by: Stephanie Shamblin Gray

Horror Comic Awards Background

The brainchild of ComicMonsters.com founder, Rob Caprilozzi, and a year in the making, the winners of the first annual ComicMonsters.com Horror Comic Awards have recently been announced. To summarize the process, Caprilozzi solicited nominations from ComicMonsters.com readers throughout the 2009 year, compiled the nominations (at a secret location), and then displayed the top selections for voting. All ComicMonsters.com members were eligible to vote and the winners were chosen by majority.

Truly an award that is determined by the most devout horror comic fans, nominations garnered quite a bit of attention. Prestige for the honor was so great that many attempted to garner more votes. Horror comic legend Steve Niles blogged on his MySpace page encouraging fans to vote for him. The Top Cow blogspot also listed all nominees and highlighted their product to encourage voting. Bob Heske even posted encouragement to vote, as well as many others posting on blogs and other locations campaigning for votes.

“And the Winner is…”

While there were no sweeps, Image’s “The Walking Dead” received the most awards for Best Ongoing Series, Best Scene, and Writer of the Year for Robert Kirkman. Rob E. Brown picked up two awards for Inker of the Year and Artist of the Year for “Bane of the Werewolf”. Interestingly, the only publisher to receive more than one award not for a repeat comic winner was DC Comics for Best Kill in “Batman: Unseen #3” and Letterer of the Year for Sal Cipriano on “Solomon Grundy”.

Other associations between winning categories are not so apparent. Winners from more than one series include Drew Berry for both Colorist of the Year for “Sullengrey” and his work on the Best Cover, “Zombie Tales #10”. Jason Shawn Alexander’s art is featured in Best Anthology, “Creepy”, and Best Mini-Series, “Dead Irons”. Also, James Kuhoric was a writer for both “Dead Irons” and Best Crossover, “Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors”.

A few others picked up single awards including “Hack/Slash Entry Wound” for Best One-Shot, “Vampire Hunter D: Volume 3 for Best Manga, and “High Moon” for Best Web Comic.

How Does This Affect Horror Comics?

Many of the winners are proudly displaying their “ComMo” trophies on their websites. Rob E. Brown proudly displayed his nominations and now his ComMos on his “Bane of the Werewolf” site. While it seems that the horror community was buzzing with the announcement of the nominees and winners, it should also be evaluated what this award means to the horror comic community as a whole.

What seems obvious it that this award gives a chance for the faithful to come forward and let others know about their favorite book through their nomination. This is not about how many copies of a book are sold or how easy it is to find in a comic shop. The list of winners includes hugely successful books and a few books that may not be known any further than the people taking the time to read this article. These awards provide an opportunity for the fans to express themselves as well as some well-deserved publicity for the lesser known comics.

What is not so obvious is how it will affect the comic community. Many fans have experienced the disappointment of watching their favorite books, writers, and artists be repeatedly passed over by some of the larger award ceremonies. While this may be due to politics, ignorance, or possibly just an innocent difference of opinion in voting communities, it has definitely been a bitter pill for many to swallow. Hopefully, this award process will allow those that have had to deal with that disappointment the chance to feel empowered and show their favorite writers and artists that they are cheering for them regardless of the forum.

What is certain is that the Horror Comic Awards were nominated by and voted on by fans who are the dedicated and the devout; the true connoisseurs of horror comics who have read enough to know when they are seeing something special and worthy of higher praise. While not every deserving writer, artist, or comic will get an award, it gives the fans another chance to remember, discuss, and enjoy all of the year’s great horror comics.

What’s Next?

The entire process is expected to take place annually. Submissions for the 2010 awards are already being accepted and ideas for improvement being considered. The ComicMonsters.com Horror Comic Award certainly has the potential to grow and, with the support of the horror comic community, become the premier award for both the fans and those working in the horror comic industry.

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Published on: 2010-01-17 (692 reads)