(click here to see the announcement)...so time for me to make my picks as to who I think should win!
Best Writer
Percy Carey, Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm
Dwayne McDuffie, Fantastic Four
Gail Simone, Welcome to Tranquility
James Sturm, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow
James L. White, Hunter's Moon
My pick: Hard to go wrong with James Strum!! I love his sports books.
Best Artist
Kyle Baker, Nat Turner: Revolution
Olivier Coipel, Thor
Georges Jeanty, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Jeremy Love, Bayou
Ronald Wimberly, Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm
My pick: Oh man, that's some tough competition. As much as I loves me my Olivier Coipel, I can't help but go with the man, the myth, the legend - Kyle Baker.
Best Male Character
Emmet Wilson, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow; James Sturm, writer, Rich Tommaso, artist
Luke Cage, New Avengers; Brian Michael Bendis, writer, Leinil Francis Yu, artist
MF Grimm, Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm; Percy Carey, writer, Ronald Wimberly, artist
Nat Turner, Nat Turner: Revolution; Kyle Baker, writer and artist
The Spectre, Tales of the Unexpected; David Lapham, writer, Eric Battle & Prentis Rollins, artists
My pick: Wow...tough call...I'm stuck between Grimm and Turner. I guess I'll mix things up a bit, and give it to Grimm. Sentences is an underrated work.
Best Female Character
Amanda Waller, Checkmate; Greg Rucka, writer, Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson, artists
Lee Wagstaff, Bayou; Jeremy Love, writer and artist
Martha Washington, Martha Washington Dies; Frank Miller, writer, Dave Gibbons, artist
Saida Nri, Adrenaline; Tyler Chin-Tanner, writer, James Boyle & Fabio Redivo, artists
Thomasina Lindo, Welcome to Tranquility; Gail Simone, writer, Neil Googe, artist
My pick: Amanda Waller is one of my all-time favorite characters, so she's an easy choice.
Rising Star Award
Marguerite Abouet, Aya
Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, Monster Attack Network
Mark Haven Britt, Full Color
Klio, SPQR Blues
Korby Marks, Stormbringers
My pick: Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman. I dig their style. Highwaymen was a blast.
Best Reprint Publication
Aya, Drawn & Quarterly; Chris Oliveros, publisher, Helge Dascher, translator
Beyond Premiere HC, Marvel; Tom Brevoort, editor
It Rhymes With Lust, Dark Horse; Mike Richardson, publisher
Storm Premiere HC, Marvel; Axel Alonso, editor
Stormwatch: Post Human Division V1, DC/Wildstorm; Ben Abernathy, editor
My pick: D & Q did a fine job on Aya.
Best Cover
Blade #5, Marko Djurdjevic, illustrator
Highwaymen #1, Brian Stelfreeze, illustrator
JSA Classified #28, Steve Uy, illustrator
Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm, Ronald Wimberly, illustrator
Special Forces #2, Kyle Baker, illustrator
My pick: Djurdjevic is one of my favorite cover artists, so I have to go with him. It was a great cover.
Best Comic Strip
Bayou, Jeremy Love, writer and artist
Candorville, Darrin Bell, writer and artist
Funny Cartoon of the Week, Kyle Baker, writer and artist
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist
Watch Your Head, Cory Thomas, writer and artist
My pick: Gotta go with Keith Knight. He's consistently great.
Once again, fans will be able to vote for their favorite black comic in the poll for the Fan Award for Best Comic. This year's nominees are:
Fantastic Four: The New Fantastic Four, Dwayne McDuffie, writer, Paul Pelletier & Rick Magyar, artists
JSA Classified #28, Fabian Nicieza, writer, Steve Uy, artist
New Warriors #1-6, Kevin Grevioux, writer, Paco Medina & Juan Vlasco, artists
Squadron Supreme: Hyperion vs. Nighthawk, Marc Guggenheim, writer, Paul Gulacy, artist
Stormwatch: Post Human Division, Christos Gage, writer, Doug Mahnke and Andy Smith, aritsts
write-in choice
Click here to vote.
My pick: Let's keep things mixed up a bit, and give a different book some due...Fantastic Four will be my pick. A lot of fun stories there by McDuffie.
And my pick for FF is currently the leading pick (less than three dozen votes, though).
Those are my picks!
How about you folks?