Eisner Awards 2018!

So, it's all been very exciting here recently! Two books I've worked on have both been nominated for a 2018 Eisner Award!

The first is one I co-wrote with Dave Gibbons called How Comics Work, which was published by Rotovision/Quarto/Wellfleet in September last year. It's Dave's very insightful examination of the mechanics of sequential storytelling borne out of 45 years of professional experience working as a penciller, linker, letterer and writer. 

While we obviously  love the book and think its great you never know what the rest of the world will think of it. Then, the critical reviews come in and they like it, which is brilliant.

Then, the Amazon reviews (probably the most important, as they're our target audience) back up the reviewers, so you know it's all been worthwhile. 

But it's really only when you get nominated for awards that you finally get that cherry and extra sprinkles on top of your already delicious cake! Because awards are usually judged by your peers and fellow co-workers in the industry, and if you can please them then you know you've done a good job! 

The second book is one that I co-edited along with Alex Donoghue while I was at Humanoids called Deconstructing The Incal, which—like How Comics Work—takes a very literal approach to its title! It's an oddity for Humanoids as its an illustrated non-fiction reference book that acts as an accompaniment to Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Incal, Before The Incal and Final Incal trilogy drawn by Moebius, Janetov and Ladronn. It explores the stories behind the bestselling graphic novels and provides a behind the scenes look, including rare images from Jodo's legendary DUNE art book!

But the crazy thing is both books have been nominated in the SAME category: Best Comics-Related Book! VERY Proud & honoured! You can see the full list of the Eisner Award nominees here.

Ever since I was a kid I've had two dreams. The first was that I'd always wanted to visit the "Mecca" of comic books, San Diego Comic Con (SDCC). However, it was always beyond my finances. Eventually, I was lucky enough to go there on business in 2007. But in the intervening 11 years I've never been able to afford to return, nor had a definitive reason to.

My second dream was to win an Eisner Award. Now, after 17 years of writing over 15 books on comics—and editing and contributing to countless others—I'm finally in sight of my second dream!

The Eisner's are comics equivalent to The Oscar's and are the most prestigious English language comic book awards in the world! My co-author, Dave Gibbons, is also up for potentially being inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame!

Unfortunately the cost of visiting SDCC is incredibly expensive! I was genuinely shocked when I saw how much flights and hotels are! Seeing as this maybe my only chance to receive an Eisner Award I would love to fulfill my childhood dream of picking up the award in person and so I've set up a Crowdfunding site for donations at JustGiving.com 
Whatever you can give will be gratefully received, even if it's £1!

This is a bit like raising funds for a small independent film company trying to get to the Oscar's, and I'll be waving the flag loudly and proudly for Great Britain as the home of exceptional creative talent in the comic industry. Please help make this dream come true!

Also, if you are a comics professional and able to vote in the Eisner's Dave and I would be hugely appreciative if you could vote for How Comics Work in the Best Comics-Related Book Award. Or, as I believe Americans say, "For your consideration!": www.eisnervote.com

You can buy the English edition of How Comics Work here and you can pick up the French, Spanish and Italian editions at the respective links. And you can buy Deconstructing The Incal here.