DCML Digest, Vol 51, Issue 6

Don Rosa donrosa at iglou.com
Tue May 8 16:27:27 CEST 2007


>>>>>   1. Awards debate (M.J. Prior)

Obviously I should put in my 2 cents about this....
I do not wish to win this award. One wants to win awards, sure, but for work
that one knows is truly outstanding. One doesn't wanna win awards based on
some fluke of timing or how submissions were nominated or not nominated. I
was hoping to get nominated for "The Dream of a Lifetime" or "Prisoner of
White Agony Creek", both of which I was *very* proud of. But I guess
"Prisoner" was not printed in a comic booklet here (it was in a "trade
paperback", therefore ineligible for a "comic book" award), and I'm told
that the Gemstone editor did not understand the proper nominating procedure
until after "Dream"'s year -- he would nominate multiple titles, stories,
writers and artists in each award category, rather than just ONE nomination
per category, which apparently resulted in voiding his nomination ballots
during those years (this is what I was told).
So... if there is even a chance I would win for a run-of-the-mill story like
"GLORPS Again!", I would be hard-pressed not to stand up there and ask some
questions... like "Thanks, but... what about my *good* stories?" or "If I
wrote and drew the best comic story of the year in ANY category, how could I
then NOT also be at least nominated for BEST WRITER/ARTIST OF THE YEAR even
just in the humor category?" (*note below) or "How can a 26 page story be
nominated for BEST *SHORT* STORY when the super-hero comics that are
nominated as BEST SINGLE ISSUE (Best full-length story) are only 22 pages
long?" (**note below). And then somebody would shout up from the audience
"Y'know, and *I've* been wondering how you win American Eisners when your
work is all done for and reprinted from Europe, making you only eligible for
the single BEST FOREIGN MATERIAL award?", a question I cannot answer, so
then they might demand all my past Eisners be returned and a fistfight would
break out and tables knocked over and that would simply not do. (***note
below)
So, for fear of the unlikely chance that I *could* win, and the even more
unlikely chance that one single vote could make a difference, I won't cast
my vote for myself in that category.
And as corny and phony as it always sounds, the truth really is that "it's
enough just to be nominated", at least *this* time with that particular
story, anyway. I do not want this undeserved award -- but I'm very glad to
see the nomination as that does not simply put "UNCLE $CROOGE" and
"Gemstone" in the public eye in this Disney-comics-hating nation, but (in
case you didn't notice), this is not only the FIRST category on the ballot,
but mine is the FIRST alphabetically listed nomination simply because "Black
Knight" starts with 'B'... and I assume (can't recall) that that will carry
through in the actual awards ceremony, win or lose. So THAT is the good
thing about this nomination of a story that deserves no special recognition.
UNCLE $CROOGE and Gemstone Comics will still be the FIRST nomination of the
entire night read aloud, while everyone is still paying full attention. The
Gemstone/Barks/Disney comics are what deserve and need recognition here, and
my nomination has already achieved that in the best way possible.

* Yes, The director of the BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR seldom wins BEST DIRECTOR
OF THE YEAR in the AA Oscars... but that's vastly different -- there are
literally thousands of people who contribute to the success of a movie, and
often the script or the music or the editing or the acting were why a movie
was deemed BEST. When it comes to a comic written and drawn by one guy,
that's rather a different thing.
** The answer to this is that the 22-page super-hero stories appear in 32
page magazines *packed* with ads so there's room for only the one story. My
26 page story appeared in a 64 page magazine with only a coupla house-ads.
That is a definitely flawed situation in those awards. Seems like those
categories should be combined. Oh, well... since all other American comics
are 32 pages, I guess they're satisfied with the way they have it set up.
*** Then my final question, before or after the fistfight, would be "How in
the name o' god did you people not even nominate, much less make a winner
out of, Gemstone's magnificent (and so inexpensive!) job of reprinting the
LIFE AND TIMES OF $CROOGE McDUCK or LaTo$McD COMPANION as BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL
OF THE YEAR  - REPRINT CATEGORY. It was Bud Plant's *best-selling* comic
book item of *any sort* of the year, and fans have raved about it around the
world. Gemstone did a spectacular job! And not even a nomination for either
book?! For shame!"
Then they'd take away my plastic wine cup and ask me to leave...




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