Tag Archives: Joe Shuster Awards

Profiling The Joe Shuster Awards (Featuring an Interview with JSA Director Kevin Boyd)

It’s an interesting age we live in for creative types working in the North American comic book industry.

As Calgary Comic Expo spokesperson and co-organizer Steven Hodges points out, “The comic industry these days has made it so that you can pretty much live and work wherever you want to.”

He further goes on to say that, “It’s important to recognize those Canadian comic creators that choose to stay to work and live in Canada. From Fiona Staples, to Cary Nord, to Riley Rossmo, we have some fantastic talent that are making names for themselves in the industry and I’m very happy that they are still in our own backyard. When we found out that the Shuster’s were coming to the Calgary Expo we were very excited, because of that strong contingent of Canadian creator talent here in Western Canada.”

To bring you up to speed, The Joe Shuster Awards for Canadian Comic Book Creators just held their 7th annual awards ceremony here in Calgary at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.

The Fabler Blog Covers Calgary Comic Expo and the 2011 Joe Shuster Awards

We’re two days in to the 2011 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, and I feel at this point I can safely report that it has been a hectic mess (of awesome).

The Calgary Comic Expo, which has steadily been growing in both size and attendance since its birth in 2006, was this year extended from a two day Saturday/Sunday event to a full three days. Friday being an ‘advance sneak preview’ day, before some of the larger media guests (read: William Shatner) arrived at the Con. The hectic nature of the con can be seen as growing pains as Calgary adjusts to its largest pop culture expo taking on a life of its own. As it has grown in size, so too has its recognition spread as one of the larger North American Comic and Entertainment conventions.

Murdoch Mysteries Webseries, DC Launches 52 New (Old) Comics, and The Shuster Awards at Calgary’s Comic Expo

Welcome to June, Fabler-followers and comic loyalists! (We are also inclusive to comic patriots, revolutionaries, and dabblers. Comic charlatans need not apply. Unless you want to. In which case, please do.) What does Canadian television series The Murdoch Mysteries have to do with comic books?

Totally glad you asked. Canadian comic artist Francis Manapul, who is well known for his work on Witchblade, Legion of Superheroes, and (most recently) The Flash , is heavily involved with a new Murdoch Mysteries webseries that ties into the show.

Hugo and Harry Kremer Awards, The End of New Reliable and a Milestone for Action Comics

Oh hey guys, thanks for dropping by the Fabler. We hope you enjoyed the last month or so worth of comic creator profiles and interviews, and this week we’re coming at you with a more news-y post.

Coming atcha. Coming at-cha. Yeaahhh.

There are a few cool things worthy of note in this week’s comics round-ups found around the web, but before I get to those, I wanted to mention how unbelievably rad it is that Adriana Blake (of the webcomic Fall On Me) took the time to translate my entire interview with her into Spanish!

Canadian Comics: Profiling Emily Carroll of His Face all Red, Dream Journal Comics, and Anu-Anulan and Yir’s Daughter

Despite being relatively new to the wonderful world of webcomics, Emily Carroll is a name that pops up with a frequency that seems to be steadily increasing with every month.

The Vancouver, BC local has only been doing comics “in earnest” (her words) since last May, but already she has been featured on The Comics Reporter, Robot 6, Scott McCloud’s Blog, Comics Alliance… I could legitimately keep going for some time, but instead I’ll finish by mentioning that Emily is also up for a Joe Shuster Award this year and she is currently collaborating with Eisner-nominated group The Anthology Project on their second volume.

Commenting on the 2011 Joe Shuster Award Nominees

The Joe Shuster Awards are presented annually to talented comic artists and writers from the Northern Wastes we affectionately refer to as ‘Canada’. Named after some artist guy who co-created a superhero or something, they celebrate outstanding achievements by Canadians in the fields of comic books, graphic novels, and webcomics. As of yesterday, the official nominees for the 2011 Shuster Awards have been published online at the Joe Shuster Awards home page. Take a gander for yourself if you’d like, but I’ll break it down for you anyway.

The Fabler’s 2010 Yearbook : Our Sophomore Year, Plus the 2010 Interview Catalogue

In keeping with tradition, we’re ringing in the new year by looking at some of the stuff that’s impacted our little corner of the interweb over the past twelve months. This includes some of the news bits the Fabler Blog has reported on, some of the changes and landmarks the main site has experienced, and of course, a Coles Notes list of the interviewees we’ve featured on the site throughout 2010.

Fabler Blog Update for the Week of November 24th

A short update as we drift into the end of November. Highlighting a couple of new Fabler submissions, plus some news related to Jim Zubkavich’s Skullkickers, Sarah Leavitt’s Tangles, and a new perspective on the state of digital comics.

The Fabler Blog Looks at the 2010 Joe Shuster Award Nominees

Now that the Doug Wright Awards and the Joe Shuster Awards have announced their 2010 finalists/nominees, I figure it’d probably be in everyone’s best interests for the Fabler Blog to go over some of the top contenders this year.

Hey, if something so vapid as the annual Academy Awards can have legions of bloggers reviewing their picks for the ceremonies, Canadian comic creators certainly deserve at least a little of the same.

Profiling Jesse Jacobs of Blue Winter, Shapes in the Snow and One Million Mouths

The Fabler Blog talks to Jesse Jacobs, recent winner of the Gene Day Award for Canadian Self-Publishing for his minicomic, Blue Winter, Shapes in the Snow.

An independent self-publisher in the truest sense of the term, Jesse has also gained some recognition for his comic strip One Million Mouths, which up until a few mouths ago was a recurring feature in Halifax newspaper the Coast.

Jesse talks about winning the award, drawing Richie Rich as a kid, and shares some details about his latest as-of-yet-unnamed minicomic.