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Small Press Expo Announces the 2015 Ignatz Award Nominees

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2015 Ignatz AwardThe Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons, has announced the 2015 nominees for the annual presentation of the Ignatz Awards, a celebration of outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning.

The Ignatz, named after George Herriman’s brick-wielding mouse from his long running comic strip Krazy Kat, recognizes exceptional work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression. The Ignatz Awards are a festival prize, the first of such in the United States comic book industry.

The nominees for the ballot were determined by a panel of five of the best of today’s comic artists, Lamar Abrams, Cara Bean, Robyn Chapman, Sophie Goldstein and Corrine Mucha, with the votes cast for the awards by the attendees during SPX. The Ignatz Awards will be presented at the gala Ignatz Awards ceremony held on Saturday, September 19, 2015 at 9:30 P.M.

ComiXology will be sponsoring this year’s Ignatz Awards.

The 2015 Ignatz Award Nominees

Outstanding Artist

  • Emily Carroll – Through The Woods
  • Ed Luce – Wuvable Oaf
  • Roman Muradov – (In a Sense) Lost and Found
  • Jillian Tamaki – SuperMutant Magic Academy
  • Noah Van Sciver – Saint Cole

Outstanding Anthology or Collection

  • Drawn and Quarterly, 25 Years of Contemporary Cartooning, Comics, and Graphic Novels, edited by Tom Devlin, Chris Oliveros, Peggy Burns, Tracy Hurren, and Julia Pohl-Miranda
  • An Entity Observes All Things by Box Brown
  • How To Be Happy by Eleanor Davis
  • Pope Hats #4 by Ethan Rilly
  • SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki

Outstanding Graphic Novel

  • Beauty by Kerascoët and Hubert
  • The Oven by Sophie Goldstein
  • Rav by Mickey Zacchilli
  • Saint Cole by Noah Van Sciver
  • Wendy by Walter Scott

Outstanding Story

  • Doctors by Dash Shaw
  • “Me As a Baby” from Lose #6 by Michael DeForge
  • “Nature Lessons” from The Late Child and Other Animals by Marguerite Van Cook and James Romberger
  • “Sex Coven” from Frontier #7 by Jillian Tamaki
  • Weeping Flower, Grows in Darkness by Kris Mukai

Promising New Talent

  • M. Dean – K.M. & R.P. & MCMLXXI (1971)
  • Sophia Foster-Dimino – Sphincter; Sex Fantasy
  • Dakota McFadzean – Don’t Get Eaten by Anything
  • Jane Mai – Soft
  • Gina Wynbrandt – Big Pussy

Outstanding Series

  • Dumb by Georgia Webber
  • Frontier edited by Ryan Sands
  • March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
  • Pope Hats by Ethan Rilly
  • Sex Fantasy by Sophia Foster-Dimino

Outstanding Comic

  • Borb by Jason Little
  • The Nature of Nature by Disa Wallander
  • The Oven by Sophie Goldstein
  • Pope Hats #4 by Ethan Rilly
  • Weeping Flower, Grows in Darkness by Kris Mukai

Outstanding Minicomic

  • Devil’s Slice of Life by Patrick Crotty
  • Epoxy 5 by John Pham
  • King Cat #75 by John Porcellino
  • Sex Fantasy #4 by Sophia Foster-Dimino
  • Whalen: A Reckoning by Audry

Outstanding Online Comic

SPX will be held Saturday, September 19 from 11AM to 7PM and Sunday, September 20, noon-6PM at The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Admission is $15 for Saturday, $10 for Sunday and $20 for both days.

This year’s image of Ignatz, as seen above, was created by 2014 Promising New Talent Winner Cathy G. Johnson.

CBS This Morning Spotlights Rep. John Lewis’ March

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CBS This Morning featured a segment on the award-winning March series created by Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, calling Lewis a “civil rights superhero.”

CBS’s Jan Crawford asked the congressman about his recent trip to Comic-Con, where he dressed “in costume” recreating the trench coat and backpack he wore to march for voting rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, 50 years ago. At the convention, he joined hands with local students who had studied March and led a “children’s march” through the halls of Comic-Con, with a huge crowd following solemnly behind.

CBS then sat down with the students who had marched with Congressman Lewis to find out what they’d learned from March.

Congressman John Lewis Visits The Daily Show

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On Monday, Congressman John Lewis visited The Daily Show and talked about his experience during the Civil Rights movement, but also to promote his Top Shelf graphic novel March. Lewis co-wrote the graphic novel with Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell. So far two of the three graphic novels have been released.

You can watch the full video below!

You can also catch the extended interview here.

Review: March Book Two

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March Book Two cover (300dpi)John Lewis has been many things in his career: a civil rights activist, a featured speaker at the March on Washington, a leader of the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, a respected member of Congress, a recipient of the Medal of Freedom, and a worldwide symbol of the power of nonviolent protest. With March, he’s also added celebrated graphic novel writer to that list. Along with co-writer Andrew Aydin, and artist Nate Powell, March Book Two is the second in his three-part graphic novel series chronically his life, and that of the civil rights movement.

This second chapter takes us through Lewis’ time as a Freedom Rider, to the Birmingham campaign, through the March on Washington, and ending with the bombing of a church that killed four young girls. The graphic novel takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster through American history, recounted by someone who was there. His fear, his feelings of victory, his nervousness, and his doubts are all presented to us in a way that can’t help impact you on a deep emotional level. After setting it down, it still has me thinking and reflecting on the content within.

March Book Two takes everything that made the graphic novel good, and added even more, a crescendo before we see its conclusion in book three. The juxtaposition of the masses gathering to shape the civil rights movement, leading to the March on Washington, is apparent with the swearing-in of then Senator Barack Obama as President, and the crowds who also filled the National Mall. It’s a brilliant contrast of where we’ve been, and where we are. However, it I couldn’t also help but think of protests across the country now claiming “Black Lives Matter.”

Also present in this, is a warts and all telling of history. Lewis hints at the nervousness by some civil rights leaders for action and their finding of excuses to not participate in some of it. There’s the history of the nervousness on relying on a black gay man to help organize the march, and then there was the arguments over the content of Lewis’ speech during the march. This is non-sanitized truth from a person that was there.

While the first book was an emotional bunch, I found myself on a roller coast of emotion reading this second volume, fighting back tears and numerous moments, welling up with anger at others, and bewilderment and amazement throughout. Much of that is the story, but it’s enhanced by Nate Powell’s art which brings it all to “life.” Powell catches every moment in a raw powerful sense, but also brilliantly uses small visual queues, as well as expertly place panels to help create that emotional punch. This is Powell, who’s an amazing artist in everything he’s down, at the top of his game and I can’t imagine anyone else even attempting what he’s done.

When reviewing the first chapter, I said March should be required reading for every school child in America, it should be required reading for every American. It is a stark reminder of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we still have to go as a people and a nation.

Story: Cong. John Lewis, Andrew Aydin Art: Nate Powell
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

Top Shelf Productions provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Top Shelf Reveals the Cover of March: Book Two

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Top Shelf has revealed the gorgeous cover design of March: Book Two, the much-anticipated second part of the March trilogy, the graphic biography of Congressman John Lewis. It’s scheduled for release in early 2015, so we’re still half a year away, and the book is already one of the most anticipated of 2015. The graphic novel is written by Congressman Lewis and Andrew Aydin with art by Nate Powell.

Book Two will be significantly longer than Book One, taking a step forward into the tumultuous events of 1961-1963 while continuing the framing narrative of President Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009. Major plot lines include the famous journey of the Freedom Riders, imprisonment at Mississippi’s Parchman Penitentiary, and young John Lewis’ involvement in helping to plan and lead the legendary 1963 March on Washington. Last Monday, Congressman Lewis posted his mugshot from the imprisonment on Twitter, and it went viral being retweet over 47,000 times.

Powell’s powerful cover showcases the Freedom Riders’ bus set on fire by a white supremacist mob in Anniston, AL, May 14, 1961, and Lewis’ fiery speech at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963.

March Book Two Cover

March: Book One Becomes Required College Reading

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March: Book One keeps marching on (sorry, couldn’t resist). Top Shelf today announced that Michigan State University and Marquette University have both selected March as freshman required reading for 2014! March: Book One will be featured in “One Book, One Community,” a program in which Michigan State University partners with the City of East Lansing to read, discuss, and celebrate a book together as a community. Similarly, Marquette University in Milwaukee has selected March: Book One for its First-Year Reading Program, in which all incoming students spend the summer reading a common text and then discuss it during New Student Orientation. Together, these programs will see over 10,000 students reading this graphic novel simultaneously!

top shelf colleges

March Wins Coretta Scott King Honors

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coretta scott king honor

Top Shelf Productions, Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, the team behind March: Book One, should be congratulated as it has been announced that their graphic novel is a Coretta Scott King Honor Book.

Since 1970, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards have celebrated outstanding books for young people about the African American experience. The honor for March: Book One (the first in a planned trilogy of graphic novels in which Congressman Lewis recounts his astonishing life in the civil rights movement) is only the second time the CSK committee has selected a book in comics format. It marks the first Coretta Scott King honor for Lewis, Aydin, or Powell, as well as for publisher Top Shelf.

March: Book One ended 2013 being listed among the year’s best books, and was recently selected by comic book retailers to receive Diamond Comic Distributors’ Gem Award as Independent Graphic Novel of the Year. It is currently in its 21st week on the New York Times bestseller list.

IDW Publishers Horror Anthology In The Dark

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The terror tome that has all the horror hounds frothing, In The Dark, is poised to make its debut this April! Featuring top writers and artists from the comic-book industry, In The Dark contains over 20 all-new, original horror stories that you’ll want to read with the lights on.

In The Dark launched as a Kickstarter project put together by Anathema scribe Rachel Deering last year, and successfully doubled the intended target goal for the project. Assembled and edited by Deering, In The Dark dives into a myriad of sinister horror stories from writers including Justin Jordan, Cullen Bunn, Steve Niles, Duane Swierczynski, Tom Taylor, Tim Seeley, Brian Keene, F. Paul Wilson, Ed Brisson, Marguerite Bennett, Valerie D’Orazio, Paul Tobin, James Tynion IV, and many more. Nate Powell, Tradd Moore, Damien Worm, Tyler Jenkins, Drew Moss, and Andy Belanger are just a few of distinguished artists that will give each tale a unique and distinct style.

Along with the terrifying original stories, this over 250-page hardcover will feature an introduction by New York Times Bestselling author Scott Snyder and an in-depth look at the history of horror comics by comic book historian Mike Howlett.

In The Dark is the latest anthology IDW is pleased to publish under its banner, joining Womanthology and the prose anthologies V-Wars and Zombies Vs. Robots: This Means War!

Top Shelf Donates Rep. John Lewis’ civil rights graphic novel to every member of Congress

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Now that his new graphic novel has launched to bestseller status and even triggered a rerelease of the 1950s comic book that sparked the idea, Rep. John Lewis has another surprise: his publisher is donating digital copies of both books to each of his colleagues in Congress.

After more than five decades of activism, US Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis has made history once again this year. His new memoir March: Book One, co-written with Andrew Aydin and drawn by Nate Powell, is the first ever graphic novel by a member of Congress. It debuted in August to great acclaim from critics, TV hosts, book festivals, schoolteachers, and young readers alike, not to mention #1 status on both New York Times and Washington Post bestseller lists. That incredible launch was recently followed by a re-release of Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, the groundbreaking 1950s comic book which galvanized Lewis and his generation of civil-rights activists, now available for the first time in digital format as well as a new reprinted edition.

Now, to celebrate the launch of both titles, March publisher Top Shelf Productions has partnered with the Fellowship of Reconciliation (original publishers of The Montgomery Story) and digital-comics leader ComiXology to share these powerful and timeless works with Rep. Lewis’ colleagues in Congress. Each member of the House and Senate is receiving a complimentary digital copy of both March: Book One and Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story.

March: Book One is the first in a trilogy, with the second and third volumes planned for 2014 and 2015.

Congressman Lewis and co-author Andrew Aydin are appearing tonight at Barnes & Noble in downtown Washington, DC (555 12th St NW), at 6:30pm, to speak about and sign March: Book One.

march congress

SPX 2013: Programming Announced

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The Small Press Expo over the weekend announced the SPX 2013 Programming Schedule.  SPX is proud to continue its established tradition of rich, thought-provoking programming featuring leading comics artists and critics in conversation. As in previous years, the Programming Schedule will feature two simultaneous tracks on both Saturday and Sunday, September 14th and 15th.

SPX 2013 programming highlights include special Q&A sessions with headline guests Seth, Jeff Smith, Gary Panter, Rutu Modan, The New Yorker’s Liza Donnelly and Argentinian cartoonist Liniers, many of whom will also join in several other panel discussions.

Highlights of this year’s panel discussions will include:

  • Living civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis, along with co-author Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell will discuss the first volume of Rep. Lewis trilogy, March!, about the civil rights movement of the 1960’s.
  • Conversations between Dash Shaw and Frank Santoro, Raina Telgemeier and Gene Yang, as well as Sam Henderson and Michael Kupperman.
  • What Makes Drawings Funny? with Peter Bagge, Lisa Hanawalt and Jay Lynch, moderated by Dustin Harbin.
  • In Kids/Not For Kids, Jeff Smith, Roger Langridge, Rutu Modan and Liniers will discuss how creators deal with producing works for the very different adult and children’s audiences.
  • A discussion about funding comics projects.
  • Our annual hands-on comics workshop will led this year by Alec Longstreth from the Center for Cartoon Studies and Josh Bayer from the Sequential Artists Workshop.

Head to the SPX website for the complete SPX 2013 Programming Schedule with full descriptions.

This year is the eighth year that SPX programming has been organized by Programming Coordinator Bill Kartalopoulos. Bill is a comics educator, critic and curator who has taught classes about comics at Parsons The New School for Design. Bill will be the editor for the 2014 installment of the critically acclaimed series, Best American Comics. He is the publisher and editor of Rebus Books, as well as being a Contributing Editor for Print Magazine.

Programming on Saturday will run from 11:30AM  until 7PM and Sunday programming will run from 12:30PM until 6PM.

Small Press Expo

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