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Last week’s Eagle Awards were notable for both an uncharacteristic lean towards mainstream titles, and for a Scarlet Witch-esque announcement made by MCM Expo convention-runner Brian Cooney at the ceremony that from now on, there would be no more Eagle Awards.  It was widely reported that the ceremony – the longest established comic book awards show in the world, having first started in 1977 – would be replaced by a new show called ‘The MCM Awards’.

This came as a surprise to many people, but not least to Cassandra Conroy, the Chair of The Eagle Awards, who this week issued a press release contesting Cooney’s claim:

The Eagles are neither dead nor morphing into anything else. MCM Expo is in no position to announce, imply or indicate otherwise. In fact no third party can casually discard what my father has developed over the past 36 years.

Conroy made it clear in the release that neither her nor her father Mike Conroy, who founded the awards, were actually in attendence at the ceremony this year, ominously hinting that the pair had boycotted the event;

in response to actions that are now being reviewed by my lawyer.

First Brett Ratner leaves the Oscars, and now this. The Conroys go on to clarify that;

The Eagles will continue to soar into 2013 and beyond. We’ll be announcing further details of our plans for next year in the near future.

In response, the owners of the MCM Expo (and co-claimants of the Eagle Awards) have said that Cooney’s announcement was more an announcement that, from MCM’s perspective, the awards were done with forever. They view the MCM Awards as a replacement for the Eagles, rather than a spiritual successor or continuation, and are looking to launch in 2013. So, if the Conroys can regain their full claim on The Eagle Awards, it’s likely that they’d also be hosting a ceremony next year.

Remembering that we also have the Hugos, Stan Lee Awards, Eisners, and Harvey Awards - among others - then it looks like 2013 is looking to be an excellent year for people who like seeing Paul Cornell in a smart suit.

By ‘UK Correspondent’ Steve Morris

The last-ever Eagle Awards have just concluded here in good ol’ Blighty (that means Britain), with the ceremony due to switch names over to “The MCM Awards” in 2013. End of an era, awards-fans! In lieu of us not liveblogging the awards ceremony Oscars-style (complete with a drinking game in which you have to down a pint every time Scott Snyder wins something), here is the complete list of winners:

Best Newcomer (writer): Jeff Lemire

Best Newcomer (artist): Francesco Francavilla

Best Writer: Scott Snyder

Best Artist (pencils): J.H. Williams III

Best Artist (inks): Scott Williams

Best Writer/Artist: Frank Miller

Best Fully-Painted Artwork: Alex Ross

Best Colourist: Dave Stewart

Best Letterer: Richard Starkings

Best Editor: Karen Berger

Best Publisher: DC/Vertigo

Best Full-Colour US Comic: Batman

Best Black/White US Comic: The Walking Dead

Best Full-Colour British Comic: Dr Who Magazine (!)

Best Black/White British Comic: Viz

Best New Comic: Batman

Best Manga: 20th Century Boys

Best European Comic Book: Dylan Dog

Best Web-Based Comic: Freakangels

Best Single Story: Dr Who #12

Best Story Arc: ‘No Way Out’, The Walking Dead

Best Cover: Batwoman #1 by JH Williams III

Best Original Graphic Novel: Batman: Noel

Best Reprint Compilation: Thor by Walt Simonson

Best Comics-Related Book: Supergods by Grant Morrison

Best Comics Movie/TV Show: The Big Bang Theory

Best Comic Book Website: Bleeding Cool (boooooooooooo!!)

Best Comics-Related Magazine: DC Comics Superhero Collection

Roll of Honour: Frank Quitely

Huntsman Challenge Award: The Time of Reflection

So as you can see, winning an Eagle Award is mostly predicated on your ability to have “Bat” as a prefix in the title of your comic. 2000AD, Marvel, IDW and Dark Horse probably won’t be too pleased with the results, and your favourite website Comics Beat sadly was not in contention this year. But it’s interesting to note that Frank Miller still won the best Writer/Artist award, despite the somewhat controversial nature of his recent work Holy Terror, and the power of Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead series.

What do you think of the results? A good reflection on the current status of the comics industry?

Sorry about the font-mess of yesterday's post. I did it using Safari on a PC, and the result was hellish. Obviously these are not two things that work well together when playing with Blogger. And each attempt to clean it up on my part made it worse. (Thanks to the Web Goblin for fixing it.)

I did a second draft of the Waterstones "What's Your Story?" story (only a few words I wanted to change, but it meant handwriting the whole thing out again), and FedExed it off today.

My thanks to the Eagle Award voters -- I was thrilled that Absolute Sandman volume 2 won an Eagle Award for Best Reprint. (Last year it was Absolute Sandman volume 1. Next year the vote will probably be split between Absolute Sandman volumes 3 and 4, and something else entirely will win.)

(I was looking to see if there were covers for Absolute Sandmans 3 and 4 up yet at Amazon, and noticed that volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4 are all on sale for $62.37 [and that they are going to weigh a grand total of 29 lb altogether] and the last two have 5% preorders discounts up as well. Which I mention mostly for those people who write to me and grumble about the Absolutes being $100 books.)

Not sure if the cover for Absolute 4 is a mock-up or the real thing. I suspect it's not the final, mostly because I'm pretty sure that face is from Sandman #1, and for Absolute 4 we'll be taking a cover portrait from somewhere in the last 20 issues.

...

Regarding the Julie Schwartz Memorial Talk at MIT on the 23rd of May: To reiterate from the other day -- over at http://cms.mit.edu/juliusschwartz/tickets.html we learn that Tickets to the event are $8.00 and will be available at the door, pending availability. There won't be any available on the door, because they have almost all sold out. The website has a list of places selling the tickets -- yesterday there were about 60 tickets still out there. So this is a sort of a last call -- you can try phoning the places at the website to see if they still have tickets...


...

An ebay auction with a story... I've been rereading some old Batman comics recently, although I don't think I'd want these. But the story that comes with them is wonderful...

I'm worried and upset about the earthquake in China. From Nancy Kress's blog I learned that at least some of the friends we made in Chengdu last summer are okay -- and so are the pandas.

...

Rice pudding re-prompt! Once you get home to proper milk, of course. "Your general guidelines for a batch of rice pudding please, Mr. Gaiman!"Thank you!! ^_^b

I'm working on it, honest. Decided to figure out the proportions I'd used by a) finding a very similar recipe on the web and starting from there and then b) fiddling with it.

Two night's ago's rice pudding (the web recipe) was much too salty and wrong. I fiddled with the proportions and last night's was a lot better but now too sweet. Tonight's rice pudding would have been perfect I have no doubt but I forgot to buy more milk, so I didn't actually make one.

Dear Neil,

The press down here in Brazil have enthusiastically announced you'll be here for the Paraty International Book Fair, first week in July. But since you're also scheduled to lecture at Clarion, I'd like to ask if this is true. Or maybe you have a doppelganger. Or maybe the organizers here had a dream. Or maybe you're taking a weekend of from Clarion down here in Rio (if so, it'll be winter here, and rainy, not the best time to come...) Best regards,Eric

That sounds right, yes. (I teach Clarion the 3rd week in July.)

Hello hello hello,

To quote one of your other fans, “I have a question for you about writing”. I find that my own writing will echo the style of which ever author I am currently reading. Any idea how I might get around constantly mimicking others?

You write more.

I don't think there's anything wrong with copying other people's styles -- it's a skill you'll need, after all. Many actors begin as mimics. You don't worry about it, and keep writing, and after a while you'll have written enough that you can't help sounding like yourself, whether you want to or not.

Style is what you get wrong, that makes what you do sound like you. Style is what you can't help doing. Style is what you're left with.

(I just googled "style is what you can't help doing" because it sounded half-familiar, and I wondered who said it originally, and it may have been me, as I found myself looking at an extract from a speech I gave to an audience of comics artists and writers in 1997 at ProCon in Oakland:

We are creators. When we begin, separately or together, there’s a blank piece of paper. When we are done, we are giving people dreams and magic and journeys into minds and lives that they have never lived. And we must not forget that.

I don’t want to sound like an inspirational speaker here. "Be you." "Be the best you that you can be." But this is really important. It’s something that we mostly lose track of when we starts, because when we start in comics we’re kids, and we have no idea who we are or what our voices are, as artists or as writers.

Young artists want to be Rob Leifeld, or Bernie Wrightson, or Frank Miller, just as young writers want to be Alan Moore, or Chris Claremont or, well, Frank Miller. You’ve seen their portfolios. You’ve read the scripts.

We all swipe when we start. We trace, we copy, we emulate. But the most important thing is to get to the place where you’re telling your own stories, painting your own pictures, doing the stuff that one-one else could have done, but you. Dave McKean, when he was much younger, as a recent art-school graduate, took his portfolio to New York, and showed it to the head of an advertising agency. The guy looked at one of Dave’s paintings—"That’s a really good Bob Peake," he said. "But why would you I want to hire you? If I have something I want done like that, I phone Bob Peake."

You may be able to draw kind of like Rob Leifeld, but the day may come, may have already come, when no-one wants a bargain basement Rob Leifeld clone any more. Learn to draw like you. And as a writer, or as a storyteller, try to tell the stories that only you can tell. Try to tell the stories that you cannot help but tell, the stories you would be telling yourself if you had no audience to listen. The ones that reveal a little too much about you to the world. It’s the point I think of writing as walking naked down the street: it has nothing to do with style, or with genre, it has to do with honesty. Honesty to yourself and to whatever you’re doing.

Don’t worry about trying to develop a style. Style is what you can’t help doing. If you write enough, you draw enough, you’ll have a style, whether you want it or not. Don’t worry about whether you’re "commercial". Tell your own stories, draw your own pictures. Let other people follow you.

If you believe in it, do it. If there’s a comic or a project you’ve always wanted to do, go out there and give it a try. If you fail, you’ll have given it a shot. If you succeed, then you succeeded with what you wanted to do.

This is a painting commemorating the USAF Thunderbirds. Here we see the command bird, #1 solo, doing a practice run over the desert mountains just north of Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nevada, the Thunderbirds home base. The aircraft is a General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin), F-16A fighter jet.

Enjoy!

Canvas size; 18"x24"
Medium: Acrylic

Here's a metaphor (it's been a rough week).

Walter Krudop

-nadja-

well another contribution to sfg challenge...this one just came out of the sketch oven.

We've started to listen to Christmas music at our house. My kids love the song "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" That is where this idea came from.
When I was a kid I didn't want a hippopotamus for Christmas, but a flying one might have changed my mind.

Another doodle with this guy. It's not terribly dynamic but I like the contemplative nature of it. Giant Robots have feelings too. I think he needs some friends.

Here is my participation for these weeks challenge, the flight of the Cyclops...
Best, Choper Nawers.

Here's my entry to this week's challenge...Happy little birds!

Can't keep my mind
from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted
Just an earth-bound misfit,
I

This week's theme: Flight


The SFG Challenge runs Thursday to Thursday, and was created to offer every member an opportunity to stretch their creative muscles, venture outside of their artistic boundaries and post their interpretations each week on a specific theme. This is a completely voluntary challenge!

Be sure to label your illustrations with the appropriate labels as well. Label your entries with your name and the challenge label, in this case SFG: Flight.

By the way SFG'ers, we've had a number of new members join recently, with quite a few more on their way in. Please make them feel welcome!


The next challenge begins Thursday, November 22nd, 2007.

Have a great week SFG'ers!

-Jeff