NBM’S Eisner Nominees!

Press Release

NBM Publishing congratulates graphic novelists Lewis Trondheim and Nicolas De Crecy for their nominations in the annual Eisner Awards. Trondheim, writer-artist of the dark comedy Mr. I and co-writer (with Joann Sfar) of the popular series Dungeon, is a nominee for Best Writer/Artist - Humor. The category of Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art) includes writer-artist De Crecy for his work on Glacial Period, the first graphic novel sponsored by the Louvre Museum.

De Crecy's Glacial Period was born after artist the artist felt overwhelmed before t he Louvre's rich art collection. The result is a story set thousands of years hence in a glacial period where human history has been forgotten. Some archeologists fall upon the Louvre, buried in age-old snow. They cannot begin to explain the artifacts that they find. Their interpretations are nonsensical, absurd, and farcical.

Trondheim is a leader in a new and exciting movement, "La Nouvelle Generation" or "Nouvelle Vague." This group of French cartoonists focuses on vulnerable characters in impossible situations. Mr. I features a humble stick figure who, no matter what he tries, always ends up killed; each page is a miniature story that starts placidly-Mr. I goes ice fishing, Mr. I uses a vending machine - but leads to a fate fit for Wile E. Coyote. Dungeon mixes suspense, adventure, and laughs in a castle filled with monsters; Marvin the Vegetarian Dragon and his self-centered pal Herbert the Duck must defend Dungeon, whether they want to or not.

The Eisners have often honored NBM publications. In 2006, for instance, the Dungeon volume The Early Years and Manu Larcenet's Ordinary Victories received nominations as Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material.

Other NBM-related nominees for 2007 include:
• Rick Geary (NBM's A Treasury of Victorian Murder) in the Best New Series and Best Publication for a Younger Audience categories for Gumby
• Trondheim's Dungeon co-writer Joann Sfar as Best Writer/Artist for Klezmer and Vampire Loves
• and Stefano Gaudiano - translator of NBM's No Pasaran! by Vittorio Giardino and many other NBM books - for Daredevil (Best Continuing Series)

The Eisners, established in 1987, are the most prestigious awards in comic books and graphic novels. Named for master comics maker Will Eisner, the nominees pass through a strict judging process. "The finalists on the ballot are selected by a blue-ribbon committee that considers thousands of entries submitted by publishers and creators," says the awards' website. "The nominees are then voted on by all parts of the comic book industry." The awards ceremony will take place on the evening of July 27 during Comic-Con International: San Diego, North America's largest comic-book and pop-culture event.

For more information, visit www.nbmpub.com or http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_main.shtml.