The nominees have been announced for the 2013 Joe Shuster Awards, and faithful readers of Robot 6 will notice many familiar names on the list, including Fiona Staples, Brandon Graham, Jim Zubkavich, Ryan North and Darwyn Cooke. As you can see from that sampling, the nominees are broad in terms of styles and genres.
Named in honor of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster, the awards recognize the best of the Canadian comics world; nominees must be either Canadian citizens or permanent residents in Canada. The nominees are chosen by a committee and the winners by a jury, so there is no public vote. The awards will be presented Aug. 25 at a location to be announced later.
And with no further ado, here are the nominees:
Artist
• Isabelle Arsenault - Jane, le renard & moi (La Pastèque)
• Patrick Boutin-Gagné – Brögunn (Soleil)
• Stuart Immonen – All-New X-Men #1-4, AvX: VS #1, #6, Avenging Spider-Man #7, Secret Avengers #21 (Marvel Comics)
• Yanick Paquette – Swamp Thing #5, 7-9, 13-14 (DC Comics)
• Ramón K. Pérez – John Carter and the Gods of Mars #1-5, AvX:VS #6 (Marvel Comics)
• Fiona Staples – Saga #1-8 (Image Comics)
• Marcus To – Batwing #9-15, 0, The Flash #10,15, Huntress #4-6 (DC Comics)
Cartoonist (writer/artist)
• Geneviève Castrée – Susceptible (Apocalypse)
• Scott Chantler – Three Thieves Book 3: The Captive Prince (Kids Can Press)
• Darwyn Cooke – Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1-5 (DC Comics), Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score (IDW)
• Michel Falardeau – French Kiss 1986 (Glénat Québec)
• Brandon Graham – Multiple Warheads: Alphabet to Infinity #1-3 (Image Comics)
• Jeff Lemire – Sweet Tooth #29-40 (DC Comics), The Underwater Welder (Top Shelf)
• Francis Manapul – The Flash #5-9,11-15, 0 (DC Comics)
Cover Artist
• Geneviève Castrée – Susceptible (Apocalypse)
• Darwyn Cooke – Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1-5, The Shade #4B (DC Comics), The Shadow #7B (Dynamite Entertainment), Richard Stark’s Parker – The Score, Richard Stark’s Parker – The Hunter SC, Rocketeer Adventures #1-4 (IDW), Creator Owned Heroes #7C, It Girl and the Atomics #2B (Image Comics)
• Mike Del Mundo – A+X #2B, Amazing Spider-Man #678-679, 683B, Incredible Hulk #4B, Ka by Cirque de Soleil #1, Marvel Zombies Destroy! #1-5, Max Payne 3 #3, New Avengers #24B, Scarlet Spider #1B, 4B, Uncanny X-Men #17, Untold Tales of Punisher Max #5, Venom #16-17, 20, 22B, Wolverine #314-317, X-Men Legacy #1-2 (Marvel Comics)
• Stuart Immonen – All-New X-Men #1-4, Avengers #14, Avenging Spider-Man #7, AvX: VS #1B, #6B, Captain America and Namor 635.1, Uncanny X-Men #14, Wolverine and the X-Men #15 (Marvel Comics)
• Jacques Lamontagne – Les Druides, Tome 7 : Les disparus de Cornouaille (Soleil)
• Yanick Paquette – Swamp Thing #5-15,0 (DC Comics)
• Fiona Staples – Life with Archie #24B (Archie), Dark Horse Presents #10 (Dark Horse), Action Comics #15B, National Comics Madame X #1 (DC Comics), Smoke and Mirrors #1B (IDW), Saga #1-8 (Image Comics)
Writer
• Ed Brisson – Comeback #1-2 (Image Comics)
• Fanny Britt – Jane, le renard & moi (La Pastèque)
• Alexandre Fontaine-Rousseau – Pinkerton (Colosse)
• Kathryn Immonen – Avenging Spider-Man #7, AvX:VS #1,#6, Journey into Mystery #646-647 (Marvel Comics)
• Jeff Lemire – Animal Man #5-15, 0, Frankenstein Agent of SHADE #5-9, Justice League Dark #9-15, 0, National Comics Eternity #1 (DC Comics)
• Ryan North – Adventure Time #1-10 (KaBoom!)
• Jim Zubkavich – Pathfinder #1-3 (Dynamite Entertainment), Skullkickers #13-17 (Image Comics)
Webcomics Creator
• Attila Adorjany – Metaphysical Neuroma
• Jayd Ait-Kayci – The Fox Sister
• Sophie Bédard – Glorieux Printemps 9-20
• Michael DeForge – Ant Comic
• Iris – Folk
• Salgood Sam – Dream Life
• Ty Templeton – Bun Toons
The Dragon Award (Comics for Kids)
• L’Agent Jean! Tomes 2 et 3 (Presses Aventure) – Alex A. (Cartoonist)
• Cat’s Cradle Volume 1: The Golden Twine (Kids Can Press) – Jo Rioux (Cartoonist)
• Couette Tome 1: Tombée du Ciel (Éditions Dargaud) – Minikim (Artist) with Sevérine Gauthier (Writer)
• Fred et Putulik: L’Automne (Les éditions du soleil de minuit) – Jean Lacombe (Cartoonist)
• The Secret of the Stone Frog (Toon Books) – David Nytra (Cartoonist)
• Spera, Volume 1 (Archaia Entertainment) – Josh Tierney (Writer), Kyla Vanderklugt, Emily Carroll, • Jordyn F. Bochon (Artists), with additional non-Canadian artists
• Three Thieves volume 3: The Captive Prince (Kids Can Press) – Scott Chantler (Cartoonist)
• A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse! (Toon Books) – Frank Viva (Cartoonist)
Gene Day Award for Self-Publishers
This category is for creators who publish their own work and don't use a third-party distributor such as Diamond. It includes a $500 cash award.
• Sanya Anwar – 1001
• Jordyn F. Bochon – The Terrible Death of Finnegan Strappe: The Claw of the Earth #1 (of 3)
• Antonin Buisson – Tranquillement pas vite
• James Edward Clark – Evil
• Corey McCallum, Matthew Daley – The Pig Sleep: A Mr. Monitor Case
Harry Kremer Award for Retailers
• Another Dimension – Calgary, AB
• Amazing Stories – Saskatoon, SK
• Heroes – London, ON
• L’Imaginaire – Quebec City, QC
• Paradise Comics – Toronto, ON
Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame
Three creators will be added this year; here is the full text of the nominations.
Vernon Miller (1912-1974) Co-founder of British Columbia’s Maple Leaf Publishing in 1941, one of the four principal publishers of comic books in Canada during World War 2 and the years shortly after under the protection of the War Exchange Conservation Act. Maple Leaf’s first foray into publishing, Better Comics #1 (March 1941) is generally agreed as first original Canadian comic book because it featured new material almost exclusively created by Miller. Better Comics #1 was also the debut of Miller’s original superhero, the first Canadian superhero — The Iron Man (in full colour! Predating Marvel’s similarly named character by 22 years). Better Comics also included Earth Torpedo, Tiger Tex the Cowboy Detective, Roaring Rails, and The Hidden Passage with illustrator F.P. Thursby. Miller, who addressed his young readers as “Uncle Verne”, also produced Mystery Mountain for Rocket Comics. Miller went on to a career as a cartoonist for Vancouver newspapers, and also did illustrations for Canadian Boy Magazine in the 1960s.
Murray Karn (1924-) Karn worked primarily for Bell Features (ON) in the 1940s, working on titles such as Active Comics and Wow Comics illustrating strips such as Thunderfist (aka Randy Steele) and Jeff Waring as well as some narrative short features for many of the different Bell titles. Karn also produced covers for Bell, most notably on early Active Comics. Karn’s precise line work and illustrative quality gave his strips a realism that stood out from the more expressive brushwork of his fellow Bell artists. After the war, Karn relocated to the United States and worked in advertising, and became a member of the Southampton Artists Association.
Katherine Collins (formerly known as Arn Saba) (1947-) Canadian (BC) cartoonist, writer, historian, stage performer, composer and media personality. Creator of Neil the Horse in 1975, published initially in Canadian newspapers for Great Lakes Publishing, and later jumped to comic books (Aardvark-Vanaheim/Renegade Press). Neil was the first all-singing, all-dancing musical comic book, with sheet music included. In 1979, wrote and produced a 5-part documentary series for CBC radio entitled the Continuous Art exploring the cultural impact of comics, featuring interviews with many renowned cartoonists (many of which were published in the Comics Journal). Retired from comics in 1991 after Neil the Horse’s last appearance in Fantagraphics’ Critters #6, although an unpublished Neil the Horse graphic novel is said to exist.