Hawkeye 19

Hawkeye 19
Fraction (w) and Aja (a) and Hollingsworth (c) and Elipoulos and Aja (l)

Clint's deaf and Barney's in a wheelchair. But they're not done.

This is the sign language issue that Fraction and Aja have been promising and it's pretty amazing. I'm not reviewing it much more except to say it's really touching and really well done. I don't think I can say more about it than that. Check this one out and be incredibly surprised if this issue doesn't end up with the Eisner HAWKEYE 11 just won next year.

Total Score: 5/5

Eisner Award nominations announced!

The prestigious Eisner Award nominations have been announced for 2014 and Marvel finds its name strewn all about the list. As this is a Marvel based blog, I'm only going to really talk about the Marvel nominations, though I may use very loose pretenses to talk about other people too (fair warning). The full list of the nominations can be seen here.

Marvel saw nominations in a number of categories particularly for Fraction and Aja's HAWKEYE. I'm going to list off the categories and say who is competing in them with a particularly highlight on the Marvel nominee and likely some running commentary on my thoughts on the nomination.

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
-DEMETER, by Becky Cloonan (self-published) (Cloonan could be seen at Marvel last year as one of the guest artists on the two-part finale of YOUNG AVENGERS. Check her work out, it's continually strong stuff)
-HAWKEYE 11: "Pizza Is My Business," by Matt Fraction and David Aja (Marvel) (the infamous dog issue is highlighted here because it's GREAT)
-LOVE AND ROCKETS: NEW STORIES 6, by Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
-VIEWOTRON 2, by Sam Sharpe (self-published)
-WATSON AND HOLMES 6, by Brandon Easton, and N. Steven Harris (New Paradigm Studios)

Very excited to see HAWKEYE 11 on the list of nominees. HAWKEYE is a great book with a number of incredible single issues and it seems hard to pick just one but it's hard to go against this choice. Also cool to see Marvel on here at all alongside a number of indie titles; Marvel typically doesn't write for single issues so the idea that one issue from a meaningful run would be chosen is pretty neat.

Best Continuing Series
-EAST OF WEST, by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta (Image) (Hickman, obviously, is a big part of Marvel over the last several years and EAST OF WEST is one of those books I keep telling myself I'll get around to reading at some point. His other non-Marvel work is often just as heady, if not more so, than his Marvel titles, like the incredibly interesting THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS)
-HAWKEYE, by Matt Fraction and David Aja (Marvel) (I believe this is the second nomination for HAWKEYE as best continuing series in two years but I'm certainly not about to do any research)
-NOWHERE MEN, by Eric Stephenson and Nate Bellegarde (Image)
-SAGA (by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples) (I believe SAGA won this category last year but, again, saying so definitively would require more research than I'm willing to do right now. Marvel fans will know Vaughan from legendary runs on books like ULTIMATE X-MEN and, most notably, RUNAWAYS)
-SEX CRIMINALS, by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky (Image) (Fraction makes a second appearance on the list here for the Mature Readers Only title SEX CRIMINALS, probably one of the most fun books out there right now)

I'm disappointed in myself for only really reading two of the series on this list. SAGA is another one I keep telling myself I'll read and I really should read NOWHERE MEN as it's one of the big staples of Image comics. Nice again to see a superhero series cracking through the incredible lineup of entire genre-encompassing work that Image is putting out. It's a testament to how good and how inventive HAWKEYE is that it's considered here.

Best Writer
-Kelly Sue DeConnick, PRETTY DEADLY (Image); CAPTAIN MARVEL (Marvel) (Kelly Sue DeConnick gets the nomination everyone agrees she deserves for her incredible series with Emma Rios, also nominated, PRETTY DEADLY as well as the fantastic CAPTAIN MARVEL)
-Matt Fraction, SEX CRIMINALS (Image); HAWKEYE, FANTASTIC FOUR, FF (Marvel) (Fraction is at the absolute top of his game just a couple years removed from his own fear that he was on his way out of comics. Hard to vote against this guy. Also a little surprised that his work with Howard Chaykin on SATELLITE SAM isn't recognized here)
-Jonathan Hickman, EAST OF WEST, THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS (Image); AVENGERS, INFINITY (Marvel) (Similarly surprised that NEW AVENGERS isn't mentioned here. Hickman too is seeing a lot of payoff for his story-driven epics that all deserve a lot of credit)
-Scott Snyder, BATMAN (DC); AMERICAN VAMPIRE, THE WAKE (DC/Vertigo) (I kind of fell off of BATMAN as it started to feel like it was requiring too much universe reading to truly keep up but there's no doubt that Snyder can write a great story. I've been interested in AMERICAN VAMPIRE and THE WAKE but, if this post proves nothing else, it should prove that I have a whole bunch of comics I'd like to read. Did I tell you guys I'm all caught up on INVINCIBLE? Pretty cool, huh?)
-Eric Stepenson, NOWHERE MEN (Image)
-Brian K. Vaughan, SAGA (Image)

Geez, hard to pick a winner out of this bunch. Like I said above, Fraction's on the absolute top of his game and his great work on HAWKEYE rocketed him to great books like SEX CRIMINALS and SATELLITE SAM. Hard to go against that, though he has worthy adversaries here including Hickman and DeConnick. I would be a little sad to see a non-Marvel writer win this but it's hard to argue that the nomination committee (or whoever it is that does this) pretty much nailed this category.

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior art)
-Andrew C. Robinson, THE FIFTH BEATLE (Dark Horse)
-Sonia Sanchez, HERE I AM (Capstone)
-Fiona Staples, SAGA (Image)
-Ive Svorcina, THOR (Marvel) (Svorcina gets a well-deserved look here for his run of art in the THOR books, though I guess I didn't realize Svorcina was the one responsible for the painting-like feel of Ribic's work. This is why colorists deserve more attention)
-Marguerite Van Cook, 7 MILES A SECOND (Fantagraphics)
-Judith Vanistendael, WHEN DAVID LOST HIS VOICE (SelfMadeHero)

Best Cover Artist
-David Aja, HAWKEYE (Marvel)
-Mike Del Mundo, X-MEN LEGACY (Marvel)
-Sean Murphy/Jordie Bellaire, THE WAKE (DC/Vertigo) (Jordie Bellaire, colorist extraordinaire, makes her first but not last appearance on the nomination list)
-Emma Rios, PRETTY DEADLY (Image) (She's an incredible artist; everyone should check out PRETTY DEADLY. DeConnick herself said on a recent Nerdist Writer's Panel that she feels she took maybe a little too long to start clearing up some confusions in the plot but that Emma Rios' art kept people onboard long enough to keep them interested and to get them to some of the reveals - I'd say DeConnick isn't wrong, it's very easy just to look at the book)
-Chris Samnee, DAREDEVIL (Marvel)
-Fiona Staples, SAGA (Image)

Really packed house with Marvel artists here, so it's hard to make a pick, not to mention Rios on PRETTY DEADLY. Okay, it's not too hard. I've adored all of Mike Del Mundo's covers on my much beloved X-MEN LEGACY so obviously that's what I'm picking. Very excited that he's getting attention for said covers. A little sad not to see Jamie McKelvie on here for the stunning YOUNG AVENGERS covers but I guess you can't fit everyone.

Best Coloring
-Jordie Bellaire, THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS, NOWHERE MEN, PRETTY DEADLY, ZERO (Image); THE MASSIVE (Dark Horse); TOM STRONG (DC); X-FILES SEASON 10 (IDW); CAPTAIN MARVEL, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (Marvel); NUMBERCRUNCHER (Titan); QUANTUM AND WOODY (Valiant) (Geez, Bellaire is just ALL OVER THE PLACE on a slew of amazing books. Again, colorists deserve tons of respect and it's nice to see Bellaire getting a good deal of it here. She, along with fellow nominee Matt Hollingsworth, does a great job keeping the tone and feel of a book the same even as the artist switches from issue to issue while still letting the art shine through in its own unique way)
-Steve Hamaker, MYLO XYLOTO (Bongo); STRANGERS IN PARADISE 20TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 1 (Abstract Studio); RASL (Cartoon Books)
-Matt Hollingsworth, HAWKEYE, DAREDEVIL: END OF DAYS (Marvel); THE WAKE (DC/VERTIGO)
-Frank Martin, EAST OF WEST (Image) (Martin is also a great Marvel colorist, though his work isn't referenced here)
-Dave Stewart, ABE SAPIEN, BALTIMORE: THE INFERNAL TRAIN, BPRD: HELL ON EARTH, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, HELLBOY: HELL ON EARTH, THE MASSIVE, THE SHAOLIN COWBOY, SLEDGEHAMMER 44 (Dark Horse)



Lot of really good nominees on this list and just another reminder that I have to read more comics. Also nominated for various categories include names people familiar with Marvel will recognize like Francisco Francavilla (Best Limited Series for THE BLACK BEETLE: NO WAY OUT), Christopher Sebela (nominated for Best New Series for HIGH CRIMES), Greg Rucka (also nominated for Best New Series for the fantastic LAZARUS), Ben Acker and Ben Blacker (Best Anthology for the amazing and much recommended THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR graphic novel from Archaia), and, of course, Jack Kirby (Best Archival Collection/Project - Comic Books for IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB at DC - good luck voting against Jack Kirby).

Colorists

Like I said after missing last Monday's post, I want to write something on the importance of colorists in comics. However, the more I sit and try to think about what I'd say, the more I realize I'm totally unqualified to say it. I qualified myself for this whole comic blog idea because I have read and currently read and will continue to read a ton of comics. I'm pretty up-to-date on Marvel history and characters and I know enough about writing and about character to consider my own opinion somewhat worthwhile. More than that, if I was looking for a blog to read about comics, I think I'd want to read something like this one. That I could judge for myself. I can't truly qualify myself for a post about colorists because art tends to take a backseat to story and character with me. It's a bad thing about the way I see comics and I wish I was better. If I actually dedicate the time to looking at the art and fully experiencing it, that might be different, but I know I'm not coming from an artist's background. I like what I like and it almost always serves to better the book for me, but rarely does it hold the book up on its own.

Still, it's an important topic and one I'd like to speak about, so here goes. Before I start, I recommend anyone interested read colorist Jordie Bellaire's recent post on the role of colorists and the respect they're afforded (or disrespect, as the case may be). She knows why more about it than I do, clearly, and she's a smart lady. I also consider her in the top of the field, alongside people like Bettie Breitweiser and Matt Hollingsworth. Any of these three people CONSTANTLY make me jump back to the start of a book halfway through because I'm asking who colored it. Either that or I figure out a page in that it's one of them because their style is so defined for each book they work on. It may switch between books (hence the sometimes-confusion) as applicable but their skill is unquestioned. Of the three, I'd have to start with Breitweiser.

Bettie Breitweiser was the first colorist I really noticed. It did not hurt that she was the regular colorist on Brubaker's books, such as Captain America, Cap and Bucky, and Winter Soldier (at various times). The mood she sets with her colors is unmistakable and ALWAYS fits the noir style of Brubaker's writing. There are only a handful of artists who make me stop mid-book to identify them. Breitweiser was definitely one of those artists. I say "was" because I'm more or less at the point now with her where I can pick out her colors at a glance. I'm thrilled to say that she's going to be taking over as the colorist on Brubaker's creator-owned Fatale series.

Jordie Bellaire is all over the place in Marvel. She's taken on coloring duties for so many books and frankly, none do her justice as much as the colors on the last issue and next issue of Captain Marvel. Filipe Andrade's art is absolutely incredible, I can't deny that. The more that I look at it, the more I want to look at it, which is kind of a weird place to be in. However, his shapes are kind of all over the place, and his figures are often positioned strangely. Characters stretch in odd directions, they contort their bodies in interesting ways; it's chaos. Andrade's art is absolutely the type of art that needs a confident colorist to create mood and to explain how a person's body moves like that. Bellaire's shading aids in both those things while her soft colors match the tone of Andrade's pencils and of Kelly Sue Deconnick's writing.

Matt Hollingsworth epitomizes why I'm such a bad person to write about this (that's why I saved him for last). He only recently jumped on to my list. Like, really recently. Like since issue seven of Hawkeye. I had known going into that issue that the regular artist, David Aja, wasn't drawing it. On page one, though, I had to close the book again and check because I was so sure it was still Aja. The book still felt EXACTLY the same as when Aja, whose art I adore, drew it. But it wasn't Aja keeping the tone the same, it wasn't even Fraction's writing. It was more immediate than both of those; it was Hollingsworth's colors that made it feel like the same book I love. But that's not even why I'm such a bad person to write about this. I'm such a bad person to write about this because Hollingsworth has colored TONS of books that I've loved, including an issue of the newest Daredevil series, Brubaker's run on Daredevil, Brubaker and Fraction's run on Iron Fist, an issue of X-Force, and so on. I've come across him THAT MANY TIMES and only after Hawkeye 7 did I go "oh geez, he's awful good." But he is. He's awful good.



Look, I can't tell you why colorists are important. Jordie Bellaire should have already done that above. Hopefully the galleries of the colorists above and more will show you how important colorists are to the comic industry. So respect your colorist, guys.