A nomination for a Harvey Award, named for legendary MAD Magazine cartoonist and editor Harvey Kurtzman, is unquestionably the most prestigious honor that has ever been bestowed on a comic book about NASCAR. Seriously. It happened in 2009 with NASCAR Heroes.

The Harvey Awards have released the list of this year's nominees. As you might expect, the usual suspects like Hawkeye and Daredevil were honored, along with other nomination leaders Saga and Quantum and Woody. Archie, Valiant and Image all received a good amount of nominations, but it's BOOM! Studios, along with its Archaia imprint, that earned the most recognition with 26 nominations; well more than any other publisher.

Also of note: Out of 22 categories, there was only one nomination for DC Comics, going to Danny Miki for his work inking Greg Capullo on Batman, and no nominations for IDW Publishing, which is very surprising considering the several categories for design and presentation that the company's Artist's Edition volumes could justifiably sweep.

 

BEST WRITER

James Asmus, QUANTUM AND WOODY, Valiant Entertainment
Matt Fraction, HAWKEYE, Marvel Comics
Matt Kindt, MIND MGMT, Dark Horse Comics
Brian K. Vaughn, SAGA, Image Comics
Mark Waid, DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics

 

BEST ARTIST

David Aja, HAWKEYE, Marvel Comics
Dan Parent, KEVIN KELLER, Archie Comics
Nate Powell, MARCH: BOOK ONE, Top Shelf Production
Chris Samnee, DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
Fiona Staples, SAGA, Image Comics
Jeff Stokely, SIX GUN GORILLA, BOOM! Studios

 

BEST CARTOONIST

Matt Kindt, MIND MGMT, Dark Horse Comics
Comfort Love and Adam Withers, RAINBOW IN THE DARK, uniquescomic.com
Terry Moore, RACHEL RISING, Abstract Studios
Dan Parent, KEVIN KELLER, Archie Comics
David Petersen, MOUSE GUARD: THE BLACK AXE, BOOM! Studios/Archaia
Paul Pope, BATTLING BOY, First Second

 

BEST LETTERER

Deron Bennett, CYBORG 009, Archaia
Dave Lanphear, QUANTUM AND WOODY, Valiant Entertainment
Terry Moore, RACHEL RISING, Abstract Studio
Steve Wands, ADVENTURE TIME, kaBOOM!
Britt Wilson, ADVENTURE TIME WITH FIONNA AND CAKE, kaBOOM!

 

BEST INKER

Vanesa R. Del Rey, HIT, BOOM! Studios
Stefano Gaudiano, THE WALKING DEAD, Image Comics
Danny Miki, BATMAN, DC Comics
Brian Stelfreeze, DAY MEN, BOOM! Studios
Wade Von Grawbadger, ALL NEW X-MEN, Marvel Comics

 

BEST COLORIST

Jordan Bellaire, PRETTY DEADLY, Image Comics
Marte Gracia, ALL NEW X-MEN, Marvel Comics
Matt Hollingsworth, HAWKEYE, Marvel Comics
Brian Reber, UNITY, Valiant Entertainment
Dave Stewart, HELLBOY: THE MIDNIGHT CIRCUS, Dark Horse Comics

 

BEST COVER ARTIST

Goni Montes, CLIVE BARKER'S NEXT TESTAMENT
Andrew Robinson, QUANTUM AND WOODY, Valiant Entertainment
Chris Samnee, DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
Fiona Staples, SAGA, Image Comics
Brian Stelfreeze, DAY MEN, BOOM! Studios

 

MOST PROMISING NEW TALENT

James Asmus, QUANTUM AND WOODY, Valiant Entertainment
Pere Perez, ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG, HARBINGER WARS, Valiant Entertainment
Victor Santos, POLAR: CAME FROM THE COLD, DARK HORSE PRESENTS, Dark Horse Comics
Jeff Stokely, SIX GUN GORILLA, BOOM! Studios
Chip Zdarsky, SEX CRIMINALS, Image Comics

 

BEST NEW SERIES

AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, Archie Comics
QUANTUM AND WOODY, Valiant Entertainment
SEX CRIMINALS, Image
SIX GUN GORILLA, BOOM! Studios
SUICIDE RISK, BOOM! Studios

 

BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES

ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG, Valiant Entertainment
DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
HAWKEYE, Marvel Comics
HIT, BOOM! Studios
MOUSE GUARD: LEGENDS OF THE GUARD VOL. 2, Archaia
SAGA, Image Comics

 

BEST SYNDICATED STRIP OR PANEL

DICK TRACY, Joe Staton and Mike Curtis, Tribune Media Services
FOX TROT, Bill Amend, Universal Uclick
GET FUZZY, Darby Conley, Universal Uclick
MUTTS, Patrick McDonnell, King Features
THE PHANTOM, Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan, King Features Syndicate

 

BEST ANTHOLOGY

DARK HORSE PRESENTS, Dark Horse Comics
MOUSE GUARD: LEGENDS OF THE GUARD VOLUME 2, BOOM! Studios/Archaia
OUTLAW TERRITORY 3, Image Comics
SPERA, VOLUME 3, BOOM! Studios/Archaia
THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR, BOOM! Studios/Archaia

 

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM - ORIGINAL

BATTLING BOY, First Second
CYBORG 009, Archaia
MARCH: BOOK ONE, Top Shelf Productions
THE FIFTH BEATLE: THE BRIAN EPSTEIN STORY, Dark Horse Comics
THE REASON FOR DRAGONS, BOOM! Studios/Archaia

 

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM - PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED

HARBINGER VOLUME 1: OMEGA RISING, Valiant Entertainment
THE KILLER OMNIBUS VOLUME 1, Archaia
MOUSE GUARD VOL. 3: THE BLACK AXE, BOOM! Studios/Archaia
POLARITY, BOOM! Studios
RAINBOW IN THE DARK: THE COMPLETE SAGA, Comfort Love and Adam Withers

 

BEST SINGLE ISSUE STORY

ADVENTURE TIME ANNUAL #1, kaBOOM!
DEMETER, self-published, Becky Cloonan
A Kiss ISN'T Just A Kiss!, KEVIN KELLER #10, Archie Comics
Now and Then, DARK HORSE PRESENTS #30, Dark Horse Comics
Pizza is My Business, HAWKEYE #11, Marvel Comics
SUICIDE RISK #5, BOOM! Studios
UNITY #1, Valiant Entertainment

 

BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT

BARNABY VOLUME 1, Fantagraphics
BEST OF COMIX BOOK: WHEN MARVEL COMICS WENT UNDERGROUND, Kitchen Sink Books/Dark Horse
FRAGGLE ROCK CLASSICS VOLUME 2, BOOM! Studios/Archaia
VALIANT MASTERS: NINJAK VOLUME 1 - BLACK WATER, Valiant Entertainment
VALIANT MASTERS: SHADOWMAN VOLUME 1  SPIRITS WITHIN, Valiant Entertainment

 

BEST AMERICAN EDITION OF FOREIGN MATERIAL

ATTACK ON TITAN, Kodansha
THE KILLER, VOLUME 4, BOOM! Studios/Archaia
SHOWA: A HISTORY OF JAPAN 1926-1939, Drawn and Quarterly
SUNNY, Viz Signature
TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, Fantagraphics

 

BEST ONLINE COMICS WORK

BATTLEPUG, Mike Norton, battlepug.com
THE DREAMER, Lora Innes, thedreamercomic.com
GUNNERKRIGG COURT, Tom Siddell, gunnerkrigg.com
JL8, Yale Stewart, jl8comic.tumblr.com
TABLE TITANS, Scott Kurtz, Steve Hamaker, and Brian Hurtt, tabletitans.com

 

SPECIAL AWARD FOR HUMOR IN COMICS

James Asmus, QUANTUM AND WOODY, Valiant Entertainment
Ryan North, ADVENTURE TIME, KaBOOM!
Dan Parent, KEVIN KELLER, Archie Comics
Fred Van Lente, ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG, Valiant Entertainment
Jim Zub, SKULLKICKERS, Image Comics

 

SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION

BEST OF COMIX BOOK: WHEN MARVEL COMICS WENT UNDERGROUND, John Lind, Kitchen Sink Books/Dark Horse Comics
CYBORG 009, Stephen Christy, Archaia
HARBINGER WARS, Josh Johns and Warren Simons, Valiant Entertainment
THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR, Joe LeFavi, BOOM! Studios/Archaia
UNITY, Alejandro Arbona, Josh Johns, and Warren Simons, Valiant Entertainment

 

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL OR JOURNALISTIC PRESENTATION

AL CAPP: A LIFE TO THE CONTRARY, Denis Kitchen, Bloomsbury
AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: THE 1950S, TwoMorrows Publishing
ART OF RUBE GOLDBERG, Jennifer George, Abrams ComicArts
CO-MIX: A RETROSPECTIVE OF COMICS, GRAPHICS, AND SCRAPS, Art Spiegelman, Drawn and Quarterly
THE FIFTH BEATLE: THE BRIAN EPSTEIN STORY, by Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, and Kyle Baker, Dark Horse
MARCH: BOOK ONE, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, Top Shelf Productions

 

BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC PUBLICATION FOR YOUNGER READERS

ADVENTURE TIME, KaBOOM! Studios
BATTLING BOY, First Second
G-MAN: COMING HOME, Image Comics
MONSTER ON THE HILL, Top Shelf Productions
ONLY LIVING BOY, Bottled Lightning

 

Unlike the more well-known Eisner awards, which are voted on by professionals and retailers, the Harvey awards are voted on exclusively by comic book creators. The ballot with this year's nominations can be found here.

 

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