Category Archives: Comics For Kids

The 2013 Joe Shuster Award Nominating Teams

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Awards Nomination - StockFor Artist, Cartoonist, Cover Artist, Writer: John Babos, Erik Bouchard, Laurent Boutin, Shawn Bryan, Jeff Brown, Amy Chop, Tyler Jirik, Mike Jozic, David Kelly, Patrick Marleau, Conor McCreery, Alice Quinn, Rachel Richey, Andrew Wheeler, Leonard Wong, Sarrah Young with additional input from Bill Code, Kelly Dowd and Andrew Uys.

For Webcomics: Tyrone Biljan, Allison Covey, and Andrew Walsh.

For Hall of Fame: Kevin A. Boyd, Walter Durajlija, Joseph Kilmartin, Ivan Kocmarek, Robert MacMillan, Hope Nicholson, Robert Pincombe, and Rachel Richey.

For the Gene Day Award: Tyrone Biljan, Kevin A. Boyd, Peter DeCourcy, Rachel Richey, and Debra Jane Shelly.

For the Harry Kremer Award: Anthony Falcone and Scott VanderPloeg. With additional input from Robert Haines (research) and the CCBCAA secret shopper team.

For the Dragon Award: Jennifer Haines (coordinator) and a team of her fellow educators: Beth Alexander (BEd – elementary) and Diana Pai (BEd).

The 2013 Joe Shuster Award Nominees / Les nominés pour le prix Joe Shuster 2013

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Full list of 2013 Nominees / La liste complète des nominés 2013

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2013 marks the 75th year since the debut of Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the pages of Action Comics #1. Tom Grummett prepared this portrait of Joe in 2005 that has adorned the Joe Shuster Award plaques ever since. Fun facts: Joe was left handed, the building in the background is the original Toronto Star building that inspired the Daily Star / Daily Planet building in Superman’s Metropolis. On the drawing table behind Joe is an earlier version of ‘The Superman’.

Canada has a rich tradition of supporting our national arts communities with awards that recognize the achievements of our citizens like the Genie Awards for film and television and the Juno Awards for music – the JOE SHUSTER AWARD is Canada’s national award that honours and raises the awareness of Canadians that create, self-publish and sell all kinds of comics, graphic novels and webcomics.

Shuster1975

Joe Shuster in 1975.

They are named after pioneering Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and his friend Jerry Siegel, that electrified the industry 75 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon.

Nominees were selected this spring from lists of creators including all eligible original works published and distributed during the year 2012. Qualifying creators must be Canadian citizens living at home or abroad, as well as permanent residents in Canada. The award winners will be chosen by a jury vote to ensure every nominee is given adequate consideration.

The awards will be presented at a gala ceremony in Toronto, open to the public, on the evening of Saturday, August 25, 2013. Time and exact location will be announced at a later date.

And the nominees are:

Continue reading →

Award season continues — what of the JSAs? An Update is Provided

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Okay, so the Prix Bedeis Causa were handed out last month, the Doug Wright Awards are being presented this Saturday night, and the Prix Bedelys are going to be presented on June 2nd.

Joe Shuster in 1975

Joe Shuster in 1975

What about the Joe Shuster Awards?

Well, they’ll be handed out in late August, and we’re almost finished with the selection process.

So far we’ve finalized the 2013 nomines for:

- Artist
– Cartoonist
– Cover Artist
– Writer
– The Harry Kremer Award for Comic Book Retailing
– The Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame (aka what I like to call the “Hinterland’s Who’s Who”)

There will be 3 inductees into the Hall of Fame in 2013.

Still pending:

- The Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing
– The  Dragon Award for Comics for Kids/Younger Readers
– Webcomics

The Nominating Committee for the Dragon Prize and for Webcomics have asked for a little extra time, while the Selection Committee for the Gene Day Award will be picking up some final books this weekend at TCAF to enlarge the pool of nominees.

We’ll be announcing the full list of nominees in a press release in late May, unfortunately we missed the Free Comic Book Day deadline I was shooting for.

The awards are going to be presented in Toronto this year, in late August – the specific date and venue will be announced later as well.

JSA update and more on Lost Heroes documentary

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So everything is well under way now here at JSA central. We’re once again aiming for a Free Comic Book Day (May 4th) deadline for our nominee announcements.

I must say that it’s been an enthusiastic year for Canadian comics so far, as there’s been a lot going on recently – especially for things related to Canadian comics history. The shooting for the upcoming documentary LOST HEROES has wrapped and the crew is currently in post-production mode, we eagerly await the final product. We’ve been lucky enough to be able to watch some of the interviews filmed at the Comic Book Lounge, and I think people are in for a real treat when the film finally airs on Super Channel later this year. Here’s the official blurb followed by the promotional poster for the film:

Lost Heroes is a feature documentary set to air on Super Channel in 2013. We explore the history of the great Canadian superheroes, from Johnny Canuck to Captain Canuck. Currently in post-production.

Lost Heroes explores the past of the Canadian superhero, from the golden age when millions of children read the tales of Inuit goddess Nelvana of the Northern Lights, to the thrilling days when Canadian superheroes returned to the newstands with Captain Canuck and Cerebus. Lost Heroes celebrates the unique Canadian talent behind these characters and asks why can’t Canada keep their heroes?

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Mister Monster by Fred Kelly, Captain Canuck by George Freeman, Fleur-de-Lys by Ken Steacy, with Adrian Dingle’s Nelvana and other characters in the background.

In what I’ve seen of it, this is a top-notch, professional production and I think it will be a great chance to expose a lot of people to Canada’s comics past, as well as it’s present and future.

With the completion of the eligible English and French list I’ve spent some time perusing the lists to play my guessing game of who I think the nominating committees will be selecting for the 2013 Joe Shuster Awards, and I think that this year’s list is strong, but seems to working from a smaller pool than in previous years. That certainly means that a lot of projects by people absent this year are on the horizon, but I’m eager to see who the nomcoms select.

Currently we have 19 individuals participating in the Nominating Committee for  Artist, Cartoonist, Cover Artist and Writer. They come from across the country, but as per protocol we won’t be publishing their names until after they have finished their selections in case anyone drops out before the end.

Our Hall of Fame selection committee has expanded quite considerably this year, to make up for last year’s year off. Of the seven members, only three have participated in previous HOF nomcoms. Maybe I can convince them finally to rename the HOF “Hinterland’s Who’s Who”.

Happenings: CAKE – Comic Arts for Kids Expo, Saturday March 23, 2013 in Toronto

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CAKE Image MainLillian H. Smith Library
230 College St.
Toronto, ON
M5T 1R5

Details

Want to meet leading graphic novelists and picture book creators? Or take part in a giant comic mural? Toronto’s future superheroes can do both at the Comic Arts for Kids Expo (CAKE), a daylong celebration of image-based storytelling for readers ages two to thirteen. This event is co-presented by Small Print Toronto, Little Island Comics and the Toronto Public Library.

Throughout the day, authors will sign and sketch in their books. Everyone who attends CAKE can contribute to a series of giant comic book panels. And the Little Island Comics team will be on hand to assist collectors of all ages.

The two to eight set can spend the morning exploring an ocean of activities in the DIY Comics Lab, featuring leading picture book artists Brothers Leung, J. Torres, J. Lum, Patricia Storms and Frank Viva.

The afternoon is filled with workshops for the eight to thirteen set, conducted by an all-star roster of graphic novelists — Claudia Davila, Steve Manale, Evan Munday and J. Torres, plus the creative team behind OWL Magazine‘s popular Max Finder Mystery series (Craig Battle, Natalia Diaz, Liam O’Donnell and Ramon Perez).

Admission is free but space is limited. For more information on the offered workshops and to sign up early, click here.

Welcome to 2013!

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A new year is well underway and we are getting back to business here at JSA central!

Unfortunately, I was not able to run a wrap survey for 2012 as I normally do, work on the store and various events (such as the 24 Hour Comic Challenge we ran in-store this past Saturday at the Comic Book Lounge) have been keeping me pretty busy.

Currently being assembled for a late January release will be the LIST OF ELIGIBLE CREATORS AND 2012 PUBLICATIONS list, and if you want to be proactive and make sure your comics projects are recognized you can email me at kevin@joeshusterawards.com and I’ll update the list.

Current plans are for the nomination process to begin in earnest on February 1, so if you are interested in participating in nominating the 2012 award categories, you can email me at the same address listed in this article.

A later start for the process does seem indicative of an awards ceremony for later in 2013, and that is once again the case — as we have a weekend in mind, an event and a city in which to hold the ceremony, just not an official venue yet. Current plans are for the ceremony to take place in late summer at a venue that will be announced in March when the nominations are announced.

2012 Joe Shuster Awards – Credits / Les Prix Joe Shuster 2012 – Crédits

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SECTION A

Outstanding Comic Book Cover Artist / Dessinateur de couverture de bande dessinée exceptionnel
Outstanding Comic Book Writer / Scénariste de bande dessinée exceptionnel
Outstanding Comic Book Artist / Dessinateur de bande dessinée exceptionnel
Outstanding Comic Book Cartoonist / Auteur de bande dessinée exceptionnel

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures :
Laurent Boutin (Montreal, QC)
Eric Bouchard (Montreal, QC)
Jeff Brown (Toronto, ON)
Lloyd Chesney (Victoria, BC)
Amy Chop (Guelph, ON)
Jamie Coville (Kingston, ON)
Gareth Gaudin (Victoria, BC)
Tyler Jirik (Guelph, ON)
Mike Jozik (Saskatoon, SK)
David Kelly (Montreal, QC)
Jonathan Kuehlein (Toronto, ON)
Andrew Uys (Toronto, ON
Leonard Wong (Vancouver, BC)
Sarrah Young (Toronto, ON)

- Outstanding Web Comics Creator / Créateur de bande dessinée web exceptionnel

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures :
Tyrone Biljan
Kevin Boyd
Allison Covey
Robert Haines
Andrew Walsh

Art Jury (Artist / Cover Artist / Webcomics)

- Cliff Caporale (Montreal, QC)
– Amy Chop (Guelph, ON)
– Calum Johnston (Halifax, NS)
– Hope Nicholson (Toronto, ON)
– Ethan Peacock (Vancouver, BC)

Story Jury (Cartoonist / Writer)

- Cliff Caporale (Montreal, QC)
– Robin Fisher (Montreal, QC)
– Robin McConnell (Vancouver, BC)
– Rachel Richey (Ottawa, ON)
– Salgood Sam (Montreal, QC)

Coordiinator/Coordinateur - Kevin Boyd, Executive Director

SECTION B

The Gene Day Award for Self-Publishers / Le Prix Gene Day de l’auto-édition

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures::
Robert Haines, with input from Kevin Boyd

Day Jury:
– Calum Johnston
– Jesse Jacobs
– Diana Schutz

The Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Comic Book Retailer / Le Prix Harry Kremer du libraire de bandes dessinées exceptionnel

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures :
Robert Haines

Kremer Jury:
Tyrone Biljan
Kevin Boyd
Allison Covey
Peter DeCourcy
Andrew Walsh

Coordinator/Coordinateur - Robert Haines, Associate Director

SECTION C

The Dragon Award – Comics for Kids / Le Prix Dragon – Bande dessinée jeunesse

Nominating Committee / Comité des Candidatures :
– Jennifer Stewart (BEd)
– Beth Alexander (BEd – elementary)
– Diana Pai (BEd)

Comics for Kids Jury:
– Douglas Davey (Halton Hills librarian)
– Graham Purcell (BEd – elementary)
– Renee Jackson (BEd, MFA)
– Kate McEvenue (BEd)
– Scott Robins (Toronto librarian)

Coordinator/Coordinateur – Jennifer Haines

ADDITIONAL THANKS TO:

Webcomics Coordinator – Andrew Walsh

Publisher Liason - Allison Covey

Graphics and Audio Visual Presentation – Tyrone Biljan

Awards Ceremony Hosts: Jason Rockman, Catherine Smith-Desbiens

Host Convention: Montreal Comic Con – contacts: Oscar Yazedjian, Elizabeth Jutras, Cliff Caporale

Awards manufactured by ACE Awards, Toronto, ON

Hall of Fame Committee – Joe Kilmartin, Robert Pincombe

The Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association would also like to thank the following publishers for their assistance in providing book for our juries to review:
Éditions Alto
Éditions Pow Pow
Éditions Soleil
IDW
Image Comics
Kids Can Press
La Pasteque
Les 400 Coups
Oni Press
Presses Aventure
Puffin Books
Katie and Steven Shanahan.

Additional books published by Archaia Press, Éditions Delcourt, Drawn & Quarterly, DC Comics, some additional IDW  and Marvel Comics were provided by:
The Comic Book Lounge + Gallery, (Toronto, ON)

Finally, the CCBCAA would like to thank and acknowledge the financial contributions of our private donours, and the support of the Canadian comics community across our great nation.

THE CCBCAA 2011-2012:
Kevin Boyd, Director
Robert Haines, Associate Director
Tyrone Biljan
Allison Covey
Peter DeCourcy
Andrew Walsh

The 2012 Joe Shuster Award winners

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Montreal, QC – In a ceremony presided by JASON ROCKMAN and CATHERINE SMITH-DESBIENS at the MONTREAL COMIC-CON, the 8th Annual Joe Shuster Awards for Canadian Comic Book Creators and Retailers were presented to an enthusiastic crowd of nominees, friends and fans of the medium. Continue reading →

Back to school and work JSA update for Sept. 4

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Welcome back! Hope your summer was as eventful as ours was.

We’re now a mere 11 days away from the presentation of the 8th annual Joe Shuster Awards and we’ll be posting some updates as we near the event.

JURY DECISIONS

The Art Jury (Artist, Cover Artist and Webcomics) have finished their selections, as have the ones selecting the Dragon Prize and the Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing. That leaves the Retailer Jury and the Story Jury (Cartoonist and Writer), and we hope to have those wrapped up later today or early tomorrow.

HARRY KREMER RETAILER AWARD FINALISTS

The 10 stores have been narrowed down to a final five – watch for a release here shortly.

POSTER

Our promotional image is ready, just waiting for some final approvals.

HALL OF FAME

Our Hall of Fame committee has opted to pass on inducting a new member in 2012.

FINAL AWARDS LIST FOR 2012 (8 awards to be given out in Montreal on September 15):

- Artist / Dessinateur
- Cartoonist / Créateur
- Writer / Écrivain
- Cover Artist / Dessinateur Couvertures
- Webcomics Creator / Créateur de Bandes Dessinées Web
- The Dragon Award (Comics for Kids) / Prix Dragon (Bandes Dessinées Jeunesse)
- Gene Day Award (Self-Publishers) / Prix Gene Day (Auto-éditeurs)
- Harry Kremer Award (Retailers) / Prix Harry Kremer (Détaillants)

 

Late July Update

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Things may have slowed down considerably here on the site lately, as running a store as well as the awards, parts of the country’s largest comic-con and a day job have really taken a toll on my time. I had never expected to own a comic shop, but The Comic Book Lounge + Gallery has been growing steadily since we opened it back in February. Huge  props go to manager Joe Kilmartin (formerly of the JSA Executive and former manager of Dragon Lady Comics), for handling the day to day aspects of running the Lounge.

If anyone has any interest in posting news items and articles here on the website, please contact me at kevin@joeshusterawards.com and we’ll get you hooked up.

It has been a very busy summer for everyone, with plenty of great news coming out of the San Diego con. A new series from Ed Brisson, Michael Walsh and Jordie Belaire called Comeback for Image. Also at Image, J. Bone will be doing a series called The Saviours with James Robinson, Darwyn Cooke will be doing at least two more Parker novels with The Hustle set for release in late 2013. Dale Keown will be joining Jeph Loeb for something called A Plus X.

Of course, the big news were the Eisner Awards, which have been summarized elsewhere on this site. Congratulations to the class of 2012! Darwyn and Ramon face off again in September in the Cartoonist category here for the Joe Shuster Awards.

The juries for 2012 have been selected and are beginning their review process. Thanks to the publishers who assisted us providing copies of nominated books for the jury to review. In this regard The Comic Book Lounge has become an official sponsor of the Joe Shuster Awards, providing some of the books not obtainable from the publisher directly.

It has been a big summer for books as well. Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score by Darwyn Cooke was released last week to great acclaim, the colourized Scott Pilgrim Volume 1 by Bryan Lee O’Malley and Nathan Fairbairn is set to arrive next week, as is Jeff Lemire’s The Underwater Welder.

Full list of 2012 Nominees / La liste complète des nominés 2012

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Artist / Dessinateur

  • Chris Bachalo Age of X: Alpha 1, Avengers 13, 15, Wolverine and the X-Men 1-3, X-Men 7-10 (Marvel Comics)
  • Marc Delafontaine Les Nombrils T.5: Un Couple D’enfer (Delcourt)
  • Stuart Immonen Fear Itself 1-7, “Queen, King, Off-Suit“/X-Men: To Serve and Protect 4 (Marvel Comics), “Say You’re Dead“/Outlaw Territory Vol.2 (Image)
  • Fred Jourdain Le Dragon Bleu / The Blue Dragon (Éditions Alto/Ex Machina/House of Anansi Press)
  • Jeff Lemire  Jonah Hex 69 (DC Comics), “A Coffin for Mrs. Bishell”/ Outlaw Territory Vol. 2 (Image)
  • Yanick Paquette, Nathan FairbairnSwamp Thing 1-3, Batman Incorporated 3, 5 (with Michel Lacombe) (DC Comics)
  • Cameron Stewart “Chapter 1: The School of Night“/Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes! 1 (DC Comics), Suicide Girls 1-4 (IDW)

Cartoonist / Créateur

  • Chester Brown Paying For It: A Comic Strip Memoir About Being A John (D+Q)
  • Darwyn Cooke  ”The Seventh“/Parker: The Martini Edition, “Betty Saves the Day“/Rocketeer Adventures 2 (IDW)
  • Guy Delisle  Chroniques de Jerusalem (Delcourt)
  • Ray Fawkes  One Soul, Possessions Book Two (Oni Press)
  • Francois Lapierre Chroniques Sauvages (Glenat Quebec)
  • Jeff Lemire  Sweet Tooth 17-25 (DC/Vertigo)
  • Ramon Perez Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand (Archaia Press)
  • Michel Rabagliati Paul au Parc (La Pasteque)

Cover Artist / Dessinateur Couvertures

  • Kalman Andrasofszky  X-23 5-19, X-Men: Earth’s Mutant Heroes 1 (Marvel Comics), Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero 6-10 (Boom!)
  • Kaare Andrews  Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis 5, Ultimate Comics Hawkeye 1-4, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man 156, 1-5,  Ultimate Comics X-Men 1-5, Ultimate Comics Ultimates 1-5 (Marvel Comics)
  • Fred Jourdain  Le Dragon Bleu / The Blue Dragon (Éditions Alto/Ex Machina/House of Anansi Press)
  • Francois Lapierre Chroniques Sauvages (Glenat Quebec)
  • Jeff Lemire  Jonah Hex 69 (DC Comics), Sweet Tooth 18-28 (DC/Vertigo)
  • Francis Manapul  The Flash Vol.4 9-12, The Flash Vol. 5 1-4, Flashpoint: Grodd of War 1, Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost 1-3, Green Lantern 4, Green Lantern Corps 62, Superboy 5, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents 5 (DC Comics) 7 Warriors (Boom!)
  • Yanick Paquette Batman Incorporated 3-5, Knight and Squire 1-6, Swamp Thing 1-4  (DC Comics)

Webcomics Creator / Créateur de Bandes Dessinées Web

  • Jayd Ait-Kaci  The Fox Sister, Sfeer Theory
  • Emily Carroll  Comics 2011 (Anu-Anulan and Yir’s Daughter, Dream Journal Mar 30th, Margot’s Room, The Prince and The Sea)
  • Tony Cliff  Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant
  • Kate Craig Heart of Ice
  • Iris and Zviane  L’ostie d’chat – Leblog de Jasmin et Jean-Seb
  • Drazen Kozjan The Happy Undertaker
  • Ty Templeton Bun Toons

Writer / Écrivain

  • Anthony Del Col, Connor McCreery  Kill Shakespeare 9-12 (IDW)
  • Francis Desharnais Motel Galactic (Editions Pow Pow)
  • Maryse Dubuc, Marc Delafontaine Les Nombrils T.5: Un Couple D’enfer (Dupuis)
  • Kathryn Immonen Avengers: Origins – Thor 1, Captain America and the First Thirteen 1, Wolverine and Jubilee 1-4, “Queen, King, Off-Suit“/X-Men: To Serve and Protect 4 (Marvel Comics), “Say You’re Dead“/Outlaw Territory Vol.2 (Image)
  • Jeff Lemire Animal Man 1-4, Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown 1-3, Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. 1-4, Giant Size Atom 1, Superboy 3-11 (DC Comics), Sweet Tooth 26-28 (DC/Vertigo), “-“/Brilliant! Tragic! The Comic Book 1 (Art Brut)
  • Tristan Roulot  Le Testament de Capitaine Crown T.1: Cinq Enfants du Putain, Goblins T.5: La Fleur au Canon, Psykoparis T.1 (Soleil)
  • Kurtis J. Wiebe Green Wake 1-8, The Intrepids 1-6 (Image), “Logan‘s Lost Lesson“/Marvel Holiday Special 2011 (Marvel Comics)
  • Jim Zubkavich Skull Kickers 5, 7-11 (Image

The Dragon Award (Comics for Kids) / Prix Dragon (Bandes Dessinées pour Enfants)

  • Ariane et Nicolas Tome 6: Les Toiles Mysterieuses  Paul Roux (Les 400 Coups)
  • Big City Otto Vol.1 Bill Slavin (Kids Can Press)
  • Hyena in Petticoats: The Story of Suffragette Nellie McClung  Willow Dawson (Puffin Books)
  • L’Agent Jean Tome 1: Le Cerveau de l’Apocalypse Alex A. (Presses Aventure)
  • Lone Hawk: The Story of Air Ace Billy Bishop John Lang (Puffin Books)
  • Luz Sees the Light  Claudia Davila (Kids Can Press)
  • Silly Kingdom: Alengrimrickshaw’s 211th Birthday Katie and Steven Shanahan (Self-Published)
  • Three Thieves Book 2: The Sign of the Black Rock Scott Chantler (Kids Can Press)

Gene Day Award (Self-Publishers) / Prix Gene Day (Auto-éditeurs)

  • Silly Kingdom: Alengrimrickshaw’s 211th Birthday Katie and Steven Shanahan
  • Ghost Rabbit by Dakota McFadzean
  • Drupe Jeremy Bourgeois Raymonde
  • 21 Journeys Cloudscape Comics Collective,
  • Fifteen Months Colleen MacIsaac

Harry Kremer Award (Retailers) / Prix Harry Kremer (Détaillants)

  • Amazing Stories (Saskatoon, SK)
  • Another Dimension (Calgary, AB)
  • The Comic Hunter (Moncton, NB)
  • Comic Readers (Regina, SK)
  • Golden Age Collectables (Vancouver, BC)
  • Heroes (London, ON)
  • L’Imaginaire (Quebec City, QC)
  • Silver Snail (Toronto, ON)
  • Studio 9 Comic Shop (Montreal, QC)
  • Warp 1 Comics and Games (Edmonton, AB)

UPDATED 09/04/2012:

Finalists /Finalistes:

  • Another Dimension (Calgary, AB)
  • The Comic Hunter (Moncton, NB)
  • Comic Readers (Regina, SK)
  • L’Imaginaire (Quebec City, QC)
  • Silver Snail (Toronto, ON)

The 2012 Dragon Award Nominees – Comics for Kids / Les Nominés pour le 2012 Prix Dragon – Bandes Dessinées pour Enfants

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The Dragon Award for Comics for Kids recognizes the works which capture the attention and fascination of young readers, and help to create a passion for life-long reading. Works considered for this award are comic books and graphic novels by Canadian creators that are targetted at readers 14 and under. Nominees were selected from the eligible creators lists by a team of educators led by Jennifer Stewart, MA, B.Ed., who is also the proprieter of Guelph, Ontario’s The Dragon comic book shop. In turn, this juried award is also be selected by an independent team of educators and librarians from across Canada, after giving thorough consideration to the nominated works.

Le Prix Dragon pour BD pour les enfants reconnaît les œuvres qui captent l’attention et la fascination des jeunes lecteurs, et aider à créer une passion pour la lecture long de la vie. Travaux envisagés pour ce prix sont des bandes dessinées et romans graphiques par des créateurs canadiens qui sont ciblés à des lecteurs 14 ans et moins. Les candidats ont été sélectionnés à partir des listes créateurs admissibles par une équipe d’enseignants, dirigée par Jennifer Stewart, MA, B.Ed., qui est aussi le proprieter de Guelph, Ontario La boutique The Dragon. À son tour, ce prix est également jury seront choisis par une équipe indépendante des éducateurs et des bibliothécaires de partout au Canada, après avoir examiné de manière approfondie les travaux proposés.

The 2012 Nominees are: / Les 2012 candidats sont les suivants:

Ariane et Nicolas Tome 6: Les Toiles Mysterieuses
Paul Roux
(Les 400 Coups)

Big City Otto Vol.1
Bill Slavin
(Kids Can Press)

Hyena in Petticoats: The Story of Suffragette Nellie McClung
Willow Dawson
(Puffin Books)

L’Agent Jean Tome 1: Le Cerveau de l’Apocalypse
Alex A.
(Presses Aventure)

Lone Hawk: The Story of Air Ace Billy Bishop
John Lang
(Puffin Books)

Luz Sees the Light
Claudia Davila
(Kids Can Press)

Silly Kingdom: Alengrimrickshaw’s 211th Birthday
Katie and Steven Shanahan
(Self-Published)

Three Thieves Book 2: The Sign of the Black Rock
Scott Chantler
(Kids Can Press)

Visit the Dragon in Guelph, ON or online:
Website
Facebook
Twitter

In anticipation of the May 9th Nominations announcement: final wrap-up report

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In about 2 weeks time we’ll be announcing the final list of nominees for the 2012 awards.

2012 will see the presentation of 5 Joe Shuster Awards (down from 7 in 2011):
- Artist/Artist Team
– Cartoonist
– Cover Artist
– Webcomics Creator/Creative Team
– Writer/Writing Team
and 3 Specialty Awards
- The Dragon Award (Comics for Kids)
– The Gene Day Award (Small Press)
– The Harry Kremer Award (Comic Book Retailer)

Plus at least one Hall of Fame inductee, with a maximum of two inductees in 2012.

For transparency’s sake, here is a final recap of where we stand in the nominating process:

Four categories (artist, writer, cartoonist, cover artist) had two rounds of nominating. In the first, the 13 members presented short lists of creators who had English language comics published in 2011. From the overlapping selections, those who had three or more “votes” advanced to a second round and any creators with more than half of the votes advanced to ballot. In the second round  the members ranked their choices from 1-10, with the top selections filling in the empty slots. A concurrent nomcom of 4 selected the finalists from French language comics published in 2011.

Webcomics was handled by the Executive, following a similar selection process, as each member of the Executive reviewed the entire list of eligible webcomics and submitted short lists of their top five, from which the top seven overlapping selections advanced to the final ballot.

While we can only have 7 or 8 nominees per category, we personally feel that the lists below represent the “best of the best” of the Canadian comics scene from 2011.

ARTIST/ARTIST TEAM
7 were selected from the following:
Chris Bachalo (Wolverine and the X-Men)
Andy Belanger (Kill Shakespeare)
Pierre Bouchard (Motel Galactic)
Patrick Boutin-Gagne (La Bete du Lac: le Guardien)
Marian Churchland (Northlanders)
Marc Delafontaine (Les Nombrils T.5)
Dale Eaglesham (Alpha Flight)
Stuart Immonen (Fear Itself)
Fred Jourdain (Le Dragon Bleu/The Blue Dragon)
Jeff Lemire (Jonah Hex)
Yanick Paquette w/ Nathan Fairbairn (Swamp Thing)
Ramon Perez (Captain America and the First Thirteen)
Stephanie Poulin (Au Pays de la Memoire Blanche)
Cameron Stewart (Batman Incorporated Leviathan Strikes!)
Doug Wheatley (Star Wars Dark Times – Out of the Wilderness)

CARTOONIST
8 were selected (there was a tie) from the following:
Alex A. (L’Agent Jean T.1)
Claude Auchu (Une Annee en Quarantine)
Jimmy Beaulieu (Comedie Sentimentale Pornagraphique)
Chester Brown (Paying for It)
Darwyn Cooke (“The Seventh” from Parker: The Martini Edition)
Guy Delisle (Chroniques de Jerusalem)
Jean-Paul Eid (Le Fond de Trou)
Ray Fawkes (One Soul)
Jesse Jacobs (Even the Giants)
Francois Lapierre (Chroniques Sauvages)
Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth)
Francis Manapul (The Flash)
Pat McKeown (Hair Shirt)
Kagan McLeod (Infinite Kung Fu)
Joe Ollmann (Mid-Life)
Ramon Perez (Tale of Sand)
Michel Rabagliati (Paul au Parc)
Seth (Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists)

COVER ARTIST
7 were selected from the following:
Kalman Andrasofszky
Kaare Andrews
Darwyn Cooke
Michael Del Mundo
Jean-Paul Eid
David Finch
Fred Jourdain
Francois Lapierre
Jeff Lemire
Francis Manapul
Yanick Paquette
Alexander Perkins
Doug Wheatley
Chrissie Zullo

WRITER
8 were selected (there was a tie) from the following:
Ian Boothby (Simpsons Comics)
Anthony Del Col/Connor McCreery (Kill Shakespeare)
Francis Desharnais (Motel Galactic)
Maryse Dubuc (Les Nombrils T.5)
Ray Fawkes (Skullkickers)
Kathryn Immonen (Wolverine and Jubilee)
Francois Lapierre (La Bete du Lac: Le Gardien)
Jeff Lemire (Animal Man)
John Rogers (Dungeons and Dragons)
Tristan Roulot (Le Testament de Capitaine Crown T.1)
J. Torres (Archie)
Kurtis Wiebe (Green Wake)
Jim Zubkavich (Skullkickers)

WEBCOMICS
7 were selected from the following:
JOEY COMEAU & EMILY HORNE – A SOFTER WORLD
KARL KERSCHL – ABOMINABLE CHARLES CHRISTOPHER
FAITH ERIN HICKS – ADVENTURES OF SUPERHERO GIRL
KEITH MCLEAN – ADVENTURESOME
MICHAEL DEFORGE – ANT COMICS
JASON BRADSHAW – BOREDOM PAYS
TY TEMPLETON – BUN TOONS
SHILIN HUANG – CARCIPHONA
DAN KIM – CLONE MANGA
CONNOR WILLUMSEN – COMICS
EMILY CARROLL- COMICS
TONY CLIFF – DELILAH DIRK & THE TURKISH LIEUTENANT
SALGOOD SAM – DREAM LIFE
DRAZEN KOZJAN – THE HAPPY UNDERTAKER
KATE BEATON – HARK! A VAGRANT
KATE CRAIG – HEART OF ICE
KATE LETH – KATE OR DIE
RAMON PEREZ – KUKUBURI
ELAINE WILL – LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD
IRIS/ZVIANE – L’OSTIE DE CHAT
GISELE LAGACE & DAVID LUMSDEN – MENAGE A TROIS
ATTILA ADORJANY – METAPHYSICAL NEUROMA
ISABELLE MELANCON – NAMESAKE
VITALY ALEXIUS – ROMANTICALLY APOCALYPTIC
JAYD AIT-KACI – SFEER THEORY & THE FOX SISTER
DAVID BISHOP – STRANGER
WINSTON ROWNTREE – SUB NORMALITY

GENE DAY AWARD FOR SELF PUBLISHING
5 to be selected – winner also receives a $500 bursary
Finalists to be selected from comics submitted for consideration.Short list of considered works not available and the finalists are still undetermined as of today.

THE DRAGON AWARD for
COMICS FOR KIDS
8 were selected
This is a curated award, nominees were selected by teachers and librarians. Short list of considered works not available.

HARRY KREMER RETAILER AWARD
10 were selected – to be narrowed down to 5 in July
Retailers selected from lists of retailers available elsewhere on this site. JSA Executive coordinated visits to shops and evaluated them on things such as presentation, customer service, diversity of material.

HALL OF FAME
Committee selection pending – July 2012

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

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I’ll leave it to the Comics for Kids jury to debate it’s eligibility, but I wanted to give a nod to a fantastic children’s book Debbie and I recently came across at Chapters/Indigo by Canadian storyteller Jon Klassen entitled “I Want My Hat Back”. We thought it was hilarious and decided to give it to Deb’s nephew Noah for his 3rd birthday last weekend. It would make a great Christmas gift!

New Books: Lone Hawk by John Lang

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LONE HAWK:THE STORY OF AIR ACE BILLY BISHOP

by John Lang

Canada’s greatest war hero brought vividly to life

As a boy, Billy Bishop was a crack shot – he had a sharp eye and great aim. Nearly flunking out of Royal Military College in Kingston, he eagerly signed up for duty when the First World War broke out. Sent first to England, Bishop discovered his true love: the Royal Flying Corps. Up in the air, the fighting may have been “cleaner” – no trenches, no mud, no mustard gas – but it was extremely dangerous and difficult. In fact, most fighter pilots in the First World War would not shoot down even a single plane.

Bishop soon proved himself to be a fighter pilot with an unerring instinct for aerial combat. He practiced relentlessly and would never land his plane before firing off every bullet, diving on targets he’d set up beforehand. The practice paid off. Bishop racked up seventy-two officially confirmed victories and was awarded every major medal, including the Victoria Cross. By the end of the war, he was considered so valuable as a symbol of the war effort that Canadian authorities insisted he be grounded: his loss would have been devastating to all Canadians.

In this exciting new graphic novel, author and illustrator John Lang has unforgettably recreated Bishop’s exciting wartime experiences.

Book: Paperback | 210 x 133mm | 96 | ISBN 9780143174660 | 01 Nov 2011 | Puffin Canada | $15

John Lang is an award-winning illustrator and cartoonist. He has produced work for a wide variety of publications, including Time Magazine, Billboard, Business Week, and The Village Voice. He lives and works in Toronto with his wife, Sara, and their daughter, Emily.

New Books: Hyena in Petticoats by Willow Dawson

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HYENA IN PETTICOATS: THE STORY OF SUFFRAGETTE NELLIE MCCLUNG

by Willow Dawson

Nellie McClung made an indelible mark on Canada. She was the author of eighteen books, a political activist and social reformer. In every role she played, she demonstrated unfailing courage, wit and resourcefulness, and helped make a better world for women and girls.

In the first frames of this brilliant graphic biography, Willow Dawson plunges readers into the rugged world of Canada’s western pioneers, taking us into the early life of McClung as the child of homesteaders, and follows her on her path to becoming a teacher, a crusader, a suffragette and eventually the first female Member of Parliament.

Book: Paperback | 210 x 133mm | 96 | ISBN 9780143177791 | 01 Nov 2011 | Puffin Canada | 8 – 12 years | $15

Willow Dawson grew up in Vancouver and now resides in Toronto with her husband Ray Cammaert. She graduated with honours from the Ontario College of Art and Design and works as an illustrator and cartoonist for various clients, including YWCA Canada, Owl Magazine, Kids Can Press, Top Shelf Comics, Filmblanc, Shameless Magazine, Sumach Press, Kiss Machine, Strange Horizons, and Tightrope Books.

2012 Categories update:

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Earlier this month we asked for feedback on our categories as we determine which will make up the list for the 2012 Awards. Based on your feedback and our internal debates this is the list as it stands:

2012 Categories:

* Outstanding Artist/Artist Team (no change)

* Outstanding Cartoonist (no change)

* Outstanding Cover Artist (no change)

* Outstanding Webcomics Creator/Creative Team (no change)

Note: after a lot of discussion and debate, the team has decided that we will leave webcomics as a unique category again. A line of distinction is being drawn between digital comics (online versions of concurrent with print edition comics or online previews of digital comics) which will not be eligible for the category. This remains for comics content created exclusively for the internet (later print editions are irrelevant and are considered reprints in the print categories), and one of the nominating and judging criteria will be usage of the online delivery system itself in the storytelling and presentation of these comics.

* Outstanding Writer (no change)

* Comics for Kids Award – Beginner Reader Level
* Comics for Kids Award – Intermediate Reader Level

Note: if there are enough books of each criteria to justify having two categories, the Comics for Kids Award will be split into two categories — Beginner, for younger readers, and Intermediate, for older children. For example, Binky the Space Cat might be considered a Beginner book, while Three Thieves: Tower of Treasure might be considered an intermediate level entry. The hope is to provide more information and recommendations to parents, teachers, librarians and of, course, young readers!

* Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing (no change)

* Harry Kremer Award for Comic Book Retailing (no change)

* Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame (1-2) (no change)

There is one additional category currently being reviewed by our group and is at the proposal stage.

* TENTATIVE: Outstanding Original Graphic Novel by Canadian Creator / Creative Team

The members feel that it should be specifically for original (i.e. new) graphic novels published in French or English during the previous calendar year. Unfortunately new collections of serialized comics that are later collected that same year are not going to be eligible for this award (if it happens). We are still VERY concerned about this being duplication of efforts as many of these books may be recognized in the Cartoonist, Writer and Artist categories. As it stands, we would like to follow the lead of Comics for Kids and have a similar nomination and judging process for this potential new category.

Unfortunately we’ll be placing two categories “on hiatus” for 2012: Outstanding Publisher and Outstanding Colourist.

2012 Joe Shuster Awards – Saturday, September 15, 2012 in Montreal, QC

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I’m happy to report on behalf of the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Organization that we have agreed in principle with the organizers of the Montreal Comic Con and will be presenting the 8th Annual Joe Shuster Awards in conjunction with that event on the evening of Saturday, September 15, 2012.

In preparation for the ceremony, the CCBCAA will be working with members of the comics community to provide a fully bilingual awards ceremony, and we are all excited at the possibilities of providing better translation services on this site in order to help spread the word on comics and graphic novels by Canadians in both official languages.

The Montreal Comic Con will be held on the weekend of September 14-16, 2012. Due to unexpected demand, the MCC will be expanding to a full three days in 2012.

The MCC will also be changing facilities in 2012. It will no longer be held at Place Bonaventure but will be moving into the newer, larger and more colourful (!) convention facilities at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal, QC (pictured, right).

http://www.montrealcomiccon.com

This marks the second time that the Joe Shuster Awards will be presented outside of Toronto. Earlier this year we presented the 7th Annual Awards at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. Plans are for the JSAs to be presented in conjunction with a different comic book convention in Canada each year.

Deciding the 2012 Categories

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Here at the JSAs we’re fairly open to making changes to the existing award categories if a solid argument can be made for the alteration, or for adding new or retiring old categories. In recent years new awards have included The Comics for Kids Award, The Gene Day Award, as well as the Outstanding Cover Artist and Outstanding Colourist Awards. Retired Awards include Outstanding Achievement, Favourite French and Favourite English creator.

As we are beginning our work in compiling the eligible comics for the 2012 Awards, the discussion has begun on the subject of Award categories. I’ve nothing to announce at present, other than over the next couple of weeks we will be hopefully deciding which of our current categories will continue on into the next Awards season and which ones will be put “On Hiatus”.

2011 Categories included:

Outstanding Artist/Artist Team
Outstanding Cartoonist
Outstanding Colourist
Outstanding Cover Artist
Outstanding Publisher
Outstanding Webcomics Creator/Creative Team
Outstanding Writer
Comics for Kids Award for Material Aimed at Younger Readers
Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing
Harry Kremer Award for Comic Book Retailing
Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame

The Webcomics Award is something that is being discussed – should webcomics (one of the most popular and well regarded awards) be retired and incorporated into the other categories (which have been exclusively for printed, distributed works)? It’s something we are debating internally so we’d love to read your thoughts on the subject.

Generally we are looking to maintain the same number of awards in 2012 — 12.

If you have any suggestions, thoughts or recommendations, please reply to this post or email me at kevin@joeshusterawards.com

Happenings: Little Island Comics celebrates with parties and signings this weekend.

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Saturday October 1st

* 1:00pm – Fiona Smyth (The Never Weres)
* 3:00pm – LAUNCH: Claudia Dávila (Luz Sees the Light)

Sunday October 2nd

* 12:00pm – Clayton Hanmer (Cton’s Super A-Maze-Ing Year Of Crazy Comics!)
* 2:00pm – Jeremy Tankard (Boo-hoo Bird)
* 4:00pm – Kean Soo (Jellaby) and Tory Woollcott (Mirror Mind)

Plus Grand Opening sales:

The John Stanley Library – 50% off

Select in-stock John Stanley Library titles will be 50% this weekend only! Titles on sale include: Melvin Monster, Nancy, Tubby, Thirteen “Going on Eighteen”Regularly priced between $24.95 and $34.95, but for the Grand Opening weekend the prices are as low as $12.47

Select Udon Kids Manga Bundles – 50% off

Two kids manga series will be offered at 50% off when purchased as a set!Fairy Idol Kanon – 4 volumes, regular $9.99 each: purchase all 4 volumes for $20
Ninja Baseball Kyuma – 3 volumes, regular $9.99 each: purchase all 3 volumes for $15