|
Friday, September 3, 2010
The Eisners
2007 Edition
Many years ago, a very talented person named Will Eisner started writing and drawing comics. In addition to creating enduring adventure heroes like The Spirit, he’s widely credited as being the “father of the graphic novel” as we know it today, breaking new ground with the 1978 publication of A Contract With God.
In other words, he’s kind of like America’s answer to Osamu Tezuka. And like “the God of Manga,” an awards program bears his name. The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are presented each year at the San Diego Comic-Con. Over the years, a handful of manga titles have earned nominations, primarily in the Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material category.
This year’s list of nominees is packed with manga, relatively speaking. Publishers and creators received 13 nominations in 7 categories, from Best Continuing Series (Naoki Urasawa’s Monster – Viz Signature) to Best Anthology (Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators – Fanfare/Ponent Mon) to Best Reality-Based Work (Project X Challengers: Cup Noodle – Digital Manga). Most noteworthy is the creation of a new category, Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Japan, spun off from the Best U.S. Edition of International Material, which is divided among the rest of the planet, essentially.
Robin Brenner, a librarian and creator of the No Flying, No Tights web site focused on comics for kids and young adults, served as an Eisner judge this year and explained the thinking behind the new category. It came down to an embarrassment of international riches:
“From my perspective, the decision came from examining the potential list for Best U.S. Edition of International Material,” Brenner said. “We considered all of the potential in that category and decided, given the sheer number of titles available from Japan and the quality of all of the international titles, that we wanted a way to showcase the manga while not overwhelming the fewer in number titles from elsewhere in the world.
“To leave them all in one category would have made decisions within that category nigh impossible to decide and would have necessitated eliminating too many titles worthy of consideration.”
“It clearly indicates how much impact manga has had on the American market,” said David Wise, CEO of Go! Comi, whose After School Nightmare was nominated in the new category.
Stephen Robson, the prime mover behind Fanfare/Ponent Mon, was pleasantly surprised by the nouvelle manga publisher’s two nominations.
“I must be honest with you, I had not really followed the details of these awards over their lifetime… as I never really expected to receive such an accolade as a nomination to them,” Robson admitted. “I don't even know how they work (though I imagine I'm about to find out!). All I knew was that Will Eisner was alive when they were instigated and approved of them, and his work is now, and will ever be, among the best of the best ever. So anyone nominated, let alone winning, must be so full of talent.”
In addition to Japan’s anthology nomination, Jiro Taniguchi’s The Walking Man got a nod in the U.S. Edition - Japan category. Robson hopes that the recognition will introduce Fanfare’s highly regarded line of books to a wider audience.
“The ramifications SHOULD be an increased audience for these two titles and thus, hopefully, others from both ourselves and other great publishers. I would love it if we could reach everyone on the planet so they at least had the choice to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to a title. But I guess I better reprint Japan first,” he conceded.
Wise also considered the commercial possibilities for Go! Comi’s nomination: “The area in which I see a potential boost is in comic shops, where the Eisners carry the most weight. ‘After School Nightmare’ is such an amazing and unique series, I'm really hoping the nomination will bring more attention from readers of conventional comics who might have overlooked it before.”
Alvin Lu, vice president of publishing for Viz, suspects that, with books like Monster, which scored two nominations, it’s a matter of quality translating. “In the short time since it was published, it has already become recognized as a manga classic in Japan, so it's encouraging to see it getting the same kind of recognition in the American comics community,” he said.
Lu is also pleased with the company Urasawa’s thriller is keeping. “We love that Naoki Urasawa's Monster is being nominated in the ‘Best Continuing Series’ category, going up against Superman, Captain America, and Daredevil,” he said. “In an ideal world, that's how it should be.”
As for potential sales benefit, Lu noted that a nomination “certainly helps, particularly for a title in the ‘VIZ Signature’ imprint, where prestige is a selling point and the Eisner committee certainly has demonstrated to the fanbase over the years the impeccability of its taste. I think, given the audience that the Eisners address, too, that it's the kind of thing that can only help us introduce great titles to a comics reader that might want to know more about manga but not know the best place to start.”
This year’s slate also offers serious recognition for global manga. Becky Cloonan’s East Coast Rising (Tokyopop) earned a nod for Best New Series. Ross (The Abandoned – Tokyopop) Campbell and Svetlana (Dramacon - Tokyopop) Chmakova both were nominated in the Special Recognition category, formerly known as Talent Deserving Wider Recognition.
From Tokyopop editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl’s point of view, the Eisners are less a pioneering voice of support than a part of an already hearty chorus.
“If we're looking for industry acceptance of OGM, I think we passed that point some time in late 2005,” Diaz-Przybyl said. “From blogs to [Publishers Weekly] to my editorial friends at Marvel and DC trying to poach my artists, the industry is clearly behind this new wave of talent, and for good reason. The artists nominated are all incredible, I'm sure have long and successful careers ahead of them, and they're just a fraction of the new talent that is out there. The nominations just confirm what most of us already knew.”
As for the marketing potential of a nomination, “Of course, the irony of all of this is that 90% of our fanbase couldn't care less about the Eisners. The nods will hopefully help expand the industry's direct-market presence, but all the kids eating up ‘Dramacon’ speak for themselves. They buy what they like to buy, awards or not,” she noted.
“Every little bit makes a difference, though,” she added. “If this helps convince some skeptics of the delights of manga, and helps some of the manga purists stretch their interests a bit, I will be a very, very happy editor.”
And lest you get the impression that everyone’s in a meditative state of mind, Digital Manga Publishing’s Rachel Livingston reports that DMP’s two nominees (Antique Bakery and Project X) are both welcome and perfect fodder for themed celebration:
“Everyone at DMP was really excited when we heard the news,” Livingston said. “In fact, on Monday [April 23] we are having a party in the office with Cup Noodle and Japanese pastries to celebrate the nomination of our two titles.”
The Eisners will be presented on Friday, July 27, at the San Diego Comic-Con.
|
April 22, 2008:
February 4, 2008:
November 20, 2006:
A Comic-Con without the Captain
