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Last week’s announcement of the Harvey Awards nominees was, as usual, accompanied by controversy. This time it wasn’t the domination of Valiant (20 nominations) and Boom/Archaia, but rather just why certain books and people were even eligible.
For starters there was the “Most Promising New Talent” category which included the following:
Steve Bryant, ATHENA VOLTAIRE COMPENDIUM, Dark Horse Comics
Daniel Warren Johnson, GHOST FLEET, Dark Horse Comics
Chad Lambert, “KILL ME” FROM DARK HORSE PRESENTS, Dark Horse Comics
Babs Tarr, BATGIRL, DC Comics
Jen Van Meter, THE DEATH-DEFYING DOCTOR MIRAGE, Valiant Entertainment
Considering that
Jen Van Meter was nominated for an Eisner in 2002, and
Steve Bryant launched Athena Voltaire in 2002 this is…an extrenely liberal definition of “newcomer”….top put it mildly. You can be promising at any age but after 13 years you’re not a newcomer. (And Van Meter’s fine work such as Hopeless Savages in the past shows she’s well established at this point.)
More controversy cam in the form of the Athena Voltaire Compendium being nominated in the Best Graphic Album Original category.
BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM ORIGINAL
ATHENA VOLTAIRE COMPENDIUM, Dark Horse Comics
JIM HENSON’S THE MUSICAL MONSTERS OF TURKEY HOLLOW, Archaia/BOOM! Studios
SECONDS, Ballantine Books
THE WRENCHIES, First Second Books
THIS ONE SUMMER, First Second Books
Although here you could argue it was original to print so….
Bryant responded on Twitter,m explaining that much of the compendium was new material:
Finally, (or at least finally for what I have notes for) Chip Zdarsky took exception to being the only nominee for SEX CRIMINALS in the “Special Award For Humor In Comics”
James Asmus, QUANTUM AND WOODY, Valiant Entertainment
James Asmus & Fred Van Lente, THE DELINQUENTS, Valiant Entertainment
Ryan Browne, GOD HATES ASTRONAUTS, Image Comics
Fred Van Lente, ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG, Valiant Entertainment
Chip Zdarsky, SEX CRIMINALS, Image Comics
Also, there were more funny comics than Valiant last year but their get out the vote campaign was undeniably effective.
Zdarsky issued a statement in support of his collaborator,
Matt Fraction,—who is a very funny fellow in his own right—and said if chosen he would not serve:
Comics, for the most part, is a team effort. Pencillers, inkers, writers, letterers, Jordie; all of these roles are integral to the creation of a comic book and, time after time, positions like writers are routinely ignored in reviews, news and awards. Is it the fact that they’re invisible to the process? That when you’re reading a comic you’re noticing the beautiful drawings, the vibrant colours, the well-placed and designed lettering? Possibly. But it doesn’t mean writers aren’t integral to the process, or aren’t human beings who need to be noticed a lot.
With that being said (or, more accurately, WRITTEN), I simply cannot accept this HARVEY AWARDS nomination as it stands. I urge the awards committee to change the ballot to say “Chip Zdarsky and Matt Fraption, SEX CRIMINALS, Image Comics.” If it does not get changed to exactly that wording, I will ask them to remove my name from the ballot completely, allowing the awards to replace my position with another middle-aged white man.
Harvey Award administrator Paul McSpadden released a statement that seemed to address the eligibility problems:
The Harvey Awards would like to address questions posed by the comics press and other concerned parties since the release of The Harvey Awards Final Ballot.
The Harvey Awards were formed over 28 years ago with the intent to enable the creative community to honor their peers. The Harvey Awards administrators, as well as fans, retailers, and convention professionals, have no vote. That is the guiding principle of the nomination ballot, and we work very hard to maintain that vision.
As with all Harvey Award categories, “Most Promising New Talent” and the “Special Award for Humor” are selected through the voting of the comics professional creative community exclusively. Beyond a publishing date in 2014, we provide no eligibility guidelines for works in these categories and, as such, we continue to rely on the judgment of our voters, and not impose arbitrary limits.
Our vetting process also leaves us confident that all nominations in the Best Original Graphic Album category are indeed eligible, containing enough new and revised material to meet the category definition.
The Harvey Awards committee is open to suggestions from the professional community and we welcome the input. As we do every year, we will review the Harveys voting process and identify areas where improvement can be made.
Which seems like
a) like a total “huh? I was in the other room having some pie” response and
b) poor Paul McSpadden
…but mostly a.
The Eisner Awards have a review process; if a chosen nominee does not meet their criteria is is removed from the ballot. And adjustments have definitely been made in past years. I realize that McSpadden is probably just tired of all the kvelling at this point, and threw up his hands and went back to his pie, but if you’re going to have awards, you need to have guidelines. The Newcomer nominees should all have been vetted BEFORE the announcement went out, and if there were only three people in the category, well then, that’s better than having “rookies” who have been getting Eisner nominations over atwo decades. Sadly, the Harvey’s have become a joke in many ways, but at least let it be a surreptitious titter and not a public guffaw.
I don’t know if any changes to the ballot have been made other than Zdarsky’s withdrawal. However I’ll throw this out there again:
If 19 comics professionals want to create an annual “Harvey’s voting tong” to pick a more selective list, well….Facebook Groups, people.
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| Cover for Star Crossed by me for a comic collaboration with Steve Bryant |
A Month-long Comic Arts Exhibition and Extravaganza Features Artists from Kabuki, Star Wars, and The Walking Dead
WHO: Exhibition Artists: David Michael Beck, Allison Craig, Brian Hagen, Russell Ihrig, David Mack, Tony Moore, Joe Slucher, and Christina Wald.
PRESENTERS: Mike Fleisch, Anthony Moorman, Joe Slucher, and Christina Wald.
WHAT: Art Academy of Cincinnati’s Inaugural “Slam Bam Comic Jam” Exhibition & Extravaganza
WHEN: January 30 – February 27, 2015
Opening Reception: Final Friday, January 30, 5-8 pm Live Screen-Printing of Limited-Run T-Shirts (Only 50 Shirts Available, $10 each), Music,
Comic Merchandise Tables, and Costume Contest for fans of Wookiees and Walkers
Closing Reception: Final Friday, February 27, 5-8 pm Making It Documentary and Q&A with film director Anthony Moorman
Complete Schedule of Events will be posted on the Art Academy’s website.https://www.facebook.com/events/404716769677449/ http://www.artacademy.edu/new-site-2013/wordpress-news/?tribe_events=slam-bam-comic-jam
Catbat will also be premiering!
Can a series of web videos help a bestselling author?
Over at Reel Pop, Steve Bryant takes a look at a series of web videos that serve as book trailers for the new Robin Cook thriller. Here's his original review, a bit of book trailer intelligence:
"Obviate distribution costs, capitalize on Web video's cachet and circumvent the online video advertising hoi polloi by creating a series that is, effectively, a very long advertisement. Regardless of its success as original entertainment, the book (the real breadwinner) receives tremendous press coverage (e.g., this article) just in time for summer travelers to snag an airport copy."
Secondly, KnowMoreMedia, my bloggy employers, are conducting a reader survey. Click on the big blinking survey link up top to participate.
Finally, I advise you to stop reading. It's a gorgeous day outside, and, as the Urban Muse explains, A Beautiful Day for Writing.
Can you spot a bad memoir from 100-yards away? If you are going to be a writer, you need to recognize your bad writing just as quickly your best writing.
With that in mind, John Coyne reflects on years of experience as editor of Peace Corps Writers and as a novelist, identifying surefire signs that a writer needs more editing:
"What I see at PeaceCorpsWriters are a lot of self-published books that have very limited value and aren't well written. For example, some RPCVs think that they can collect all those letters home, slap them together, add a few grainy black-and-white-photos, and have a book. Rarely, are those Letters Home worth reading...you really have to be a pretty good writer to make a book like that of interest to anyone beyond you and your family."
How else can you hone your critical reading abilities? By reading the best critics in the best book sections. I'm happy to report that our book blogging friend, Pinky Paperhaus, just joined the online staff at the LA Times, bringing together a great critic and a great book section.
Finally, when your writing radar is really strong, test it out on these strange, fascinating web videos with intentionally bad writing.
Why is freelancing like prison? Jeff VanderMeer has the answer.
VanderMeer was one of our first Five Easy Questions guests, and his freelancing advice still stands the test of time--get plenty of exercise to cope with the stress and isolation of the writing life.
The Work-in-progress blog of novelist Leslie Pietrzyk offers some tough-love advice for writers. How To Tell When To Stop Writing Your Novel. Just listen to this: "Many years after getting my MFA, I returned to my alma mater as a returning 'visiting writer,' and I shocked a huge room of MFA students (and some profs) by announcing that my thesis was crap and that I was happy now it hadn’t been published." (Thanks, Maud Newton)
Steve Bryant riffs off the Sopranos finale, exploring how television has changed the way we remember stories: "In dramatically cutting the action mid-scene, David Chase created modern television's first un-Tivo-able moment. There is nothing -- literally nothing -- to see." When you finish reading his essay, go dig on the Top Five Pulp Fiction Endings to remember how people told stories before Tivo...
Did you realize you could save the life of your favorite book?
The wonderful Words Without Borders blog has a story about two dedicated readers who founded a publishing company just to rescue one of their favorite novels from oblivion. In this age of quick publishing, it may be easier than you think to save your favorite book. Thanks to Maud Newton and The Mumpsimus for the link.
Steve Bryant notices a nefarious trend in storytelling: "In other words, another inside baseball story of the type becoming so common these days; sometimes it seems like we no longer tell stories straight up, we tell stories about the making of those stories." How can we stop this slow slide into meta-life? I don't know, but Steve suggests we play the hot new sport all the kids are talking about: Wiimbledon!!!
The monthly Fahrenheit reading -- as featured in Time Out New York -- will be held on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at the Black & White bar in New York City. I'm going to read a story. The list is still open if you want to tell your story. Visit the site for details.
Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.
Hip-hop pioneer Timbaland has taken digital storytelling to new places.
He built a music video/comic book that actually works better in YouTube. Watch the short video, and pause the frames to read the comic book story that swims around the margins. 203,000 views since it was posted on May 21st--that's a lot of readers/viewers.
Speaking of video, Steve Bryant is not bemoaning the demise of corporate web video at Bud.tv. He offers this lesson for would-be producers and storytellers who want to jump on the video bandwagon: "You can't say I didn't tell you so. And tell you so. And tell you so ... Success requires accessibility. Simple. True."
Uber-book blogger Maud Newton is on Gawker today, debating the future of copyright. She is responding to Mark Helprin's essay proposing that copyright should be eternal. To chill out afterwards, read Helprin's Winter's Tale.
Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.
What should you do when an interview doesn't work out?
Ed Champion wrote an essay about his brief, unsuccessful audio interview with Marisha Pessl, and scores of readers wrote in with thoughts about the art of literary conversation. The whole debate is required reading for fledgling journalists and reviewers looking to polish their craft. Enter the fray here.
Steve Bryant reports that YouTube will pay its most popular video producers a share of ad revenues. They aren't the first web video company to experiment with this model, but Steve thinks they are the smartest company to attempt such a project.
Deadlines help keep my writing on track, from this blog to my novel. Jeffrey Yamaguchi just linked to a photographer who set an impressive deadline for himself: "[Bill] Wadman has challenged himself to take a portrait a day for 365 days -- not a self-portrait, but a portrait of someone else. And these are absolutely stunning photographs." Check out the full post here.
Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.
Sometimes I wish I had a laugh track, especially when my blogged jokes fall flat.
But according to a couple experts, we digital writers need to prepare for a world without the good old laugh track.
Over at Reel Pop, Steve Bryant is meditating on what makes a web video funny. After linking to some of the funniest web video makers in the business, he delivers some surprising insight about the future (or lack thereof) of the laugh track.
What do you think? Will the pace, delivery, and quickness of new media kill the laugh-track? Are hundreds of studio audiences out of work? What will happen to the thousands and thousands of reels of canned laughter that will be useless in the 21st Century?
Dig it:
"Ah, tweens: Weened on internet vids, social networks, and other forms of interactive entertainment, but here we are trotting out the same old tricks. We're 'sposed to be so damned media savvy, so do we still need artificial sweetener? Do we still need the laugh track? Nah. Exhibit A: Smosh. Exhibit B: KevJumba. Exhibit C: SoPedestrian."
I'm showing you a video today.
It's nothing fancy (but we're working on making it better), but it is a dialogue between two powerful media executives about the future of digital content. I shot this video at a panel discussion led by Steve Bryant over at Reel Pop.
You can read his article about the presentation, and then you can watch my lo-fi web video version to get a feel for the evening. Check it out...
"(The panel was generously co-hosted by the International Radio and Television Society Foundation (IRTS) and South Asians in Media and Marketing Association (SAMMA) at Leela Lounge in New York City.)
"The other panelists: Terry Mackin, director of digital media for Hearst-Argyle Television; Michael Steib, director of television advertising for Google; and Michael Zimbalist, vice president for research and development operations at the New York Times Company."
If you want to get somebody's attention, you better get it fast.
Steve Bryant just published another essay about the viewing habits of us web-heads. He has all sorts of funny graphs and personal stories--all to prove the point that the web video generation has no attention span whatsoever.
Check this out: "Hollywood needs to embrace the rabble. More short films, smaller DVD release windows, more extra footage on the DVDs themselves. Hell, give us clips on the DVDs and tell us to upload them wherever. Or: Start making videoblogs of a movie's filming process, the way SNL is doing with their rehearsals."
Punchy leads and short short stories will always be the best way to hook a web reader. But what does this sea change mean for content? According to Steve, we are going to need a lot content to keep readers coming back.
Movie-makers can always add extra interviews and cut footage as special features on a DVD. What can writers do for a supply of special features, to create what Steve calls "constant media?"
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Just a side note to the Beat, I know that there has been some changes made recently to the website. Well, the RSS feed has died for those small few people who still read from an RSS feed. :-)
I think you mean “kvetching” not “kvelling.”
Actually, I haven’t changed anything! Unfortunately either foul play or a database corruption is leading to some problems.
IF anyone sees a particularly wacky front page make a screen shot and send it to me please!
…and even the Eisners (sibling to the Harvey Awards) are a bit mysterious, as the rules are not published.
Are the rules to the Harvey Awards available online?
http://www.comic-con.org/awards/faq
“Matt Fraption”
Wait… are you sure you want exactly that wording?