My Best Comics Of The Decade list

I promised Manolis that I would participate in his top-20 comics of the decade bloggers vote. I am a day late (last minute extension granted!) so here it is (and I must say I am not the avid comic reader I used to be), from 20 to 1:

20. Phonogram/The Singles Club - written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Jamie McKelvie

19. DC - The New Frontier - Darwyn Cooke

18. Ring Of The Nibelung - Pencils & Inks by P Craig Russell, colours by Lovern Kindzierski - based on Wagner's opera opus

17. Civil War - Script by Mark Millar, pencils by Steve McNiven, inks by Dexter Vines, colouring by Morry Hollowell, lettering by Chris Eliopoulos

16. Harlequin Valentine - written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by John Bolton

15. Fables, 1001 Nights Of Snowfall - written by Bill Willingham, illustrated by: Charles Vess, Brian Bolland, John Bolton, Michael Wm. Kaluta, James Jean, Tara McPherson, Derek Kirk Kim, Esao Andrews, Mark Buckingham, Mark Wheatley, Jill Thompson

14. Dark Knight Starts Again - written, pencilled and inked by Frank Miller, coloroued by Lynn Varley, lettered by Todd Klein

13. Death: at Death's Door - Jill Thompson

12. Blankets - Craig Thompson

11. Eternals - written by Neil Gaiman, pencils by John Romita Jr, inks by Danny Miki & Tim Townsend, colours by Matt Hollingsworth, Dean White & Paul Mounts, lettered by Todd Klein

10. Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader? - written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Andy Kubert

09. Transmetropolitan - The New Scum written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Darick Robertson

08. Manifesto - by Ilias Kyriazis

07. Logicomix - Written by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou, pencils by Alecos Papadatos, inks by Dimitris Karatzaferis and Thodoris Paraskevas, lettered by Anne Bardy, coloured by Annie Di Donna

06. Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

05. Marvel 1602 - written by Neil Gaiman, pencilled and inked by Andy Kubert, coloured by Richard Isanove, lettered by Todd Klein

04. Astro City - written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Brent Eric Anderson, inked by Will Blyberg, coloured by Sinclair, lettered by Comicraft

03. Murder Mysteries - Written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by P. Craig Russel, coloured by Lovern Kindzierski, lettered by Galen Showman

02. The Sandman: Endless Nights - Written by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean, P. Craig Russell, Milo Manara, Miguelanxo Prado, Barron Storey, Bill Sienkiewicz, Glenn Fabry, Frank Quitely, lettered by Todd Klein

01. Phonogram/Rue Brittania - written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Jamie McKelvie

Hugo Awards Logo Contest

You can become a part of Worldcon history by designing the official logo for The Hugo Award. Although the rocket atop the Hugo Award has been one of the most visible signs of excellence in science fiction and fantasy for more than fifty years, there has never been an official logo to designate works as Hugo Award nominees or winners. The World Science Fiction Society now aims to change that by soliciting designs for such a logo, with the winning design to be the official logo suitable for use in the publishing and film/television industries.

Prizes

The designer of the winning entry will receive a $500 cash prize (sponsored by SCIFI), a glass trophy featuring the winning design, a membership to an upcoming Worldcon, signed copies of Neil Gaiman’s Hugo Award-winning novel American Gods and novella Coraline and the collection Fragile Things, including the Hugo Award-winning short story “A Study in Emerald.” The winning designer will also have the right to use the logo and identify him/herself as its creator.

How to Enter

Submit entries by email to logocontest@thehugoawards.org . Submit all entries as a scalable vector graphic in EPS format, and also as a JPG. See the Submission Guidelines for detailed instructions. Include in your submission e-mail the name, age, postal address, phone number and email address of the Entrant. There is no fee to enter the Contest; however, there is a maximum of 3 Entries per Entrant. Read the Official Rules before submitting entries; in case of any confusion or discrepancies, the Official Rules govern the contest.

Entry Deadline

The deadline for Entries is midnight (one minute after 23:59) on May 31st, 2009, Pacific Standard Time. All entries should be acknowledged within one week of receipt; however, the organizers cannot be responsible for entries or responses lost in e-mail.

Judging

Entries will be evaluated by a panel of judges consisting of:

Irene Gallo (Art Director at Tor Books and Tor.com)
Neil Gaiman (3 time Hugo Award winning writer)
Chip Kidd (Graphic Designer/Writer/Editor)
Geri Sullivan (Fan & Graphic Design pro)

The judges have been appointed by the World Science Fiction Society’s Hugo Awards Marketing Committee, and the final decision on a winning logo design will be made by the Committee after consultation with the Judging Panel.

Official Rules

See the full list of Official Rules for all conditions and disclaimers.

Questions?

If you have questions about the rules or other aspects of the contest, leave them as comments below or write to logocontest@thehugoawards.org. Although all questions should be answered, no reply is guaranteed.

Photo courtesy of Hugo Awards.

Have you ever wished for a different life? Be careful what you wish for...

Coraline is on her way...

Cannot wait!

Absolute Sandman - Vol.2 arrived. Breathtaking.

For those of you you do not know it yet, my Internet nickname and usual avatar when out of photographs, as well as the name of my blog, come from one of the best (if not THE best) comics ever, The Sandman. Written by Neil Gaiman (in my humble opinion one of the greatest contemporary writers out there) and drawn by a myriad of extremely talented artist, with all covers made by the genius that is Dave McKean, it defined a whole era in comicdom, attracted readers that had never read comics before, won literary awards that were supposedly not meant for comics and influenced (along with Alan Moore's Watchmen) a whole generation of comic writers and readers. It also influenced me profoundly, changed my way of thinking, writing, drawing, designing, made me see the world and my life around me through different eyes. And I have never looked back since.

Absolute Sandman Vol.1, Slipcase cover

The Sandman was the most acclaimed comic book title of the 1990s. A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, it is also widely considered one of the most original and artistically ambitious comic book series of the modern age. By the time it concluded in 1996, it had made significant contributions to the artistic maturity of comic books and become a pop culture phenomenon in its own right.

Absolute Sandman Vol.1, book cover picture

DC Comics Absolute Edition is a series of archival quality printings of graphic novels published by DC Comics, Vertigo and Wildstorm Productions. Each is presented in a hard cover, dust jacketed and slip cased edition with cloth bookmark consisting of one or more books which include restored, corrected and recoloured versions of the original work, reprinted at 8 inches by 12 inches. Also included are supplemental materials regarding the creation of the work, including sketches, comic scripts, memos, etc.

Absolute Sandman Vol.1, inside view

The first of four beautifully designed slip cased volumes, The Absolute Sandman Vol. 1 collects issues #1-20 of The Sandman and features completely new colouring, approved by the author on the first 18 issues, as well as a host of never-before-seen extra material including the complete original Sandman proposal, a gallery of character designs from Gaiman and the artists who originated the look of the Sandman, and the original script for the World Fantasy Award-winning The Sandman #19, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," together with reproductions of the issue's original pencils by Charles Vess. Also included are a new introduction by DC President and Publisher Paul Levitz and an afterword by Gaiman.

Absolute Sandman Vol.2, slipcase cover

And here's the reason for today's post, the second volume of the series. It was waiting for me when I returned from my Netherlands trip (more about this in future posts), which was one of the best things to start the year off with! It collects issues 21-39 of The Sandman and features remastered colouring on all 19 issues as well as brand-new inks on The Sandman #34 by the issue's original penciller, Colleen Doran, and a host of bonus material, including two never-before-reprinted stories by Gaiman (one prose and one illustrated), a complete reproduction of the never-before-reprinted one-shot The Sandman: A Gallery Of Dreams, and the complete script and pencils by Gaiman and Kelley Jones for Chapter Two of "Season of Mists" from The Sandman #23.

Absolute Sandman Vol.2, book cover

Even if you're not a fan of comic books, this one will haunt your mind forever, once you start reading it. For those of you who want to begin, try finding the paperback graphic novels that collect the series in volumes that are easily accessible and affordable. They are also published in many languages around the world (even in Greek), although for me, Neil Gaiman's writing is best experienced in his native language. Try it, you will never regret it.

Absolute Sandman Vol.3, slip case cover (preview, out in May 2008)

A favor to Neil Gaiman

This is for Neil, because he asked for it!

Penn Jilette