My Picks For Eisner Winners At Comic-Con International 2010

Nominees:

• Asterios Polyp, by David Mazzucchelli (Pantheon)
• A Distant Neighborhood (2 vols.), by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• The Book of Genesis Illustrated, by R. Crumb (Norton)
• My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill, by Jean Regnaud and émile Bravo (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• The Photographer, by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, and Frédéric Lemerier (First Second)
• Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)

My Pick:

Going with Asterios Polyp for best new Graphic Album. The story of a hoity-toity architecture slumming it up in a low rent town was intriguing and touching. It was a great comic that deserves the award.

Nominees:

• Absolute Justice, by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, and Doug Braithewaite (DC)
• A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, by Josh Neufeld (Pantheon)
• Alec: The Years Have Pants, by Eddie Campbell (Top Shelf)
• Essex County Collected, by Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
• Map of My Heart: The Best of King-Cat Comics & Stories, 1996-2002, by John Porcellino (Drawn & Quarterly)

My Pick:

Jeff Lemire's collected work of the three volumes of Essex County are brilliant. His black and white work is really stunning and he puts such a great personal flair to it that I was entranced. I'd so love it for Lemire to win this as it truly deserves and Eisner.

Nominees:

• The Best of Simon & Kirby, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, edited by Steve Saffel (Titan Books)
• Blazing Combat, by Archie Goodwin et al., edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
• Humbug, by Harvey Kurtzman et al., edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
• The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures deluxe edition, by Dave Stevens, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
• The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics, edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly (Abrams ComicArts/Toon)

My Pick:

I really dug The Best of Simon & Kirby. This collection by the "dream team" really hit it home with all the great extra material as well as being such a diverse collection of comics.

Nominees:

• Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Daredevil, Marvels Project (Marvel)Criminal, Incognito (Marvel Icon)
• Geoff Johns, Adventure Comics, Blackest Night, The Flash: Rebirth, Superman: Secret Origin (DC)
• James Robinson, Justice League: Cry for Justice (DC)
• Mark Waid, Irredeemable, The Incredibles (BOOM!)
• Bill Willingham, Fables (Vertigo/DC)

My Pick:

For me I think this comes down to Brubaker or Johns. They have had some big years and while I think I liked Incognito over Blackest Night overall, I think Johns wins out with his large collection of work this past year. It was close for me, but I think I'm leaning towards Johns....I think!

Nominees:

• Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter (IDW)
• R. Crumb, The Book of Genesis Illustrated (Norton)
• David Mazzucchelli, Asterios Polyp (Pantheon)
• Terry Moore, Echo (Abstract Books)
• Naoki Urasawa, Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka (VIZ Media)

My Pick:

From the list above, I think I'm going to have to go with David Mazzucchelli, for Asterios Polyp. He did some very ingenious things with the panels, art style, color, and overall story that were very cool to see unfold on the page. Again, each one deserves an award as they are all very talented, but there can be only one.

Nominees:

• Reinhard Kleist, Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness (Abrams ComicArts)
• Willy Linthout, Years of the Elephant (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• Joe Sacco, Footnotes in Gaza (Metropolitan/Holt)
• David Small, Stitches (Norton)
• Carol Tyler, You'll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man (Fantagraphics)

My Pick:

I think I'm going with Sacco for the win again here. I just love how much work he obviously puts into his work and Footnotes In Gaza was a massive tome of information coupled with outstanding art.

Nominees:

• Michael Kaluta, Madame Xanadu #11-15: "Exodus Noir" (Vertigo/DC)
• Steve McNiven/Dexter Vines, Wolverine: Old Man Logan (Marvel)
• Fiona Staples, North 40 (WildStorm)
• J. H. Williams III, Detective Comics (DC)
• Danijel Zezelj, Luna Park (Vertigo/DC)

My Pick:

This is like picking my favorite child! Seriously there is some fantastic talent here. But of the work here, I'd have to say it was J.H. Wlliams III, for his work on Detective Comics that made my jaw drop the most. He really seemed to turn the whole page and panel presentation into...I want to say a work of art but that is redundant...how about a higher level of comic art not usually seen. It is that good.

Nominees:

• John Cassaday, Irredeemable (BOOM!); Lone Ranger (Dynamite)
• Salvador Larocca, Invincible Iron Man (Marvel)
• Sean Phillips, Criminal, Incognito (Marvel Icon); 28 Days Later (BOOM!)
• Alex Ross, Astro City: The Dark Age (WildStorm/DC); Project Superpowers (Dynamite)
• J. H. Williams III, Detective Comics (DC)

My Pick:

Blargh! Too hard! For me, this ones up between Ross, Williams, and Larocca. I think again, I'm going to have to go with J.H. Williams III. There is just something about his super fantastically stunninnly detailed (enough adjectives for ya!) art that you can get lost in it.