2009 Eisner Award Nominations

Here's a rundown of the nominees for this year's Eisner awards. Half of the kid-specific choices look worthy enough. Following those I've cherry picked the kids stuff from some other catagories. You can see the complete list of nominees HERE.

Best Publication for Kids:
- STINKY, by Eleanor Davis (RAW Junior) - This is my pick for “should win.” It’s the best title yet from the already impressive Toon Books.

Check it out HERE.

- PRINCESS AT MIDNIGHT, by Andi Watson (Image) - Not to take anything away from Watson’s considerable talent with a brush and ink wash, but these kind of fantasy tales ache for a splash of color.

- AMULET BOOK 1: THE STONE KEEPER, by Kazu Kabuishi (Scholastic Graphix)
- COWA! by Akira Toriyama (Viz)
- TINY TITANS, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)



Best Publication for Teens/Tweens:
How sadly apt that this list of nominees would be a mostly unfortunate selection of halfhearted attempts. Only SKIM offers something interesting and heartfelt. CORALINE’S good, but it’s P. Craig Russell’s art that justifies it’s existence. Since Gaiman’s script can’t compare to the prose of his original novel, the comic works as more of a nice companion piece.

- CORALINE, by Neil Gaiman, adapted by P. Craig Russell (HarperCollins Children's Books)
- CROGAN’S VENGEANCE by Chris Schweizer (Oni)
- THE GOOD NEIGHBORS, BOOK 1: KIN, by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh (Scholastic Graphix)
- RAPUNZEL’S REVENGE, by Shannon and Dean Hale and Nathan Hale (Bloomsbury Children's Books)
- SKIM, by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood Books)



Best Short Story:
- "Freaks," by Laura Park, in SUPERIOR SHOWCASE #3 (AdHouse) - A fine tale for any teenager who feels out of place in the world. There must be a few of those reading comics.

- "Murder He Wrote," by Ian Boothby, Nina Matsumoto, and Andrew Pepoy, in THE SIMPSONS' TREEHOUSE OF HORROR #14 (Bongo) - Frankly I’ve never been a big fan of THE SIMPSONS. But I’m glad Bongo Comics exists and that kids can find them on the newsstand circuit. I’ll have to find this issue and see what I’ve been missing.


Best Continuing Series:
- ALL STAR SUPERMAN by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC) - No surprise here. Morrison’s mellow salute to DC’s silver age deserves the nomination.

- USAGI YOJIMBO, by Stan Sakai (Dark Horse) - Another perennial favorite. For decades Sakai has been consistently producing one of the best comics in the industry. He’s like the Hernandez Brothers, but with samurai and rabbits instead of lesbians and wrestlers.



Best Limited Series:
- GROO: HELL ON EARTH, by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier (Dark Horse) - Not the best GROO comic, really. But it’s another old favorite since the 80’s so yay!



Best Humor Publication:
- HERBIE ARCHIVES, by "Shane O'Shea" (Richard E. Hughes) and Ogden Whitney (Dark Horse) - I love me some old school tomfoolery and Herbie was a dry-witted master.



Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips:
I think the best thing about producing these hardcover editions is that it gets this material into public libraries. These are all some great collections. Need I say NEMO deserves the win?

- THE COMPLETE LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE, by Harold Gray (IDW)
- LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND, Many More Splendid Sundays, by Winsor McCay (Sunday Press Books)
- SCORCHY SMITH AND THE ART OF NOEL SICKLES, (IDW)



Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books:
- HERBIE ARCHIVES, by "Shane O'Shea" (Richard E. Hughes) and Ogden Whitney (Dark Horse) - Oh snap! Herbie again! He’s the Mickey Rourke of the Eisners!



Best Writer/Artist:
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist

- Scott Morse, TIGER! TIGER! TIGER! (Red Window) - If kids owned coffee tables, this is the kind of book you would find on them. Not a story, but a nice collection of ideas and images that can provoke thought and conversation.

Check it out HERE.

- Jill Thompson, MAGIC TRIXIE, MAGIC TRIXIE SLEEPS OVER (HarperCollins Children's Books) - Could be Thompson’s best work to date. Certainly the best layouts and watercolor work, as well as an effortlessly quirky story.


Check it out HERE.