The 'Harvey' awards, named in honor of famed creator Harvey Kurtzman, have found a new home at the Pittsburgh Comicon.  This year's awards were fairly evenly distributed with artist Chris Ware (see 'New York Times Lauds Chris Ware') gaining the most recognition with three awards including 'Best Continuing Series' (for the Acme Library published by Fantagraphics) and a 'Special Award for Excellence in Presentation' (for Jimmy Corrigan published by Pantheon).  Publishers tend to take these awards more seriously than artists do, so let's see how they fared.

 

 

DC 

DC grabbed six awards including: 'Best Domestic Reprint' (The Spirit Archives by Will Eisner); 'Best Cover Artist' (Adam Hughes for Wonder Woman); 'Best Colorist' (Laura DePuy for The Authority); 'Best Single Issue' (Superman & Batman: World's Funnest by Evan Dorkin); and 'Best Cartoonist' (Al Jaffee for Mad Magazine).

 

Fantagraphics 

Just a shade behind DC was Fantagraphics, a company that has dominated these awards in the past.  This year they received the following: 'Best Journalistic Presentation' (for The Comics Journal); Best Inker (Charles Burns for Black Hole);  'Best New Series' (for Luba's Comics & Stories by Gilbert Hernandez); 'Best Artist' (Jaime Fernandez); and 'Best Continuing Series' (Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware).

 

Dark Horse 

Dark Horse garnered three Harveys this year including: 'Best American Edition of Foreign Material' (for Lone Wolf and Cub, see 'Dark Horse Retro Manga Boffo'); 'Best Graphic Album of Original Work' (Last Day in Vietnam by Will Eisner); and a 'Special Award for Humor in Comics' (Sergio Aragones for Groo).

 

Drawn & Quarterly received two Harveys this year, one for 'Best New Talent' (Michel Rabagliati for Paul in the Country) and one for 'Best Anthology' (for Drawn & Quarterly #3).  Pantheon Books, which has helped to gain acceptance of comics in mainstream bookstores, also received two awards both for their superb edition of Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan.

 

Not every store can use the Harveys to build traffic and to increase awareness of the burgeoning number of excellent comic titles in today's market, but by placing 'Harvey Award Winner signs, or better yet creating a boutique of award-winning titles, most retailers can get a sales 'pop' out of these awards.  Chris Ware's growing reputation both inside and outside of the comic market is something that can help most retailers sell more books.   Will Eisner is another titan of creativity and his two Harvey winners also have a lot of potential -- and like Chris Ware, Eisner has an extensive backlist of titles in print.  Most stores are already doing quite well with Dark Horse's Lone Wolf & Cub, but the addition of a Harvey Award Winner sign can help the sales of all the deserving books that were honored in Pittsburgh.  Who can argue with the 'Best Writer' award for Alan Moore, or the 'Best Anthology' award for Drawn & Quarterly, the 'Best Artist' award for Jaime Hernandez, or the 'Best Colorist' award for Laura DePuy of Wildstorm?  Award signs work both for established customers, who might well be encouraged to give a book a second look, and for new customers who like the reassurance of expert opinion.  Either way you can't go wrong.