UPDATE: We’d like to apologize for the funky formatting hijinx in the awards the last two days, Internet Explorer 2 was crashing with some o the code on the page! Enjoy the rest of the show!
DAY 2 – CREATORS
Welcome back to the Comics Nexus Awards 2007!
If you’re arriving late to the party, get the lowdown on the new format with our Day 0 introduction and check back to Day 1 of the Nexus Awards for the winners in the character categories:
Best Male Lead: Blue Beetle
Best Female Lead: She-Hulk
Best Supporting Character: Agent 355
Best Villain: Red Skull
Best Team
Continuing their wild romp through 2007, your Nexus Awards hosts:
Manolis Vamvounis (editor, graphics) and Iain Burnside (words)
On to our second day of festivities:
Writer
Not so long ago, Brian Michael Bendis would have strolled to victory in this category – or, failing that, Geoff Johns, his non-Skrull equivalent. However, not so long ago Mel Gibson was merely acting at being a reckless driver, Michael Jackson was merely trying to convince people that he was not like other boys, and Spider-Man was merely a swinging single twenty-something guy about town… uh, scratch that last one. The point is that Bendis and Johns, as eminantly readable as they are, didn’t make it onto our shortlist this time around thanks to the marvellous body of work built up by three other writers and our collective raging hard-on for all things Bru. Ooops, I just gave away the winner. Well, it shouldn’t have been a surprise for those of you paying attention. I mean, really, when was the last time that writing UNCANNY X-MEN became an incidental afterthought in comparison to the writer’s other ongoing projects? Aw, heck, I should stop gushing while I still can.
Runners-Up:
Bronze Nexus – – Matt Fraction (IMMORTAL IRON FIST, PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL, THE ORDER, CASANOVA)
Silver Nexus – – Brian K Vaughan (Y: THE LAST MAN, EX MACHINA, RUNAWAYS, DR STRANGE, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)
Winner-Golden Nexus:
Ed Brubaker (CAPTAIN AMERICA, DAREDEVIL, IMMORTAL IRON FIST, UNCANNY X-MEN, CRIMINAL)
Matt Fraction certainly broke out with a bang in the comics scene during 2007! He made such a great impression in our staffers that he jumped straight from the Breakout Talent category into the Top 3 Writers of the year! And believe me, it was hardly an easy contest! Matt first caught the attention fo the indy world with little gems like the LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS and FIVE FISTS OF SCIENCE. It was the instantly cult classic offbeat CASANOVA from Image which lead to his sudden leap into the mainstream spotlight though. Within a few months he was suddenly writing three Marvel monthly superhero comics! It’s refreshing to see Marvel is still up for giving new powerful talents their big break and allowing a fresh voice to be heard on their superhero books. But, what say you, Matt?
“I’d like to thank everybody that voted, and thank you all for reading.”
Word spread.
And our second winner, mr Brian Vaughan? He was our Best Writer of 2006 and he’s still here and holding tight to his top 2 place this year as well! To quote our own Matt Morrison from his intro last year:
“It’s not hard to see why Mr. Vaughn has become the red-hot star that he is. Not only does he write well — he writes well in a variety of genres. Science-fiction? Does it. Political drama? Does it. Old-fashioned tights-and-capes? Does it. Magical mystery tours? Does it. Talking animal parables? Does it with style.
I cannot think of any writer since Stan Lee himself who has shown the sheer versatility that Brian K. Vaughn does. And that is why, for sheer quality and quantity, we have given him the prestigious Comics Nexus Writer of the Year Award for 2006 Silver Nexus Award for Best Writer of 2007!.”
Sharp editing there, if we may pat our own back! And off to mr Vaughan himself for a personal reply:
“Afraid I’m way too behind on work on my new projects to write you some proper acceptance speeches, but I’m immensely honored! As always, I owe it my many talented collaborators.”
Thank you Brian!
And moving to our #1 Best Writer for 2007, Ed Brubaker! Ed couldn’t join us this year due to his hefty schedule, but Paul Sebert is here to give us the 411 on mr Ed:
‘’How good a year did Ed Brubaker have? Well in 2007 he won both the Harvey and the Eisner award for Best Writer! Plus the best writer award from us here at Comics Nexus. That really speaks volumes really. He also co-won the award for Best New series for “Criminal” with Sean Philips.
From taking an eclectic group of mutants on space bound adventures in the pages of Uncanny X-Men, to the focusing on some very human scumbags in the pages of Criminal Ed Brubaker has perhaps become the go-to guy for top notch writing in the industry. In the pages of Daredevil he’s also re-imagined less than classic villains like Mr. Fear and The Black Tarantula into legitimately awesome characters. He’s also collaborated with Matt Fraction to turn Iron Fist into one of the most entertaining comic book reads of any year.
Oh and he kinda killed Captain America. That’s the kind of faith Marvel has in Brubaker right now. When they let you kill one of the company’s iconic characters and continue writing the book without him for 8 months straight they must have some serious faith in you. And when you’re Ed Brubaker it’s for good reason.”
Artist
Where do they get all their wonderful toys? Art supplies stores. Where do they get all their wonderful stories? The script. Where do they get all their wonderful skills? Beats me. Strutting along the fine line between their intertwined roles as sequential story-tellers, pin-up artists, graphic designers and mind-boggling soul-shockers, modern day comic book artists are exfoliating their pages with genius as never before. They also draw teh boobies. Everybody likes those, hence everybody likes them. It’s a sound strategy and one that worked well for Cornershop, until 1997 ended. Still, it isn’t 1997 for us, Superman merely wears both red and blue rather than being them, Captain America is dead hero and not in HEROES REBORN, and nobody really pays any attention to the DARKNESS, plus we’ve still got all this shiny artwork to amuse our vision with, so who wins? Everyone! Except time-travellers. Or at least the stupid ones that are daft enough to go back to 1997. Candle in the wind? Foot up your arse. Say, have you seen my train of thought?
Runners-Up:
Bronze Nexus — Michael Lark (DAREDEVIL)
Silver Nexus — Stuart Immonen (ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, MARVEL COMICS PRESENT, NEXTWAVE)
Winner – Golden Nexus:
J.H. Williams III (BATMAN)
As usual in this specific category, we will keep quiet for once, and simply let the incredible artwork speak for itself.
For Stuart Immonen, our second place winner, a selection from his three significant works: NEXTWAVE, HELLCAT and his new celebrated run on Ultimate Spider-man!
From J.H. Williams III‘s celebrated run on Batman, The Island of Mr Mayhew, some original inked artwork and finished art from the issue:
Now, to accept his award (and you have to say his name in the style of Michael Buffer for maximum effect)…. J….. H….. WILLLLLLLLLIAMS….. THE THIRRRRRRD!
“Ah, thank you all for your acceptance of my prowess. Allowing me to further expand the power of my superhumanalienovermind to influence
more of your daily lives. All hail to the great and powerful Zthuzoon. Dominion over all. Love under will.”
You can tell why Grant Morrison enjoys interacting with parts of him, can’t you? Bless.
Editor
We’ve had the superstar artist years and the superstar writer years… are the superstar editor years beginning to emerge with the, er, interesting involvement of Joe Quesada and Dan Did He Now in major Marvel and DC events and direction changes? If our votes are anything to go by then, err, no, they aren’t. The editors that impressed us the most were operating at a far lesser level of hype than the chiefs, which allows for a great deal more autonomy and creative allowance, with which they did a grand ol’ job and edited some of Marvel’s finest works of the year. And let’s not forget our runners-up, the first of whom had a more direct involvement with the direct market dangers yet came through with flying colours. As for the other one, well, with a bit of luck there’s some chubby bloke in San Diego printing the name on a tent-sized T-shirt for this year’s Comic-Con.
Runners-Up:
Bronze Nexus — NOT DAN DIDIO (non-DC Comics)
Silver Nexus — Tom Breevort (CIVIL WAR, AVENGERS, ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST)
Winner – Golden Nexus:
Nathan Cosby & Mark Paniccia (WORLD WAR HULK, SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE, AGENTS OF ATLAS, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, M.O.D.O.K.’S 11, MARVEL ADVENTURES)
Um, ouch! Who voted for that third place? Was it us? Uh-hum.
OK, let’s move straight to our #1 winners to avoid further embarrassment! Nate Cosby and Mark Paniccia are an inseparable comics editorial duo so it’s only fitting then that they share this Award for the incredible year of stories they have facilitated. Looking back to 2007 their names have graced a great variety of projects at Marvel which all share one common trait: they’re first and foremost FUN comics! In the decade of grim and gritty, such comics with a pure look at super-heroics, great action, memorable one-liners and clear consistently good artwork are a diminishing luxury, and that’s why we decided to honour them with our award this year!
Over to you, guys!
NATE: First off, I’d be remiss if I forgot to thank the other editors. If not for you not doing as good as us, we wouldn’t be here.
Second, thanks for reading the comics that we work on!
(um…Mark, what do we work on?)
MARK: It’s a big list, but you asked for it: HULK, INCREDIBLE HERCULES, WORLD WAR HULK and its related spin-offs (WARBOUND, DAMAGE CONTROL), the new ETERNALS series, NEW EXILES, X-MEN FIRST CLASS, POWER PACK, THE MARVEL ADVENTURES LINE (MA: AVENGERS, HULK, SPIDER-MAN, FF and IRON MAN) and FRANKLIN: SON OF A GENIUS, MINI MARVELS, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, SPIDER-MAN FAMILY. And a bunch of various mini-series like AGENTS OF ATLAS, HEROES FOR HIRE, etc.
NATE: Right! Yes! Those!
We work VERY hard on those suckers, make ‘em as good as they can be. But your stew’s only as good as your groceries, so the credit really should go to the BEST writers in the business (JEFF PARKER, FRED VAN LENTE, GREG PAK, CHRIS ELIOPOULOS, CHRIS GIARRUSSO, MARC SUMERAK, PAUL TOBIN, DWAYNE McDUFFIE, the KNAUFs, CHRIS CLAREMONT and lots of others) and artists that draw with a sweetness (JOHN ROMITA JR., KLAUS JANSON, ROGER CRUZ, FRANCIS PORTELA, KHOI PHAM, LEONARD KIRK, RONAN CLIQUET, CHRIS ELIOPOULOS, CHRIS GIARRUSSO, GRAHAM NOLAN, GURIHIRU, SALVA ESPIN, IG GUARA, CORY HAMSCHER, DANIEL ACUNA, STEVE SCOTT…pant pant pant…there’s a LOT of ‘em. They’re all good). And don’t go forgettin’ how important colorists and letterers are! If not for all the peeps at Virtual Calligraphy (ELIOPOULOS, JOE CARAMAGNA, CORY PETIT), the WORLD WAR HULK sound effects would look shoddy, and NATE PIEKOS brings the fun every month with X-MEN FIRST CLASS. And CHRISTINA STRAIN, VAL STAPLES, BRAD ANDERSON, STEPHANE PERU, MARTE GRACIA ain’t just colorists…they be ARTISTS. Beautiful stuff.
Oh, and the Marvel Production department! These guys work their TAILS off behind the scenes everyday! Mad props to BRAD JOHANSEN, RICH GINTER, IRENE LEE, OMAR OTIEKU, ANTHONY DIAL, PAUL ACERIOS, SUE CRESPI, and everybody else over in the bullpen!
Awright, enough’a this. Startin’ to feel like Julia Roberts not knowing when t’get off the stage after accepting her (undeserved) Oscar for Erin Brokovich. Thanks, Nexus! We’ll try not to suck in 2008!!!!
MARK: If we forgot somebody, we apologize!
And thanks everyone for your votes!
Breakout Talent
People who enjoying breaking things tend to be anti-social types. People who enjoy being out are happy at not being in the closet, which could either be a sexual thing or just a general expression of freedom. People who enjoy the breaking out of things are troublemakers that burn down Starbucks stalls and cut open zoo cages. People who have talent tend to not really realise it. Hence our breakout talent finalists must surely be ignorant, anti-social rabble-rousers enjoying some sort of sexual deviance in the outdoors. Dirty bastards.
Runners-Up:
Bronze Nexus — Greg Pak (WORLD WAR HULK, INCREDIBLE HULK)
Silver Nexus — Sean McKeever (SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE, TEEN TITANS, BIRDS OF PREY, COUNTDOWN)
Winner – Golden Nexus:
Christos Gage (AUTHORITY: PRIME, WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN, STORMWATCH PHD)
The award-winning victor, Christos Gage, recovered to find his speech via the magic non-speech of typing this:
“Wow! What an honor — I’m truly speechless. And now, a speech…in all seriousness though, I’d like to thank my brilliant collaborators on the creative, business and editorial sides of things for making it an amazing year. And most of all to the readers — the fact that you guys are reading and enjoying my work boggles my mind and every day! Thanks!”
We shall continue to boggle you, Mr Gage.
Company/Imprint
And now we turn to the category that makes all right-minded people shake their heads sadly at how petty and pathetic comic book fans are… and then proclaim themselves a Marvel Zombie… or a DC devotee… or an indie afficionado with neatly trimmed facial hair… oh, and then there are the inner camps that proclaim Ultimate Marvel better than regular Marvel… or Earth-2 worthier than Earth-1… and on and on it goes. It is indeed peculiar. Do members of the literati go online and post threads like “Top 10 Reasons Why Harper-Collins Sucks” or “Simon & Schuster Owns Your Ass”? I certainly hope so. Still, the grand rivalry between the Marvel Bullpen and the Distinguished Competition remains ingrained. This is probably because making lists, arguing over nothing and wasting time online are favourite traits of true geeks everywhere. Hello, faithful reader. Hey, don’t worry, I’m the one geeky enough to be stuck writing these bits. As long as nobody takes it too seriously, things should work out just fine for all concerned, like Coke and Pepsi, or Pizza Hut and Dominos, or WWE and WCW… err, then again…
Runners-Up:
Vertigo
DC Universe
Winner: MARVEL UNIVERSE
Closing up today’s Awards announcements is Mark Stoddard, who loves Marvel with all its good and bad, like no other geek before him! Mark, go for it!
2007 was a big year for Marvel Comics, in more ways than one. I have been trying to sum up this past Marvel year in one word (no idea why; maybe it will just simplify my thought processes somewhat, but humour me). There were a few contenders:
Controversial
The big One that is on everyone’s minds at the moment – yep, that’s One More Day, the dramatic re-alignment of the Spider-Man universe. Whatever your feelings on this story, you cannot deny the significance of it.
Epic
2007 has brought a multitude of big epic events. What has impressed me most is the way in which Marvel has managed to merge these together as part of a whole tapestry of the Universe, weaving new layers together that build on what has come before, rather than constantly re-laying totally new foundations and starting again. Civil War, World War Hulk, Messiah CompleX .
2007 also saw a number of ‘epic’ outside of the regular Marvel Universe – most notably the massive success of the adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower, and the ending of Mark Bagley’s epic 110 + issue run on Ultimate Spider-Man.
Delays
I cannot talk about Marvel in 2007 without mentioning the impact of delays on various titles, that led to, for example, Civil War continuing over into 2007, and One More Day concluding in 2008. The reason I think Marvel deserves special attention here is that 2007 appeared to mark out a stance on dealing with these delays that sets them apart a little from other publishers out there – rather than ship potentially delayed books on time with a fill-in artist, Marvel have been very explicit about the fact that, where possible, they would rather accept a hit in sales and ship the book with its intended creative team, than produce a lower quality comic. If delays are here to stay, and I think they are, then I certainly support Marvel’s position.
Brave
As I have said elsewhere, not everything from Marvel in 2007 was a success. But I think one word sums up what has seen Marvel voted the top publisher for 2007: Brave. Bravery means not being scared to produce something controversial when you believe it is the right thing for the characters; bravery is pushing the limits of characters and redefining the status quo of an established universe through large-scale events that have real and believable repercussions; and bravery means taking a stand on tough issues, even when it may affect sales and profits. A willingness to be brave was central to Marvel’s success in 2007, and there is no reason why this cannot continue into 2008 and beyond.
Join us tomorrow for Day 3 of our Awards with the winners for
Best Collection
Best Crossover
Best Single Issue
Best Webcomic
Best Storyline
