Looking for some good comic reading to get you through the summer months? Well here's a handy list for you. The 2009 Eisner Award Nominees have been announced. The Eisner Awards, for those of you not in the know, are pretty much like the academy awards of comic books. Nominees are selected from some of the best comics have had to offer in 2009, and the categories of comics cover many different varieties of styles for readers of all levels. Here's a quick list of the categories:
- Best Short Story
- Best Continuing Series
- Best Limited Series
- Best New Series
- Best Publication for Kids
- Best Publication for Teens/Tweens
- Best Humor Publication
- Best Anthology
- Best Digital Comic
- Best Reality-Based Work
- Best Graphic Album—New
- Best Graphic Album—Reprint
- Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
- Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
- Best U.S. Edition of International Material
- Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan
- Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
- Best Comics-Related Book
- Best Publication Design
And then of course there are also individual artist awards like Best Writer, Best Cover Artist, etc. If you're looking for some really good comics, but don't know what you want to read, you really should check out the list of nominees because you're guaranteed to find some really excellent stories in the group.
Personally, my recommendations are as follows:
Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai. Don't let the cartoony look of the characters fool you. Usagi Yojimbo has been nominated for Best Continuing Series for good reason. With over 20 years of published history, and having won countless awards, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo is an incredibly deep and entertaining story of a wandering Ronin (masterless Samurai) who travels around feudal Japan looking for work and to help those in need. As a starting point, I would choose the Grasscutter storyline, which is available as a graphic novel. You can find it on Amazon here.
Comic Book Tattoo. More of an art piece really than a standard comic book really, Comic Book Tattoo is Nominated for an Eisner in the Best Anthology category. The book itself is an anthology of art and short stories that have been inspired by the music of singer/songwriter Tori Amos. Over 80 different artists and writers contributed works to this amazing coffee table style graphic novel. Over 50 different stories can be found within its pages, and it even features an introduction by author Neil Gaiman. You can find this on Amazon here.
Hellboy: Library Edition. Nominated in two different categories, Best Graphic Album - Reprint and Best Publication Design, Hellboy's Library Editions volumes 1 and 2 collect the first four full story arcs from Mike Mignola's groundbreaking Hellboy series. The stories center around the title character himself, Hellboy as he investigates strange phenomenon as a part of his job at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD). These handsome library editions are huge (9" by 12") and beautifully bound volumes that would look excellent sitting amongst the rest of your amazing literature works in your collection as they take their rightful place among them. You can find these for purchase here.
If you don't like my suggestions, that's totally cool. Check out the list of nominees and I'm sure you'll find something you'll like amongst them. In fact, let me know which items on the list you love and I'll have to check them out myself. I'm always up for hearing about great new comics.
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