The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in
comic books
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
. Named for writer-artist
Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by
Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher
Fantagraphics
Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
History
Founding
Fantagraphics was fou ...
, to be the successor to the
Kirby Awards that were discontinued in 1987.
The Harvey Awards are now nominated by the Harvey Awards Nomination Committee.
The winners are selected by an open vote among comic-book professionals. The Harveys are no longer affiliated with Fantagraphics. The Harvey Awards Executive Committee is made up of unpaid volunteers, and the Awards are financed through sponsorships.
Since their inception, the awards have been hosted at a string of
comic book conventions, starting at the
Chicago Comicon, and subsequently moving to the
Dallas Fantasy Fair,
Wondercon
WonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and film convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area (1987–2011), then—under the name WonderCon Anaheim—in Anaheim, California (2012–2015, 2017–present), and WonderCon Los Ange ...
, the
Pittsburgh Comicon
The Pittsburgh Comicon, later known as Wizard World Comic Con Pittsburgh and since succeeded by Steel-City Con, was a comic book convention (meeting), convention held in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1994 by Michael ...
, the
MoCCA Festival
The MoCCA Arts Festival, or MoCCA Fest, is an independent comics showcase that typically includes artist booths, slide shows, and educational panels. It was created by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in 2002 by bringing together over 2,000 ...
, the
Baltimore Comic-Con, and currently the
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006.
History
The New York Comic Con is a ...
.
History
The Harvey Awards were created as an industry award voted on entirely by comics professionals (as opposed to awards such as the
Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards and the
Eagle Awards, which were also voted on by fans). The new awards established several categories that were new from their predecessor the
Kirby Awards
The Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards were a set of awards for achievement in comic books, presented from 1985-1987. Voted on by comic-book professionals, the Kirby awards were the first such awards since the Shazam Awards ceased in 1975. Sponsored ...
, including awards for inking, lettering, coloring, and production design.
[C. M. "Behind the Harveys," ''The Comics Journal'' #122 (June 1988), p. 19.]
The Harvey Awards were initially sponsored by
Fantagraphics
Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
History
Founding
Fantagraphics was fou ...
, the Texas-based retailer
Lone Star Comics
Lone Star Comics was a chain of comic book stores located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in north central Texas. The chain's offerings included comic books, action figures, gaming supplies, videos, and many other pop culture items.
Originally ...
, and the
Eastern Region Comic Book Retailers Association (ERCBRA). Fantagraphics established the relationship with
Harvey Kurtzman, designed the ballots, and compiled a mailing list of more than 1,000 comics professionals. Employees at Lone Star Comics were in charge of tabulating the ballots.
[
The nominations for the first Harvey Awards were announced in May 1988,][ and the awards were presented at the Chicago Comicon in July 1988.
The Dallas Fantasy Fair hosted the awards from 1989 until the Fair's demise in 1996. The 1993 Awards presentation took place shortly after Kurtzman's death; weekend events at the convention were geared toward raising money to keep the awards going. Because the Dallas Fantasy Fair was cancelled at the last minute in July 1996, the awards banquet/presentation was also cancelled. The awards were later mailed out to the recipients.][Dean, Michael. "Newswatch: 2002 Harvey Awards: Motivations and Mathematics," ''The Comics Journal'' #244 (June 2002), pp. 16–21.]
WonderCon
WonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and film convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area (1987–2011), then—under the name WonderCon Anaheim—in Anaheim, California (2012–2015, 2017–present), and WonderCon Los Ange ...
hosted the awards from 1997 to 1999.[George, Michael; George, Renee (January 24, 2003)]
"2003 Harvey Awards Banquet Cancelled, Awards Unaffected
CBR.com. The 2000–2002 awards were presented at the Pittsburgh Comicon
The Pittsburgh Comicon, later known as Wizard World Comic Con Pittsburgh and since succeeded by Steel-City Con, was a comic book convention (meeting), convention held in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1994 by Michael ...
,[Mervis, Scott (April 27, 2001). "Heroic comeback," ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. 22.] with Evan Dorkin serving as master of ceremonies. Jeff Smith was the keynote speaker of the 2000 awards.[ Frank Miller gave the keynote speech at the 2001 award ceremony, in which he vilified the comic book speculating industry, in particular ''Wizard'' magazine. He ended his speech by tearing up a copy of ''Wizard''.][Brady, Matt (Sept. 27, 2008)]
"Baltimore Comic Con '08: 2008 Harvey Awards Announced"
Newsarama. Tony Millionaire gave the keynote speech at the 2002 awards ceremony. In 2003, due to a cancellation by scheduled keynote speaker Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
, funding shortages forced the cancellation of that year's ceremony and banquet (which had been scheduled for the Pittsburgh Comicon). The award winners were announced at the convention.[
In 2004 and 2005, the presentation was held at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art ]MoCCA Festival
The MoCCA Arts Festival, or MoCCA Fest, is an independent comics showcase that typically includes artist booths, slide shows, and educational panels. It was created by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in 2002 by bringing together over 2,000 ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
.
In 2006 the awards' presentation was moved to Baltimore Comic-Con, where it was subsequently held annually through 2016. During this era, Paul McSpadden served as the Harvey Awards administrator.
Beginning on October 7, 2017, the Harvey Award ceremony was moved to the New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006.
History
The New York Comic Con is a ...
. The first year, only a small reception honoring the legacy of Harvey Kurtzman was held, and no nominations or voting took place. Darwyn Cooke was posthumously awarded Harvey Awards Hall of Fame induction, presented by Adam Kubert and accepted by Cooke's widow Marsha.
In 2018, the 30th anniversary of the awards was celebrated with a full ceremony held during the convention. Beginning that year, the Harvey Awards were revised to six new categories for the main awards and three possible Special Awards. The main award nominations go to works instead of individuals. The nomination process was also revamped to be done by a selection committee instead of an open vote. Final selection for the main awards was still done by an open vote by industry professionals.
In 2019, the Harvey Awards gala was held on October 4, at an invite only gala in New York City during New York Comic Con. In addition to announcing the winners in the individual nominated categories, seven creators were inducting into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame including Mike Mignola and Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her Graphic novel, graphic memoir ''Fun ...
. The inclusion of an additional five creators inducted posthumously, Will Elder, Jack Davis, Marie Severin, John Severin, and Ben Oda, served to correct past omissions. In regards to these additional inductees, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', quoted Harvey Awards co-chair John Lind as explaining “We decided to balance the induction class with some of the past creators who may have been overlooked.”
In October 2020, the Harvey Awards were presented during a virtual ceremony broadcast "as part of New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006.
History
The New York Comic Con is a ...
and MCM Comic Con’s Metaverse, hosted by Vivek Tiwary and featuring appearances from Gene Luen Yang, Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
, Jill Thompson and Damon Lindelof".
Categories
The Harvey Awards are awarded in the following categories:
Current awards
As of 2020, awards are presented in six main categories:
*Book of the Year
*Digital Book of the Year
*Best Children's or Young Adult Book
*Best Adaption From a Comic
*Best Manga Title
*Best International Book
Special Awards chosen by the Harvey Awards Executive Committee:
*Harvey Hall of Fame Award
*International Spotlight Award
*Comics Industry Pioneer Award
Previous awards
*Best European Book
*Best Writer
*Best Artist or Penciller
*Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
*Best Inker
*Best Letterer
*Best Colorist
*Best Cover Artist
*Best New Series
*Best Continuing or Limited Series
*Best Single Issue or Story
*Best Graphic Album ''(discontinued after 1990)''
*Best Graphic Album of Original Work
*Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work
*Best Anthology
*Best Syndicated Strip or Panel
*Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation
*Best American Edition of Foreign Material
*Best Domestic Reprint Project
*Best New Talent
*Best Online Comics Work
*Special Award for Humor
*Special Award for Excellence in Production/Presentation
*The Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award
*The Jack Kirby Hall of Fame
Winners
See also
* Alley Award
* Bill Finger Award
* Eagle Award
*Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
* Inkpot Award
* Kirby Award
* National Comics Award
*Russ Manning Award The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award is an American award presented to a comic book artist whose first professional work appeared within the previous two years. It was named after comic book artist Russ Manning. The winner is chosen from ...
* Shazam Award
References
External links
*Later from March 21, 2017.
Harvey Kurtzman Awards
1988–2007, Comic Book Awards Almanac
Archived
from the original on March 12, 2018.
{{authority control
Comics awards
Harvey Kurtzman
Awards established in 1988
1988 establishments in the United States