEP138217)

·     Anthology of the Year: Dark Horse Presents #26 (MAY130015)

·     Trade Book of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia (SEP120055)

·     Original GN of the Year: Hellboy: The Midnight Circus (JUN130031)

·     Manga TP of the Year: Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus Vol. 1 (JAN130124)

“The comics retail community has been the backbone of Dark Horse since day one,” said Dark Horse’s president and founder, Mike Richardson. “It is truly an honor to have so many of our titles recognized by our retail partners, as this is perhaps one of the best ways to measure our success as a publisher. We thank all of the comics retailers who supported us in 2013 and hope to do even better in 2014.”

“We established the Gem Awards to give comic retailers an opportunity to recognize the vendors, titles, and products that have been instrumental in helping their businesses grow over the past year,” said Diamond’s president and CEO, Steve Geppi, in the Gem Awards announcement. “Our vendors work diligently to support retailers and the entire industry with top-quality titles and products, and we thank all of the retailers who took time from their busy schedules to vote and acknowledge those efforts.”

Dark Horse congratulates the editors, creators, and licensors who worked on each of the above titles, and thanks our retail partners for making 2013 one of our most successful years ever!