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SDCC ’23: GEORGE CLAYTON JOHNSON and George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through The Twilight Zone

George Clayton Johnson: Master Storyteller SDCC panel, 23 July 2023.

In 2012, I had the honor of being in the audience for a memorial tribute to one of Comic-Con’s founders, Richard Alf. And when I heard the introduction for one of the speakers, it immediately got my attention. The next person up to the lectern was this older elfin man with long gray hair and a full length beard. He had on a vest and Panama hat and, when he spoke, he seemed more wizard than elf. He had just been introduced with the longest list of credits I’d ever heard at Comic-Con. George Clayton Johnson had written for many of the leading television shows of the 1950s into the 1970s, including the biggest of pop culture icons, The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. George began his career by co-writing the story that was the basis of the Rat Pack classic, Ocean’s Eleven. And here he was, essentially the last man standing of a certain group of writers who would launch into the world the modern horror and dark fantasy genres we take for granted today. Fast forward a few more years, and here I am at Comic-Con leading a panel discussion of my graphic novel, George’s Run and honoring the man I was so fortunate to get to know and build a book around.

The gang’s all here: David Weiner, Wendy All, Mark Habegger, Henry Chamberlain, Phil Yeh, Martin Olson, and Marc Zicree.

The panelists all came through with flying colors. It felt like the gang was all here. That’s because they were, coming from various locales, all assembled to speak about George and basically help me launch my book.

This is the book for any fan of comics, pop culture, and great stories!

Heck, it’s a little awkward, I suppose, being my own marketing person but I sincerely believe there is nothing quite like this book outside of, say, Tim Scioli’s own unique graphic novel tribute to another legend, Jack Kirby: King of Comics. I’m very pleased with the journey I’m on as I go about promoting the book. It is a labor of love I would have created one way or another, which I did. It was first self-published and then it got published by Rutgers University Press. It’s a process that requires grit and dedication. That’s exactly the fighting spirit that kept George going.

Me and Marc Zicree, the man who gave us The Twilight Zone Companion.

Persistence, my friends, pays off. So, when your time comes, and you’ve put in the work, you’ll be ready. For anyone out there who enjoys a good story, would like to learn from George Clayton Johnson, a true master storyteller, then read on. This is Comic-Con history! This is storytelling history! Here is the transcript to the panel as well as the video at the end.

This panel took place at San Diego Comic-Con, in Room 29CD, 12:30-1:30 pm, on Sunday, 23 July 2023. It was a pleasure to organize and I look forward to the chance to organize more panels in the future. George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through The Twilight Zone is published by Rutgers University Press. I am very grateful to Rutgers and to Comic-Con for supporting my vision and helping me spread the word about my book. The panel begins with an introduction where I present some context and images from the book. I then pass it on to our moderator, David Weiner.

Henry Chamberlain: This is a story about ideas and about storytelling. George and I went on an adventure together where he shared with me his secrets to great writing and the meaning of life. I got to know George pretty well and finally worked up the courage to ask for his blessing on a graphic novel about him and the unique group of writers he worked with. George approved and wished me well, encouraged my creative license. Who was George? Well, many of you pop culture fans will instantly recognize some of his best known work, like the iconic episode, “Kick the Can,” from the original Twilight Zone. George was blessed to work with some of the greatest writers of the era who essentially invented the modern horror and dark fantasy genres we take for granted today. Richard Matheson single-handedly invented the zombie genre with his novel, I Am Legend. Robert Bloch set the tone for many a personal horror novel with Psycho. George was drawn to this dark fantasy world and gave it his own more whimsical twist. In public, he always talked about his love for Ray Bradbury–which is true. I private, he also talked about something with a darker tinge. At the end of the day, George held Theodore Sturgeon in the highest esteem. I will stop there and hand over the ceremonies to our moderator, David Weiner.

At the end of the day, George held Theodore Sturgeon in the highest esteem.

“A Penny For Your Thoughts,” one of George’s landmark works, is explored in GEORGE’S RUN.

David Weiner: That was Henry Chamberlain, the author and artist of George’s Run, this delightful book we’re going to discuss along with speaking about George. I’m David Weiner, former executive editor of Famous Monsters and director of the In Search of Darkness documentaries. Let’s go down the row here and have everyone introduce themselves and how you are connected to George Clayton Johnson.

Wendy All: Hi, I’m Wendy All. I’m an artist. I first met George around 1975. It was for a meeting, at the home of magician Patrick Culliton, to discuss the direction that Comic-Con was heading in. This was still in the very early days of Comic-Con. I didn’t know George. I saw a man with long hair wearing a bright orange vest. George was sitting playing the second movement of Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto on his harmonica. That fascinated me.

Later, at the El Cortez, a bunch of us were going to lunch, and I remember that George stopped to pick up a penny he spotted on the sidewalk. He was jingling it in his pocket. This is something he would do, all the way to the very end. I recall meeting him one last time, before his death, and he was still jingling those pennies in his pocket. It was his way of recalling that very famous episode he wrote for The Twilight Zone, “A Penny For Your Thoughts.”

Marc Zicree: Hi, I’m Marc Zicree, the author of The Twilight Zone Companion, among other things. I met George when I was 16-years-0ld, around 1971-72 at a convention. This was before he had a beard, but he already had long hair. There was a wall-sized poster for the novel for Logan’s Run with his name in big letters. I had written my first book, while in college, Three Interviews on Media and Society, which featured Ron Cobb, Ted Sturgeon, and George Clayton Johnson. George was the impetus for The Twilight Zone Companion. I think back to how we have a changing of the guard. But it seems to me that the older generation is more interesting. I think of Ray Bradbury, and George, and we won’t see their like again.

Original page from George’s Run.

Martin Olson: Hi, I’m Martin Olson. I’m a comedy writer and author. I met Henry going back to an interview he did with me. Later on, we met in person and he had just come from talking with George. When Henry told me that, I nearly fell over. George was an idol of mine. Going back to as a child, I’ve always diligently looked at the credits after a show. George Clayton Johnson had written some of my favorites ever. I was so intrigued by him and read up on him. After Henry told me about George, we never got around to talking about my shows as I was so thrilled to just chat about George, as we’re doing today.

Phil Yeh: Hi, I’m Phil Yeh. I created a magazine, with Mark Eliot, called Uncle Jam, and we have the issue available today which features an interview with did George for anyone who is interested. I was at the first Comic-Con and somewhere along the way, maybe at the El Cortez hotel, I became friends with George. He would speak to anyone. And, when you’re young, it’s nice to have someone older who will listen to you. George told me about a convention he wanted to do featuring him, called Clayton-Con, and I did the graphics for it. Over the years, George would come to our booth. And I always loved his enthusiasm.

Mark Habegger: Hi, I’m Mark Habegger, a writer and filmmaker. I probably have the shortest association with George. I became involved with Comics Fest, beginning with the first one in 2012, which was Mike Towry’s brainchild, a way to bring back the original Comic-Con vibe. George was part of that. Wendy did a recreation of George’s Cafe Frankenstein. The following year, I interviewed George for about an hour in order to help archive memories of the history of Comic-Con. It was just me and George in a white room. Once we started, he completely lit up. He was a storyteller who needed an audience. It didn’t matter if it was an audience of one or a thousand, he was going to tell his stories. You can find my interview at Comic-Con Kids.

David Weiner: Henry, you wrote George’s Run because George had a profound impact upon you. Please speak to the origins of your project and why it is so personal for you.

Henry Chamberlain: I’m a cartoonist and I’m always looking for a project to sink my teeth into, preferably a full-length graphic novel. I used to do comic strips, going back to working on my college paper, but I always wanted to take things further. I had done some graphic novel work in the past. When I went to a memorial tribute to one of Comic-Con’s founders, Richard Alf, in 2012, I was so impressed with the introduction given to this one speaker, George Clayton Johnson. He’d written for all the leading television shows of the era: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, Honey West, and then the biggest ones, The Twilight Zone, and Star Trek. He began by writing the story that was the basis for the Rat Pack classic, Ocean’s Eleven; and he capped his career as the co-author of the cult classic novel, Logan’s Run. I instantly imagined this being a graphic novel if handled in just the right way, paying attention to various connections.

I approached George that night and we instantly got to talking. We ended up doing some podcast interviews, chatted on the phone, and got to spend some time at his home. I imagine you could say that I had around 20 interactions with him, some long, some short. Spending time with George in his own home was very much a Forry Ackerman (founder of Famous Monsters) thing to do, inviting people into your home.

I think about George all the time, during the week, perhaps not every day, but he’s a guiding light. I want to honor him. I feel his presence here.

David Weiner: How is a graphic novel the ultimate platform for all the stories you’re telling here?

Henry Chamberlain: I hope that folks will pick up on what I’m doing. It’s like the world you create in a prose novel or a painting. I got into a zone and dug deep and, I believe the reader will sense the dedication. Even my harshest critic can’t say that my work seems to have been rushed. I put a lot of work into it, connecting the dots. The whole experience is at a reader’s pace, the sort of cerebral vibe you can get in a daydream. Which seems fitting considering that George loved calling himself a “professional daydreamer.”

David Weiner: The initial motivation for George’s work as a writer, and he struggled a bit, was to talk a big name. George was with a group of writers who ultimately dubbed themselves, “The Group,” who were spectacular names, on the page and screen. Henry, and we can open this up to the rest of the panel, talk a bit about The Group and their influence on writer’s today.

Henry Chamberlain: George held his own with the other writers because he was a voracious reader. It may be lost to history but I don’t believe that George ever wrote for the pulps while all the other writers in The Group had cut their teeth on pulp fiction. George had to prove himself and he relished that. He’d talk about how everyone in The Group would regularly lay it all out, size each other up, and spill their guts out to each other. I’m not sure about every detail but I do know that, from the start, George was fortunate to become friends with Charles Beaumont since Beaumont was the key to gain entry into the rest of The Group, as well as the smaller core group.

The Core of The Group!

Wendy All: I can share about George and The Group. George hitchhiked across the country and he knew he wanted to end up in L.A. and he knew he wanted to end up with Ray Bradbury. So, he got into that group of writers, centered around Ray Bradbury, which included Charles Beaumont, who happened to live upstairs from the apartment my husband was renting in North Hollywood. Playboy magazine was paying $200 per story and, in those days, that was a lot of money. Bradbury had figured out a formula to sell stories. So, yeah, the writers would gather and critique each others’ work.

Marc Zicree: I just want to jump in and say that science fiction is unique, in a certain way. The fans who go on to become professionals don’t shut the door on the fans attempting to move up. If you want to meet someone in the science fiction and fantasy genres, whether an actor or a writer, they are there for the fans.

Ray Bradbury grew up as a fan of Ray Harryhausen and Forry Ackerman. Later, Bradbury became a mentor to Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, and George Clayton Johnson, core writers, under Rod Serling, on The Twilight Zone. So, to have George in that circle, he was in the perfect fertile field for a writing career.

What I learned from George is that you can write one story on one show that is so well-written that it can have an impact on someone’s life that can last forever.

David Weiner: There’s that elusive ingredient you talk about in your book, Henry, that this group of writers strove for, that “touch of strange.” Can you tell us about it?

Henry Chamberlain: Rod Serling, under contract, wrote the majority of the episodes of The Twilight Zone, 80 percent for the first season alone; and  around 70 percent of the episodes for the whole run of the series, which made sense considering his caliber of writing. And then there was that 30 percent to which Serling granted access to this select group of writers. Here’s the rub, it wasn’t easy to describe what exactly these writers were pursuing. It wasn’t just science fiction, or horror, or social commentary. When asked, George would describe it as writing with “a touch of strange.”

Now, I like to read and I discovered the origin of this term. This is, if I do say so myself, my original discovery. The term goes back to 1898 and the short story, The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. You’ll find it there and it basically refers to something not quite right, unnerving and unsettling. And then I come to find that Theodore Sturgeon made note of this term and named one of his own short stories after it. So, this is a very literary thing going on and it takes time to process such things. It seems as if we’ve lost the art of doing this. Of course, we haven’t exactly. It goes on–and it must. We need to celebrate this kind of thinking, and writing, every time we come across it.

David Weiner: We’re going through something that is very profound, the advent of A.I. and how that could affect writers. The nightmare scenario is that clients, who might prefer to not pay writers, could turn to A.I. Let’s talk about the writing process and the human touch. What was it about The Group, working as a group of writers versus writing alone?

Mark Habegger: I think that George was the kind of writer who saw something magical in the audience interaction with the storyteller. He saw himself as a shaman-storyteller. I think that The Group that we’re talking about, and other writing groups, like the writers he went down to Mexico with, even Cafe Frankenstein, were all opportunities to “gather around a campfire” and have an immediate interaction. I think he was a futurist-humanist. He wanted to take his forward-thinking sci-fi ideas and see how we would be affected by them, see how people would rise above it. It’s all a very human story. And I think he would have seen A.I. as a threat to all that. Not that he wouldn’t have embraced new ideas but he would have found very human ways to respond to them. None of us want to see the end of human creativity. It’s those human imperfections that inform the best art.

Wendy All: I have an example of how George would have agreed with the human factor. I asked him once how he came up with the idea for Ocean’s Eleven. He said that they (George and Jack Golden Russell) were sitting watching a grocery store being closed up. And it occurred to them how easy it would be to rob the grocery store safe. And then, George thought, may as well go where the big money is . . . go to Las Vegas. The details that George came up with were enough for the Nevada Gaming Commission to change some of its procedures. So, if you fed an A.I. computer footage of a grocery store, I don’t think it would come up with a heist movie.

Marc Zicree: Getting back to the idea of a circle of writers. I think of the energy that comes from being around other writers, great writers. I would seek out such writers, like J Michael Straczynski, James Michael Reaves, and many others–and I would then pace myself to them. It made me have to strive to do my best and really get proficient. That’s the same thing that happened with George. He came from a very impoverished background, his mother was an alcoholic. He had a very hard scrabble childhood. And he was now with all these big writers for television. A TV show on one of the Big Three networks, per episode on average, would have from 30 to 40 million viewers. Not like today at all. Charles Beaumont was at the core of all that with all of his astonishing energy. Ray Bradbury was on high as the patron saint.

When Beaumont died, at only 38, that whole circle of writers went spinning off into space. George and Bill Nolan were very good friends and went on to write together the novel, Logan’s Run. But when they go together to write a sequel, what had happened in the interim was . . . well, George was a chain smoker, of tobacco; but when the Surgeon General’s report came out, George made the switch from tobacco to weed. So, that brought on a change. George grew his hair long and became a hippie and all that. When they tried getting back to work, George had a fistful of joints that he placed in an ash tray. Bill Nolan took one look, and being so strait-laced, he shook his head and said he couldn’t work with George. That was the breakup of their collaboration with both agreeing to write their own sequels as they shared the property.

This is a case of who you are as a writer, the identity of being George Clayton Johnson, or Ray Bradbury, versus the reality of sitting down and doing the hard work of writing, having that discipline, that clarity of mind. Sometimes, when you lose that circle of colleagues, you lose something. George was extremely good at being George Clayton Johnson but, in terms of the ongoing discipline of writing, well, years ago, I read the outline to his sequel for Logan’s Run but, as far as I know, that never reached fruition. So, I think, there’s always that challenge.

David Weiner: Let’s go down the line and have panelists share with us their favorite moment or story by George Clayton Johnson, one of the great writers of that era.

Martin Olson: Well, everything that Marc, and Henry, have said about The Twilight Zone, and what I’ve come across myself is so interesting and then you add this: George wrote the very first episode of Star Trek! Are you kidding me? Then, when Steven Spielberg, of all people, decided to do a movie of The Twilight Zone, he arranged for different directors to do various classic episodes and, for his episode, Spielberg chose none other than George Clayton Johnson’s “Kick the Can.” That story was about a group of old people who, through fearing death, they discovered the secret to eternal youth. “Immortality is accessible to all of us,” that was what he was saying. “It exists forever in our memories, in our hearts, and in our minds.” That’s the strength of George’s writing.

Marc Zicree: I want to say something about “Kick the Can” in connection to The Twilight Zone movie. I was a consultant on the film. I believe it was Kathleen Kennedy I was talking with and I asked about what episode Spielberg was going to do and she said he was leaning towards doing “The Trade-ins,” about old people trading in their bodies for new ones. He wanted to do something with old people. So, I asked if he’d seen “Kick the Can.” She said she thought he had. And then I asked if he’d seen in recently. When I got a no, I immediately went to get my own copy of the episode to show it to him. It was a VHS that I taped off my TV. And he then chose to direct “Kick the Can.” What’s cool is that the payment George got for using the episode allowed him to make the last payment on his home.

A celebration of individualism!

Mark Habegger: My personal connection with George was through Comic Fest. My favorite part of my interview with George was at the very end. He was telling his stories and his son, Paul, was in the room. There’s a point when Paul ends up sitting in George’s chair, a sort of passing of the baton. Paul was chomping at the bit to get the details right on something. George gives Paul the mic and Paul goes on to talk about the artist group that George traveled with to Mexico. It was a very fortuitous way to end the interview. I think this idea of gathering around like a tribe, being around the kids at Comic-Con, was something that George loved.

George Clayton Johnson

Phil Yeh: When George would come by our booth at Comic-Con, most of time people had no idea who George was. But he would talk, and all these ideas would come out of him. He was very animated. One time, I recall, one of my son’s friends was listening to George, then he went over to buy a book by George, this was like an hour later, and when he came back, George was still talking, still very lively. George was, more than anything, great about encouraging younger generations about the world of ideas.

Henry Chamberlain: I wanted to point out a few things before we wrap up. There’s a collection of the work by George Clayton Johnson, All of Us Are Dying, and it’s the size of an old classic thick phone book so he did do quite a lot of things beyond the well-known work. He was always looking for original ideas. He liked to say that, as human beings, we’re free agents, we could rob a bank if we chose to. He was constantly thinking up plots and scenarios. He was an idea machine. He wrote a story that was the basis for Charlie’s Angels. There’s a musical he wrote about Emile Zola. There’s a satirical play he wrote about Christopher Columbus.

Henry’s book, George’s Run, is a must-read for fans of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Star Trek. George was in the thick of all of that. George was such an unusual character. This book is about storytelling and humanism. So, for those of you who appreciate these things, get this book, George’s Run, because it goes to the core of what happened within The Group, this celebrated writing group. It’s just a beautiful surreal brilliant graphic novel.

— Martin Olson

Marc Zicree: Well, George talked to me about his famous episode, “A Penny For Your Thoughts,” starring Dick York, about a bank teller who flips a coin and it lands on its edge. As long as that coin stays on its edge, the character has telepathic powers. He comes to listen in on the thoughts of people and finds they don’t always do what they think or vice versa. So, George actually wanted to turn that episode into a full-fledged series. Each week would follow a new person on a coin adventure. Finally, there’s one episode that features a high stakes poker game and the main character with telepatyhic powers thinks he’s going to win big. Except, in turns out, the greatest poker player in the world is Chinese, thinks in Chinese, and our hero can’t understand a word!

George was great about paying it forward. As Bradbury did. Beaumont did.  And as Matheson did. As I do. The Twilight Zone Companion was my first book out of college. It was what led to my writing for television. I was 21 when I first got the idea to write the book and George encouraged me to pursue it. He introduced me to everyone he could involved with the show. Finally, I approached Rod’s widow, Carol Serling, who had turned down many professional journalists. This was only two years after Rod’s death. The book went on to great success. Years later, we were at a American Cinematheque tribute for The Twilight Zone, and I asked George why he was willing to take a chance on me, some 22-year-old kid. And he said that I seemed very intelligent and that I looked like I could pull it. If it hadn’t been for George, I wouldn’t have had a career.

George Clayton Johnson’s Cafe Frankenstein

Wendy All: I was so grateful to get a chance to honor George in 2012 at Comic Fest with my recreating George’s Cafe Frankenstein. Among George’s work, I loved “All of Us Are Dying” or “The Four of Us Are Dying.” I loved the idea of transformation. All the character had to do was concentrate and he’d change into someone else. It was interesting to read it and then seeing it on the screen.

Marc Zicree: The idea that someone could change their face, to be a shapeshifter, you see that go from “The Four of Us Are Dying” in The Twilight Zone to George’s “The Man Trap” in Star Trek. Interesting to see the shapeshifter motif cross over like that.

Martin Olson: In fact, the Star Trek story, “The Man,” was the first transgender alien story. And the whole idea of that salt vampire is a great example of George’s wild imagination.

George keeps on running!

Martin Olson: Marc, I want to say something to you. I didn’t know about the origin of your book, The Twilight Zone Companion, with George standing up for you. As a comedy writer, going back to 1980, I can tell you that every writer in a writer’s room had your book. We would read your book because it was a catalyst for great stories.

Marc Zicree: My big interest in writing The Twilight Zone Companion was the writers: how they did what they did. At the time, Bantam, my publisher wanted me to take out all the information on the writers. I told them that they could do whatever they wanted with the photographs, and I had all of them, but they’d have to leave the content on the writers alone.

Henry Chamberlain: Speaking about paying it forward, I want to thank Rutgers University Press for believing in me and my vision and publishing George’s Run. I am forever grateful to them.

Martin Olson: Henry, I want to say something about your book. I imagine that the first comic strip cartoonists were influenced by maybe three or four things, like motion pictures. Then you think about, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Star Trek make up the major influences on cartoonists of more recent generations. You know, without George Clayton Johnson, and people like him, there would be no Comic-Con.

Henry’s book, George’s Run, is a must-read for fans of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, and Star Trek. George was in the thick of all of that. George was such an unusual character. This book is about storytelling and humanism. So, for those of you who appreciate these things, get this book, George’s Run, because it goes to the core of what happened within The Group, this celebrated writing group. It’s just a beautiful surreal brilliant graphic novel.

Ray Bradbury lit the fuse and a smaller core group, led by Charles Beaumont, took hold.

David Weiner: As we close out, Henry, give us some final thoughts on what George Clayton Johnson’s impact on pop culture is today. George was part of the foundation of so much of the pop culture that we love today.

Henry Chamberlain: I was asked on a radio show what I thought were the hot new science fiction writers today and I sort of drew a blank for a moment since it was such a big question. I keep coming back to the concept of “a touch of strange” and some writers have picked up on that. I think of Charles Yu, as just one example. It’s not hard science fiction we’re talking about. It’s more literary. That’s a big influence. And then there’s the love of storytelling in general. And love for the written word. The Twilight Zone was syndicated beyond belief. The local affiliate in L.A. broadcast it twice a day, at noon and at midnight. So, yeah, it ran, and still runs, very deep for people on many levels.

David Weiner: Thank you, Henry.

Henry Chamberlain: Thank you, David.

The Core of The Group!

 

 

And here is the video . . .

George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through The Twilight Zone is published by Rutgers University Press.

Long Live Comic-Con!

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Filed under Comic-Con, Comic-Con International: San Diego, Comics, George Clayton Johnson, The Twilight Zone

SDCC ’23: Comic-Con is Alive and Well

San Diego Comic-Con is alive and well as this year’s gathering of hundreds of thousands of fans can attest. It did not fall short because of the writer/actor strikes. I’ve enjoyed Comic-Con over years as much for the core reasons as for the Hollywood component. Ideally, everyone, from the casual observers to the various insiders and power brokers, gain something from the experience. You can pontificate over the decline of civilization all you want but, at the end of the day, the people, actual flesh-and-blood real people, not abstractions, have spoken and voted with their time and pocketbook.

Some folks are at the con just to buy that prized rarity they’ve been eyeing for years at previous cons. Some folks are more like innocent bystanders who have simply come along for the ride. Not everyone is a regular reader or a fan of anything in particular. But, then again, there are more people and stories packed within the convention floor than any intrepid reporter will ever know. Most, it seems, can’t see the forest for the trees. The best one can hope for is that San Diego Comic-Con continues to do the good work it is doing–and that you can count on. You may not be aware of this but San Diego Comic-Con is a nonprofit with a long history of its own with impeccable standards and codes of ethics. The notion that “Hollywood” can make or break it is, well, a bit of a distraction.

Arsenic Lullaby at San Diego Comic-Con 2023.

Lego Brickbuster Video display.

Marvel Comics at SDCC 2023.

Viz Manga at SDCC 2023.

Really, at the end of it all, the fact remains that some folks are at the con to buy something they’ve been coveting; while other folks, maybe the vast majority, simply thought it would be fun to go, whether they got to see a celebrity or not. If you stop and think about it, there’s so much more going on. I let the whole thing wash over me, the free-spirited interactions, the genuine acts of goodwill, the whole Gaslamp Quarter party. There’s something primal and transcendent happening. It’s not just about comics, and that’s totally fine. People are in costume for more reasons than you’ll ever know. It’s a carnival, and I love it.

George Clayton Johnson: Master Storyteller SDCC panel, 23 July 2023.

Well, of course, so much more can be said on the specific subject of San Diego Comic-Con, along with other topics closely linked to it. A pretty tall pile of books have been written on it, whole careers have been cultivated in the name of “comics journalism” and the like. From my experience, you have to choose your own battles, decide what’s worth concentrating on, what’s worth fight for. Specifically, for me, it came down to carving my way out of doing just one thing, which I’ve always done anyway. I’ve always respected me! I made the time for my own art, my own comics. And that ultimately led to my graphic novel, George’s Run, published by Rutgers University Press. And my having a panel at SDCC. Yes, panels are alive and well. For journalists, as well as anyone, panels are part of the core of Comic-Con and a place to learn about what makes it tick. I’m sorry if you missed my panel because it was great. I’ll feature it in an upcoming post. I will be forever grateful to those who pay it forward, who share the vision and goodwill, like Rutgers and Comic-Con.

Jennifer Daydreamer in the heart of retail happiness at SDCC.

You can’t control people, even if some marketing firms would beg to differ. What you can do is try to inspire people: entertain them; guide them and educate them. But, first, you need to get their attention. And here’s the thing, the real kick-in-the-pants epiphany: you really can’t pontificate and ultimately it does come down to the grass-roots approach: speaking to people one-on-one, in-person, the real deal. And that is what you’ll see on the ground floor, the convention floor. That is what is ultimately real and that’s never going to go away.

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Filed under Comic-Con, Comics

SDCC 2023: A Refocus for Comic-Con Amid Writer/Actor Strikes

So, what happens when Comic-Con is not Comic-Con, at least not what many people might expect? The famous Hollywood celeb-fest at Hall H is not happening this year due to participants pulling out of all the big ticket panels amid the writer and actor strikes. It’s not a pretty picture and some cry foul but the show must go on and, in many ways, there is a light at the end of this tunnel in terms of a refocus to the roots of Comic-Con: comic books! With the spotlight off of Hollywood blockbusters and related projects, Comic-Con will, in fact, be returning in a big way to how it all began, as a gathering place for comic book enthusiasts. And that’s got to be a good thing.

It’s all about writers working with, and supporting, writers.

My panel at this year’s Comic-Con, along with the smaller scale, down-to-earth panels, is still on. And it happens to be all about writers and the creative process. George Clayton Johnson: Master Storyteller is about my new book, George’s Run. It features George Clayton Johnson and his meteoric rise as a writer. And it is through his journey that you learn about the group of writers responsible for what we take for granted today as dark fantasy, as well as a more nuanced and personal science fiction and horror. The point is that the creative process is at the core of what we’re talking about. I invite you to go to my panel which celebrates the very essence of Comic-Con. In fact, George was a great supporter of Comic-Con right from the start. He loved the sense of community of people joined together by the magic of comic books.

Here is a report from CBS 8 San Diego (archived on YouTube):

As Hollywood continues to grapple with the impact of the writer’s strike and the all-but-certain actor’s strike, the standoff is creating new problems for San Diego Comic-Con. Several of Hollywood’s biggest companies have now decided to skip panels in Hall H, which is typically the biggest attraction and the longest wait time of the convention. In years past, Hall H panelists would discuss current and upcoming projects as well as promote future ones. This year is a little different. Disney, Marvel, Lucas Films, HBO, Sony, Netflix, DC Studios, and Universal have announced they will be pulling out from Hall H presentations, the Hollywood Reporter said on July 8. In a statement to CBS 8, a spokesperson for Comic-Con says in part, “With regard to the strike and its possible effects on Comic-Con, we tend to refrain from speculation or forecasting. Our hope is for a speedy resolution.” While the status of some things at Comic-Con are still up in the air, there is still plenty to be excited about at the Comic-Con and the Comic-Con museum.

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SDCC 2023: George Clayton Johnson and GEORGE’S RUN

Are you going to San Diego Comic-Con this year? I am! This is not a regular thing for me and it’s always a big deal when I do get to go. I am going in support of my new graphic novel, George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through The Twilight Zone, published by Rutgers University Press. The official program schedule has been announced and it includes a panel discussion focusing on my new book and celebrating the great man himself: George Clayton Johnson: Master Storyteller is scheduled for Sunday, July 23, from 12:30 – 1:30 pm, in room 29CD.

George Clayton Johnson contributed brilliant writing for some of the most iconic and beloved shows in television history, including the original Twilight Zone and Star Trek. The 2023 schedule for panels is the place to go for any and all info on panels. My panel, again, is Sunday, July 23, 12:30 – 1:30 pm in Room 29CD. I’m just thrilled to be able to pay tribute to George in this way. We have a wonderful group of folks for the panel and it will surely be a fun, informative and inspiring discussion.

Room 29CD. Sunday, July 23, 12:30 – 1:30 pm.

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2021 Eisner Awards: The Nominees and the Winners

SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN (DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults, paper, $16.99)

The big news for the 2021 Eisner Awards at Comic-Con in San Diego is that cartoonist Gene Luen Yang was the big winner of the evening, taking home three Eisner Awards, including two for Superman Smashes the Klan (Best Publication for Kids, and Best Adaptation from Another Medium) and one for Dragon Hoops (Best Publication for Teens). That’s the big takeaway and quite a worthy one at that. Also, just as important is the news of Junji Ito‘s Remina (translated by Jocelyne Allen) manga winning this year’s Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia award. Junji Ito also won the Best Writer/Artist award for his Remina and Venus In The Blind Spot manga.

Panel excerpt from DRAGON HOOPS

While we inevitably focus on the winners–let’s also pay attention to the nominees. And then there are all the others who did not make it that far. I’ll tell you right now that these award lists are not the final word, but a great guide nonetheless. In a perfect world, for instance, Welcome to the New World, a graphic novel by Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan, would have been nominated for the 2020 book published by Henry Holt. It was nominated for an Eisner as a webcomic in 2018, so that’s a good thing. Among this year’s winners, I do think the Eisners got it spot on for Best Reality-Based book going to Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, by Derf Backderf. And it was great to give a shoutout to Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams byway of an award for Best Penciller/Inker to Michael Allred.

Anyway, I think it helps to make you dig around a little to see who won…you’ll see what I mean….

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Eisner Awards 2020 and Observations

SDCC 2020 Judges!

Much like the winners list for the Angoulême Comics Festival and the Small Press Expo, it is very useful to take a close look at the Eisner Awards at San Diego Comic-Con. A reliable prime source in the study of comics comes from the biggest and most well-established comics festivals/conventions. Because of COVID-19, SDCC was a virtual event for 2020 and that has created added benefit. For starters, it’s a pleasure to have actor Phil LaMarr as host. It’s also an uncanny pleasure to have such a documentation of the winners. I doubt this will become the norm but this special video recap is priceless. One essential fact that ended up getting more attention than it might usually have gotten was a moment to focus on the panel of judges! It is so important to know who your judges are for many reasons including insight and credibility. This years judges: Martha Cornog, Jamie Coville, Michael Dooley, Alex Grecian, Simon Jimenez, and Laura O’Meara. Ah, perhaps one of these years SDCC will choose yours truly as a judge. I was a judge for SPX some years back so it could happen, but I might need a storage locker. Anyway, it’s a very big deal to know who your judges are and it makes industry news.

Laura Dean Is Breaking Up with Me

The top winners of the evening were Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s graphic novel Laura Dean Is Breaking Up with Me (Best Publication for Teens, Best Writer, Best Penciller/Inker; published by First Second/Macmillan) and G. Willow Wilson and Christian Ward’s comic book series Invisible Kingdom (Best New Series, Best Writer, Best Painter; published by Berger Books/Dark Horse).

Multiple Eisners also went to Lynda Barry for Making Comics (Best Comics-Related Book, Best Publication Design; published by Drawn & Quarterly); Raina Telgelemier for Guts (Best Publication for Kids, Best Writer/Artist; published by Scholastic/Graphix); and Stan Sakai for Best Lettering (on Usagi Yojimbo, published by IDW) and Best Archival Collection/Project (Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo: The Complete Grasscutter; IDW).

The Best Graphic Album–New trophy went to Are You Listening by Tillie Walden (published by First Second/Macmillan), while Best Reality-Based Work was awarded to George Takei’s memoir They Called Us Enemy (by Justin, Eisinger, Steve Scott, and Harmony Becker, published by IDW/Top Shelf). In the comics categories, Image’s Bitter Root by David Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene won Best Continuing Series, while Best Limited Series went to Little Bird by Darcy Van Poelgeest and Ian Bertram (also Image).

The publisher that can boast the most winners is Dark Horse, with the three for Invisible Kingdom plus Best Graphic Album–Reprint for LaGuardia by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford, Best Adaptation for Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran, and a share of Dave Stewart’s award for Best Coloring. Other publishers with multiple awards include First Second/Macmillan (for Laura Dean and Are You Listening); Image for Continuing Series, Limited Series, Cover Artist (Emma Rios, Pretty Deadly), and shared Coloring; IDW for Sakai’s works and They Called Us Enemy; and Drawn & Quarterly for Making Comics and for Best Short Story (Ebony Flowers’ “Hot Comb”). Publishers with two trophies each include Fantagraphics, Scholastic Graphix, and VIZ Media.

The event was hosted by voice actor/comedian Phil LaMarr (MadTV, Samurai Jack, Futurama, Justice League), who announced the nominees and winners in 31 categories. Eisner Awards Administrator Jackie Estrada opened and closed the ceremony.

Sergio Aragonés presented the Hall of Fame Awards. The Judges’ Choices were Nell Brinkley and E. Simms Campbell. The elected inductees were Alison Bechdel, Howard Cruse, Louise Simonson, Stan Sakai, Don and Maggie Thompson, and Bill Watterson.Bechdel, Simonson, Sakai, and Thompson all accepted their awards via videos; Cruse’s husband, Ed Sederbaum, accepted on Howard’s behalf.

The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, presented by Bob’s daughter Ruth Clampett, had three recipients this year: The Hero Initiative, Creators4Comics, and Comicbook United Fund.

The Eisner Awards are part of, and underwritten by, Comic-Con International: San Diego, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture.


2020 Eisner Awards Winners

Best Short Story

“Hot Comb,” by Ebony Flowers, in Hot Comb (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

Our Favorite Thing Is My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)

Best Continuing Series

Bitter Root, by David Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Image)

Best Limited Series

Little Bird by Darcy Van Poelgeest andIan Bertram (Image)

Best New Series

Invisible Kingdom, by G. Willow Wilson and Christian Ward (Berger Books/Dark Horse)

Best Publication for Early Readers

Comics: Easy as ABC, by Ivan Brunetti (TOON)

Best Publication for Kids

Guts, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)

Best Publication for Teens

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Humor Publication

The Way of the Househusband, vol. 1, by Kousuke Oono, translation by Sheldon Drzka (VIZ Media)

Best Anthology

Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival, edited by Diane Noomin (Abrams)

Best Reality-Based Work

They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker (Top Shelf)

Best Graphic Album—New

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

LaGuardia, by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford (Berger Books/Dark Horse)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

Snow, Glass, Apples, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran (Dark Horse Books)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

The House, by Paco Roca, translation by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia (TIE)

Cats of the Louvre, by Taiyo Matsumoto, translation by Michael Arias (VIZ Media)

Witch Hat Atelier, by Kamome Shirahama, translation by Stephen Kohler (Kodansha)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

Krazy Kat: The Complete Color Sundays, by George Herriman, edited by Alexander Braun (TASCHEN)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo: The Complete Grasscutter Artist Select, by Stan Sakai, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best Writer

Mariko Tamaki, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass (DC); Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me (First Second/Macmillan); Archie (Archie)

Best Writer/Artist

Raina Telgemeier, Guts (Scholastic Graphix)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Painter/Digital Artist

Christian Ward, Invisible Kingdom (Berger Books/Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist

Emma Rios, Pretty Deadly (Image)

Best Coloring

Dave Stewart, Black Hammer, B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know, Hellboy and the BPRD (Dark Horse); Gideon Falls (Image); Silver Surfer Black, Spider-Man (Marvel)

Best Lettering

Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (IDW)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

Women Write About Comics, edited by Nola Pfau and Wendy Browne, http://www.WomenWriteAboutComics.com

Best Comics-Related Book

Making Comics, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

EC Comics: Race, Shock, and Social Protest, by Qiana Whitted (Rutgers University Press)

Best Publication Design

Making Comics, designed by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Digital Comic

Afterlift, by Chip Zdarsky and Jason Loo (comiXology Originals)

Best Webcomic

Fried Rice, by Erica Eng, https://friedricecomic.tumblr.com

Hall of Fame

Judges’ Choices: Nell Brinkley, E. Simms Campbell

Voters’ Choices: Alison Bechdel, Howard Cruse, Stan Sakai, Louise Simonson, Don and Maggie Thompson, Bill Watterson

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2019 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominees Announced

 

Alex de Campi

Excitement is in the air as nominees are rejoicing over being part of this year’s Eisner Awards for Comics Excellence. The Eisner is the equivalent to The Oscar in the comics industry. The awards are presented every year at Comic-Con International: San Diego. This year’s ceremony is Friday, July 19, 2019. The official list has just been released and you can see it here or just look down below. A good amount of alternative comics and big publishers made the list with a big lead for Image Comics and D.C. Comics. As noted above, Alex de Campi received multiple nominations, as did Tom King.

Noah Van Sciver

Judges for this year are comics journalist Chris Arrant (Newsarama), academic/author Jared Gardner (Ohio State University), librarian Traci Glass (Multnomah County Library system in Portland, Oregon), retailer Jenn Haines (The Dragon, Guelph and Milton, Ontario, Canada), reviewer Steven Howearth (Pop Culture Maven), and comics creator Jimmie Robinson (CyberZone, Amanda & Gunn, Bomb Girl).

Nate Powell

The official SDCC statement follows:

Image and DC received the most nominations: Image with 19 (plus 11 shared), and DC with 17 (plus 7 shared). Image swept the Best New Series category, with all six nominees (including Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl’s Isola, up for 2 other categories as well). Also strong for Image are Steven Seagle’s Get Naked anthology (3 nominations), Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies (2 nominations), and the Alex de Campi–edited Twisted Romance (2 nominations plus 1 shared). For DC, Tom King and Mitch Gerads’ Mister Miracle is up for 4 nods, Eternity Girl has 2 nominations plus 1 shared, MAD and Exit Stage Left have 2, and Batman is nominated in Best Continuing Series plus several shared categories.

Other  publishers with multiple nominations include IDW (10 plus 2 shared), Lion Forge (10), First Second (9 plus 1 shared), Marvel (7 plus 5 shared), Dark Horse (7 plus 3 shared), BOOM!(5 plus 1 shared), Drawn & Quarterly (5), and Gallery 13 (3 plus 2 shared). Six companies had 3 nominees: Beehive Books, Ohio State University Press, TwoMorrows, VIZ Media, and WEBTOON. Eight companies have 2 nominations each, and another 30 companies or individuals have 1 nomination each.

In addition to Isola, Mister Miracle, and Get Naked, titles with the most nominations include two books from Lion Forge/Magnetic Press, with 3 each: Watersnakes by Tony Sandoval (Best Publication for Teens, Best Writer/Artist, Best Painter) and A Sea of Love by Wilfrid Lupano and Grégory Panaccione (Best U.S. Edition of International Material, Best Painter, and Best Publication Design).

The creator with the most nominations is Tom King with 5: Best Short Story (from DC’s Swamp Thing Winter Special), Best Continuing Series (Batman), Best Limited Series (Mister Miracle), Best Graphic Album­–Reprint (The Vision hardcover), and Best Writer. Two creators have 4 nominations each: Alex de Campi (Best Graphic Album–New: Bad Girls, Best Anthology: Twisted Romance, Best Writer, Best Letterer) and Jeff Lemire (Best Single Issue: Black Hammer: Cthu-Louise, Best Continuing Series: Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Best New Series: Gideon Falls, Best Writer). Creators with 3 nominations are Karl Kerschl (Best New Series, Best Penciller/Inker, Best Cover Artist for Isola), Grégory Panaccione (Best U.S. Edition of International Material, Best Painter, and Best Publication Design for A Sea of Love), and Tony Sandoval (Best Publication for Teens, Best Writer/Artist, Best Painter for Watersnakes).

Eleven individuals are nominated for 2 Eisners: John Allison,  Emily Carroll, Nick Drnaso, Mitch Gerads, Sonny Liew, Carolyn Nowak, Sean Phillips, Nate Powell, Mark Russell, Noah van Sciver, and Jen Wang.

Voting for the awards is held online, and the ballot will be available at www.eisnervote.com. All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote. The deadline for voting is June 14. The results of the voting will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 19 at a gala awards ceremony at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. Jackie Estrada is the Eisner Awards Administrator.

Best Short Story

  • “Get Naked in Barcelona,” by Steven T. Seagle and Emei Olivia Burrell, in Get Naked (Image)
  • “The Ghastlygun Tinies,” by Matt Cohen and Marc Palm, in MAD magazine #4 (DC)
  • “Here I Am,” by Shaun Tan, in I Feel Machine (SelfMadeHero)
  • “Life During Interesting Times,” by Mike Dawson (The Nib), https://thenib.com/greatest-generation-interesting-times
  • “Supply Chains,” by Peter and Maria Hoey, in Coin-Op #7 (Coin-Op Books)
  • “The Talk of the Saints,” by Tom King and Jason Fabok, in Swamp Thing Winter Special (DC)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot
  • Beneath the Dead Oak Tree, by Emily Carroll (ShortBox)
  • Black Hammer: Cthu-Louise, by Jeff Lemire and Emi Lenox (Dark Horse)
  • No Better Words, by Carolyn Nowak (Silver Sprocket)
  • Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310, by Chip Zdarsky (Marvel)
  • The Terrible Elisabeth Dumn Against the Devils In Suits, by Arabson, translated by James Robinson (IHQ Studio/ Image)

Best Continuing Series
  • Batman, by Tom King et al. (DC)
  • Black Hammer: Age of Doom, by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Rich Tommaso (Dark Horse)
  • Gasolina, by Sean Mackiewicz and Niko Walter (Skybound/Image)
  • Giant Days, by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julaa Madrigal (BOOM! Box)
  • The Immortal Hulk, by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, and Ruy José (Marvel)
  • Runaways, by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka (Marvel)

Best Limited Series
  • Batman: White Knight, by Sean Murphy (DC)
  • Eternity Girl, by Magdalene Visaggio and Sonny Liew (Vertigo/DC)
  • Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, by Mark Russell, Mike Feehan, and Mark Morales (DC)
  • Mister Miracle, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)
  • X-Men: Grand Design: Second Genesis, by Ed Piskor (Marvel)

Best New Series
  • Bitter Root, by David Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Green (Image)
  • Crowded, by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, and Ted Brandt (Image)
  • Gideon Falls, by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino (Image)
  • Isola, by Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl (Image)
  • Man-Eaters, by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk (Image)
  • Skyward, by Joe Henderson and Lee Garbett (Image)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)
  • Johnny Boo and the Ice Cream Computer, by James Kochalka (Top Shelf/IDW)
  • Petals, by Gustavo Borges (KaBOOM!)
  • Peter & Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths, by Graham Annable (First Second)
  • This Is a Taco! By Andrew Cangelose and Josh Shipley (CubHouse/Lion Forge)
  • Tiger Vs. Nightmare, by Emily Tetri (First Second)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9–12)
  • Aquicorn Cove, by Katie O’Neill (Oni)
  • Be Prepared, by Vera Brosgol (First Second)
  • The Cardboard Kingdom, by Chad Sell (Knopf/Random House Children’s Books)
  • Crush, by Svetlana Chmakova (JY/Yen Press)
  • The Divided Earth, by Faith Erin Hicks (First Second)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13–17)
  • All Summer Long, by Hope Larson (Farrar Straus Giroux)
  • Gumballs, by Erin Nations (Top Shelf/IDW)
  • Middlewest, by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona (Image)
  • Norroway, Book 1: The Black Bull of Norroway, by Cat Seaton and Kit Seaton (Image)
  • The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang (First Second)
  • Watersnakes, by Tony Sandoval, translated by Lucas Marangon (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

Best Humor Publication
  • Get Naked, by Steven T. Seagle et al. (Image)
  • Giant Days, by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal (BOOM! Box)
  • MAD magazine, edited by Bill Morrison (DC)
  • A Perfect Failure: Fanta Bukowski 3, by Noah Van Sciver (Fantagraphics)
  • Woman World, by Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Anthology
  • Femme Magnifique: 50 Magnificent Women Who Changed the World, edited by Shelly Bond (Black Crown/IDW)
  • Puerto Rico Strong, edited by Marco Lopez, Desiree Rodriguez, Hazel Newlevant, Derek Ruiz, and Neil Schwartz (Lion Forge)
  • Twisted Romance, edited by Alex de Campi (Image)
  • Where We Live: A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas, edited by Will Dennis, curated by J. H. Williams III and Wendy Wright-Williams (Image)

Best Reality-Based Work
  • All the Answers: A Graphic Memoir, by Michael Kupperman (Gallery 13)
  • All the Sad Songs, by Summer Pierre (Retrofit/Big Planet)
  • Is This Guy For Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman, by Box Brown (First Second)
  • Monk! by Youssef Daoudi (First Second)
  • One Dirty Tree, by Noah Van Sciver (Uncivilized Books)

Best Graphic Album—New
  • Bad Girls, by Alex de Campi and Victor Santos (Gallery 13)
  • Come Again, by Nate Powell (Top Shelf/IDW)
  • Green Lantern: Earth One Vol. 1, by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman (DC)
  • Homunculus, by Joe Sparrow (ShortBox)
  • My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
  • Sabrina, by Nick Drnaso (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
  • Berlin, by Jason Lutes (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Girl Town, by Carolyn Nowak (Top Shelf/IDW)
  • Upgrade Soul, by Ezra Claytan Daniels (Lion Forge)
  • The Vision hardcover, by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, and Michael Walsh (Marvel)
  • Young Frances, by Hartley Lin (AdHouse Books)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium
  • Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, adapted by Ari Folman and David Polonsky (Pantheon)
  • “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, in Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection, adapted by Junji Ito, translated by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)
  • Out in the Open by Jesús Carraso, adapted by Javi Rey, translated by Lawrence Schimel (SelfMadeHero)
  • Speak: The Graphic Novel, by Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll (Farrar Straus Giroux)
  • To Build a Fire: Based on Jack London’s Classic Story, by Chabouté (Gallery 13)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
  • About Betty’s Boobby Vero Cazot and Julie Rocheleau, translated by Edward Gauvin (Archaia/BOOM!)
  • Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World, by Pénélope Bagieu (First Second)
  • Herakles Book 1, by Edouard Cour, translated by Jeremy Melloul (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
  • Niourk, by Stefan Wul and Olivier Vatine, translated by Brandon Kander and Diana Schutz (Dark Horse)
  • A Sea of Love, by Wilfrid Lupano and Grégory Panaccione (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
  • Abara: Complete Deluxe Edition, by Tsutomu Nihei, translated by Sheldon Drzka (VIZ Media)
  • Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, by Inio Asano, translated by John Werry (VIZ Media)
  • Laid-Back Camp, by Afro, translated by Amber Tamosaitis (Yen Press)
  • My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder, by Nie Jun, translated by Edward Gauvin (Graphic Universe/Lerner)
  • Tokyo Tarareba Girls, by Akiko Higashimura (Kodansha)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
  • Pogo, vol. 5: Out of This World At Home, by Walt Kelly, edited by Mark Evanier and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
  • Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Complete Sunday Strips in Color (1959–1960), by Jack Kirby, Wally Wood et al., edited by Ferran Delgado (Amigo Comics)
  • Star Wars: Classic Newspaper Strips, vol. 3, by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson, edited by Dean Mullaney (Library of American Comics/IDW)
  • The Temple of Silence: Forgotten Words and Worlds of Herbert Crowley, by Justin Duerr (Beehive Books
  • Thimble Theatre and the Pre-Popeye Comics of E. C. Segar, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
  • Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman Deluxe Edition, edited by Paul Levitz (DC)
  • Bill Sienkiewicz’s Mutants and Moon Knights… And Assassins… Artifact Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
  • Dirty Plotte: The Complete Julie Doucet (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Madman Quarter Century Shindig, by Mike Allred, edited by Chris Ryall (IDW)
  • Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise Gallery Edition, edited by Joseph Melchior and Bob Chapman (Abstract Studio/Graphitti Designs)
  • Will Eisner’s A Contract with God: Curator’s Collection, edited by John Lind (Kitchen Sink/Dark Horse)

Best Writer
  • Alex de Campi, Bad Girls (Gallery 13); Twisted Romance (Image)
  • Tom King, Batman, Mister Miracle, Heroes in Crisis, Swamp Thing Winter Special (DC)
  • Jeff Lemire, Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Doctor Star & the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows, Quantum Age (Dark Horse); Descender, Gideon Falls, Royal City (Image)
  • Mark Russell, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound, Lex Luthor/Porky Pig (DC); Lone Ranger (Dynamite)
  • Kelly Thompson, Nancy Drew (Dynamite); Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, Mr. & Mrs. X, Rogue & Gambit, Uncanny X-Men, West Coast Avengers (Marvel)
  • Chip Zdarsky, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Two-in-One (Marvel)

Best Writer/Artist
  • Sophie Campbell, Wet Moon (Oni)
  • Nick Drnaso, Sabrina (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • David Lapham, Lodger (Black Crown/IDW); Stray Bullets (Image)
  • Nate Powell, Come Again (Top Shelf/IDW)
  • Tony Sandoval, Watersnakes (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
  • Jen Wang, The Prince and the Dressmaker (First Second)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
  • Matías BergaraCoda (BOOM!)
  • Mitch Gerads, Mister Miracle (DC)
  • Karl Kerschl, Isola (Image)
  • Sonny Liew, Eternity Girl (Vertigo/DC)
  • Sean Phillips, Kill or Be Killed, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies (Image)
  • Yanick Paquette, Wonder Woman Earth One, vol. 2 (DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
  • Lee Bermejo, Batman: Damned (DC)
  • Carita Lupatelli, Izuna Book 2 (Humanoids)
  • Dustin Nguyen, Descender (Image)
  • Gregory Panaccione, A Sea of Love (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
  • Tony Sandoval, Watersnakes (Magnetic/Lion Forge)

Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)
  • Jen Bartel, Blackbird (Image); Submerged (Vault)
  • Nick Derington, Mister Miracle (DC)
  • Karl Kerschl, Isola (Image)
  • Joshua Middleton, Batgirl and Aquaman variants (DC)
  • Julian Tedesco, Hawkeye, Life of Captain Marvel (Marvel)

Best Coloring
  • Jordie Bellaire, Batgirl, Batman (DC); The Divided Earth (First Second); Days of Hate, Dead Hand, Head Lopper, Redlands (Image); Shuri, Doctor Strange (Marvel)
  • Tamra Bonvillain, Alien 3 (Dark Horse); Batman, Doom Patrol (DC); Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Multiple Man (Marvel)
  • Nathan Fairbairn, Batman, Batgirl, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman Earth One, vol. 2 (DC); Die!Die!Die! (Image)
  • Matt Hollingsworth, Batman: White Knight (DC): Seven to Eternity, Wytches (Image)
  • Matt Wilson, Black Cloud, Paper Girls, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); The Mighty Thor, Runaways (Marvel)

Best Lettering
  • David Aja, Seeds (Berger Books/Dark Horse)
  • Jim Campbell, BreathlessCalexit, Gravetrancers, Snap Flash Hustle, Survival FetishThe Wilds (Black Mask); AbbottAlice: Dream to Dream, Black Badge, CluelessCodaFenceFireflyGiant DaysGrass Kings, Lumberjanes: The Infernal CompassLow Road WestSparrowhawk (BOOM); Angelic (Image); Wasted Space (Vault)
  • Alex de Campi, Bad Girls (Gallery 13); Twisted Romance (Image)
  • Jared Fletcher, Batman: Damned (DC); The Gravediggers Union, Moonshine, Paper Girls, Southern Bastards (Image)
  • Todd Klein— Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Neil Gaiman’s A Study in Emerald (Dark Horse); Batman: White Night (DC); Eternity Girl, Books of Magic (Vertigo/DC); The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Tempest (Top Shelf/IDW)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
  • Back Issue, edited by Michael Eury (TwoMorrows)
  • The Columbus Scribbler, edited by Brian Canini, columbusscribbler.com
  • Comicosity, edited by Aaron Long and Matt Santori,  www.comicosity.com
  • LAAB Magazine #0: Dark Matter, edited by Ronald Wimberley and Josh O’Neill (Beehive Books)
  • PanelxPanel magazine, edited by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, panelxpanel.com

Best Comics-Related Book
  • Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978, by Keith Dallas and John Wells (TwoMorrows)
  • Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists, by Martha H. Kennedy (University Press of Mississippi)
  • The League of Regrettable Sidekicks, by Jon Morris (Quirk Books)
  • Mike Grell: Life Is Drawing Without an Eraser, by Dewey Cassell with Jeff Messer (TwoMorrows)
  • Yoshitaka Amano: The Illustrated Biography—Beyond the Fantasy, by Florent Gorges, translated by Laure Dupont and Annie Gullion (Dark Horse)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work
  • Between Pen and Pixel: Comics, Materiality, and the Book of the Future, by Aaron Kashtan (Ohio State University Press)
  • Breaking the Frames: Populism and Prestige in Comics Studies, by Marc Singer (University of Texas Press)
  • The Goat-Getters: Jack Johnson, the Fight of the Century, and How a Bunch of Raucous Cartoonists Reinvented Comics, by Eddie Campbell (Library of American Comics/IDW/Ohio State University Press)
  • Incorrigibles and Innocents, by Lara Saguisag (Rutgers Univeristy Press)
  • Sweet Little C*nt: The Graphic Work of Julie Doucet, by Anne Elizabeth Moore (Uncivilized Books)

Best Publication Design
  • A Sea of Love, designed by Wilfrid Lupano, Grégory Panaccione, and Mike Kennedy (Magnetic/Lion Forge)
  • The Stan Lee Story Collector’s Edition, designed by Josh Baker (Taschen)
  • The Temple of Silence: Forgotten Worlds of Herbert Crowley, designed by Paul Kepple and Max Vandenberg (Beehive Books)
  • Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise Gallery Edition, designed by Josh Beatman/Brainchild Studios/NYC (Abstract Studio/Graphitti Designs)
  • Will Eisner’s A Contract with God: Curator’s Collection, designed by John Lind (Kitchen Sink/Dark Horse)

Best Digital Comic

Best Webcomic

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Filed under Cartoonists, Comic-Con, Comics, Eisner Awards, San Diego Comic-Con

SDCC 2016 Review: THE DEATH OF STALIN, presented by Europe Comics

"The Death of Stalin," published by Europe Comics

“The Death of Stalin,” published by Europe Comics

The Death of Stalin” is a digital graphic novel presented by Europe Comics and is one of various select titles from Europe Comics being promoted at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. This is quite an audacious, vivid, and insightful look at the strange events occurring shortly after Joseph Stalin had a stroke: the chaos and the subsequent grab for power. It is highly accessible: drops you right in, as if you were a fly on the wall, a fly that Stalin, himself, would have thought nothing of swatting and flicking away.

Who was Joseph Stalin? If you’re too young to have a frame of reference, that’s understandable. Think World War II. Think dictator. Then add to that one of the great mass murderers in history responsible for the deaths of millions. Joseph Stalin was the Soviet Union’s dictator from 1924 to 1953. And, in that time, he ordered the deaths of an estimated 50 million of his own citizens. So, you can imagine that his death would be a pretty big deal.

It once was common to find in your newspaper a grainy official photo of the Soviet leaders proudly reviewing the annual May Day parade displaying Soviet military might. That very same photo would, at a later date, pop back into those same newspapers with the latest news from the mysterious world of the Soviet Union. But the photo was altered: someone had been erased and replaced with someone else. There was plenty of doctoring of photos and executing of comrades during Stalin’s regime. While that may seem primitive by today’s standards, you can see something similar going on in North Korea. I feel like Rachel Maddow now as I hope I impress upon young readers that Kim Jong-un’s regime is a small scale throwback to what the Soviet Union was like.

Who Will Take Over After Stalin?

Who Will Take Over After Stalin?

To best convey the inner workings of the Kremlin during the last days of Stalin requires a dedication to characters. Go back to that grainy photo of politburo leaders at the May Day reviewing stand. How do you give those ghostly figures some life? Now, that must have been a challenge. This book is up to the task thanks to both a lively script by Fabien Nury and compelling art by Thierry Robin. Without a doubt, you are that fly on the wall. We are told that truth is stranger than fiction. Did Stalin, the night before he had his fatal stroke, really force the national symphony to replay a concert they had just performed just for the benefit of his own personal recording? I would not be surprised.

This two part story will thrill political junkies as well as history buffs. We see a relatively young Nikita Khrushchev as he maneuvers for power. In 1953, he was a mere 59 years-old! That’s “young” for Soviet leaders. In a matter of days, the tide would turn in his favor and he would replace Stalin. But not before a chaoic, bloody, and sometimes comical, turn of events. That said, this intriguing story will prove insightful and entertaining for any reader of any age.

The Death of Stalin” is now available at Europe Comics, which launched in November 2015 by a coalition of nine comics publishers, two rights agents, and an audio-visual company, from eight different European countries. Europe Comics is working towards the creation of a pan-European comics catalog, available in English and digital format, a website with comics information for readers and professionals, and a series of author tours and events across Europe and the USA.

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Filed under Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2016, Comics, Europe Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, History, Russia

Preview: Jackie Estrada’s Comic Book People 2

ComicBookPeople90S_2 D1.indd

Jackie Estrada’s “Comic Book People 2,” a behind-the-scenes look at the comics industry in the 1990s, will be available at your local comics shop on September 2 and on Amazon on September 10. You can currently find the first book “Comic Book People: Photographs from the 1970s and 1980s,” right here. You can find “Comic Book People 2” scheduled for release at your LCS right here.

Comic-Book-People-2-Ellen-Forney

“Comic Book People 2” is a high-quality hardcover coffee table book that offers a unique peek at the comics industry in the 1990s. It features some 600 candid photos of comics creators taken by Jackie Estrada at the San Diego Comic-Con, WonderCon, Chicago ComiCon, APE, SPX, and other shows during the decade, along with commentary and anecdotes about each person. The photos depict not only the big names of the period but also up-and-coming stars early in their careers as well as Golden and Silver Age comic book greats who were still with us.

Comic-Book-People-2-Frank-Frazetta

“The 1990s were a great time for new faces that are now familiar fixtures, such as Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Jeff Smith, Terry Moore, Garth Ennis, Colleen Doran, David Lapham, and Paul Pope,” says Estrada. “But even as these new creators came on the scene, a number of Golden and Silver Age greats were still with us, and I was fortunate to be able to photograph many of them.” Among the venerated artists in the book are Frank Frazetta, Carmine Infantino, Gene Colan, Al Williamson, Sheldon Moldoff, Nick Cardy, and of course Will Eisner and Jack Kirby.

The 1990s were a transitional era in comics: Image emerged, lots of other new publishers got into the mix, the direct market flourished, and the self-publishing and indie comics movements really took off. The number of comic conventions also increased all around the U.S. And Jackie Estrada was there, capturing the scene in candid images.

It was during the 1990s that Estrada and her husband Batton Lash formed Exhibit A Press to produce his comics series Wolff& Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre (aka Supernatural Law). Many of the photos in Comic Book People 2 were taken at shows where they exhibited, from the Chicago ComiCon and WonderCon to the Small Press Expo and APE, as well as the San Diego Comic-Con. The book covers the full spectrum of creators, from mainstream superhero writers and artists to small press cartoonists, as well as people behind the scenes in the industry, such as publishers, editors, retailers, and distributors. Among the events of the 1990s featured are the foundings of Milestone and Friends of Lulu and activities of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Jackie has been both a comics fan and a photographer since the 1960s, and she has been to every San Diego Comic-Con. Her involvement in comics has included editing publications for Comic-Con, being the administrator of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards since 1990, serving as president of Friends of Lulu, and being the co-publisher of Exhibit A Press, which has produced Comic Book People 2. Her photos of comics creators have appeared in numerous books and publications, from Paul Levitz’s 75 Years of DC Comics and Julius Schwartz’s autobiography Man of Two Worlds to Alter Ego and Comics Buyer’s Guide. Most prominently, dozens of her photos were used in Dark Horse’s Comics: Between the Panels and in Comic-Con: 40 Years of Artists, Writers, Fans, and Friends. Most recently, her photos could be seen in the PBS special, “Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle,” on the history of superheroes.

You could not ask for a better guide on the formidable world of comics than Jackie Estrada.

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Filed under Cartoonists, Comic-Con, Comics, Ellen Forney, Frank Frazetta, Jackie Estrada, Photography, pop culture, Will Eisner

Kickstarter: Comic Book People 2: Photographs from the 1990s

 Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bernie Wrightson, and Dave Gibbons at the 1991 San Diego Comic-Con.


Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bernie Wrightson, and Dave Gibbons at the 1991 San Diego Comic-Con.

Jackie Estrada is a Comic-Con legend. She knows everybody. And she’s photographed everybody. Her work has appeared everywhere, including the recent PBS program on superheroes. She’s been a supporter of Comic-Con from the very beginning and administrator of its Eisner Awards since 1990. She has vivid recollections and has documented them in her first book, Comic Book People, which covered the ’70s and ’80s. Now comes Comic Book People 2 which covers the ’90s. It’s a perfect next step in seeing the history and behind-the-scenes fun that is Comic-Con International in San Diego as well as the Chicago Comic-Con, WonderCon, the Small Press Expo, and APE. And you can make this new book a reality by joining in support of the Kickstarter campaign going on now through March 13. Join in your support and visit the campaign right here.

Press release follows:

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Filed under Comic-Con International, Comics, Jackie Estrada