The 2005 Harvey Award nominations have been posted at The Beat. If Marvel thought it was going to split the internet in half, they’re going to have to pull off something rather special to top the Harveys. Eightball and Identity Crisis nominated for the same award? Heads will explode!
I’m really happy to see Bryan Lee O’Malley (Scott Pilgrim, Lost at Sea) and Andy Runton (Owly) get lots of nominations. With Scott Pilgrim, Owly, and Craig Thompson’s lovely Carnet de Voyage taking slots in the Best Graphic Album of Original Work category, I don’t envy the voters who have to pick just one.
And what the hell does the comic industry have against Paul Gravett’s magnificent Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics? First the Eisners snubbed it in the Best Comic-Related Book category, now it fails to appear in the field for the Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation Harvey. (If nothing else, these exclusions give me more chances to say how terrific Gravett’s book is.)
Instead of taking deep breaths to calm myself over the injustice of it all, I can just pop over and look at Lea Hernandez’s 24-Hour Comic, Dangerous Beauty. She’s posted it in three parts here, here, and here. As Johanna noted on her blog, it would be mighty delightful if this was published as a mini-comic. The cumulative effect of the three very different acts is really something in an electronic version, but I think it would be even more effective in print.
Speaking of comics you can read for free, Dave Carter is turning May into Free Comic Book Month at Yet Another Comics Blog. Dave will be digging into his own collection to match up entrants with comics they haven’t tried but might like, which is such a cool idea that it almost makes me wish I weren’t so selfish and lazy.
I’m still making my way through the haul from the Pittsburgh Comicon, and I’m learning that Ed Cunard is more than just an evil imp who encourages overspending. He was particularly encouraging at one dealer’s box of five-dollar graphic novels, and those purchases have turned out to be a gold mine of good reading. (Plus, I keep hearing Ed say, “You should get that!” whenever I look at them.) Highlights have been Chynna Clugston-Major’s screwball romantic comedy Scooter Girl (Oni) and Gabrielle Bell’s varied, accomplished collection of mini-comics, When I’m Old and Other Stories (Alternative Comics). The “to review” pile… it grows ever taller!