Eisner Noms Are In
Webcomics are represented in the following categories:
Best Publication For Teens
Best Humor Publication
Best Digital Comic
If I had to make a guess at this early stage, I’d say that Sugarshock! is a lock for the category that best matches “webcomics”, which is odd because it was a total of what? 15 pages? and the the criteria for the category read professionally produced long-form original comics work posted online. If Planet Karen got rejected for not being “long-form” (which it did), I’m not sure how Sugarshock! (which I enjoyed, but it’s essentially a one-shot) could possibly qualify. So okay — let the bitching begin!
The Eisners will be awarded at San Diego Comic-Con in July.
Karl Kershl deserves all the glorious prizes! I was very happy to see Charles Christopher among the titles.
By Rene on 04.15.08 10:04 am
Don’t forget the requirement that “… Webcomics must have a unique domain name or be part of a larger comics community to be considered”, for which a MySpace page is obviously qualified.
However, Karl’s work is certainly worthy of greater recognition.
By Stuart Immonen on 04.15.08 11:27 am
It’s not the most intuitive thing, but “longform” generally doesn’t actually mean “long,” but simply “narrative/comic book style” as opposed to “newspaper/strip style.” If your pages can be read in any order, as Planet Karen’s can, that’s shortform. If you need to read all the pages in a linear order, like Sugarshock, that’s longform. Regardless of how long the story actually is.
I have no idea where those terms came from, but that is pretty consistently how I’ve seen them used.
By Alexander Danner on 04.15.08 1:15 pm
Bah, blame the print industry for such inane terms as shortform and longform. They JUST DON’T WORK for webcomics.
By Rachel on 04.15.08 1:31 pm
You really think my comics can be read in any order? I agree there are some pages that stand alone, but there is a reason it’s a diary. Hell, it’s the only comic you are likely to find where you can see someone’s hair grow in real time.
By Karen Ellis on 04.15.08 5:34 pm
I keep meaning:
To look up the nominees over the past few years and see if they’ve ever nominated anyone who doesn’t have some sort of print comic connected to their name…
By MHPayne on 04.15.08 5:56 pm
Apparently, when it comes to the Eisners, life does not constitute a narrative.
By bryant. on 04.16.08 10:24 am
PVP is a longform comic?
By malki ! on 04.16.08 11:52 am
Did Planet Karen actual get an official notice of rejection for not being “long form” or are you just guessing? It’s not something they’ve ever been strict about so I’d be surprised if it did.
By copyrezo on 04.16.08 1:36 pm
“You really think my comics can be read in any order?”
Admittedly, I haven’t read your full archive. But I did read a bunch of random strips, and felt like I got a satisfying stand-alone experience from each of the strips I read. That’s not to say that it wouldn’t be *more interesting* to read the strips in order, and to see the patterns that emerge. But on the surface, it doesn’t seem absolutely essential to read the strips in order.
I’m also not saying that I necessarily agree with the decision that was made. Just trying to clarify the terminology being used.
By Alexander Danner on 04.16.08 2:59 pm
I’m glad that you got a satisfying stand alone experience from my comics. It is often difficult to get a balance between individual strips and the comic as a whole, so it’s nice to get that validation from a casual reader.
But there is continuity, there is progression. Perhaps not in quite the way you’d find in a work of pure fiction, but it’s hardly in the same category as Garfield.
I’d also mention that Minus was nominated in a previous year. Now I loves Minus, but at the time it was nominated, it didn’t have continuity that lasted more than a couple of strips.
And no, Planet Karen got no official response either way. I was asked to provide proof that it qualified, and when I inquired several weeks later whether a decision had been made, I was told only that the information had been passed on.
By Karen Ellis on 04.17.08 8:50 am
I’d just like to point out that while not for webcomic work, 8-Bit Theater creator Brian Clevenger got an Eisner nomination for “Best Limited Series” for his Atomic Robo print comic. So apparently sprite comics aren’t enough to get you shunned from the Eisners. Good to know.
By BadIdea on 04.17.08 9:45 am
“I’d also mention that Minus was nominated in a previous year. Now I loves Minus, but at the time it was nominated, it didn’t have continuity that lasted more than a couple of strips.”
Yeah, that’s the sort of thing that frustrates me more than the rules themselves. I respect the organization’s right to set its own qualification rules, and the judges’ right to recognize the sort of work they value, rather than the sort of work I want them to value. But when they set rules that they then choose not to follow, that’s aggravating.
By Alexander Danner on 04.17.08 2:56 pm
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