I'VE COME FOR MY AWARD

Oh, awards season.

Look, let's be honest. We all bitch and grouse about how they don't mean anything and it's a popularity contest or whatever, but we all want to win one when it comes down to it. I kept my fingers crossed reading over the Eisner nominations last month. Everyone probably did.

While a committee decides on the Eisners, there are other award ceremonies where the nomination process is more open.

There are the Harvey Awards, which industry professionals can vote for. Ballots accepted until May 19.

And there are the Eagle Awards, recently renamed for Stan Lee, that any reader can have a say in. Put in nominations here until May 16.

No big sales pitch here. I'm just going to make a list of books I worked on and that my friends worked on that you might consider. It's hard to remember what's what in any given year, so I'm going to jog both of our memories. In most cases, you can vote for any of these in the major categories: series, writer, artist, etc. I'll make notes if maybe you should consider something else.

* Battlepug digital comic, and vol. 2 collected edition by Mike Norton (writer/artist), Allen Passalaqua (colorist), and Crank! (letterer) [self-published/Dark Horse Comics]

* A Boy and a Girl graphic novel by Jamie S. Rich (writer), Natalie Nourigat (artist), and Ed Brisson (letterer) [Oni Press]

* The Double Life of Miranda Turner digital only series by Jamie S. Rich (writer), George Kambadais (artist), Paulina Ganucheau (colorist), and Crank! (letterer) [Monkeybrain Comics]

* FF by Matt Fraction & Lee Allred (writers), Michael Allred (artist, incl. covers), and Laura Allred (colorist) [Marvel Comics] 

* Helheim miniseries by Cullen Bunn (writer), Joëlle Jones (artist, incl. covers), Nick Filardi (colorist), and Ed Brisson (letterer) [Oni Press]

* It Girl and the Atomics #s 6-12 by Jamie S. Rich [writer], Mike Norton [7, 8, 9, 12], Chynna Clugston-Flores [6, 12], and Natalie Nourigat [10, 11, 12] (artists), Allen Passalaqua (colorist), Crank! (letterer), and Michael & Laura Allred (covers) [Image Comics]

* Revival by Tim Seeley (writer), Mike Norton (artist), Mark Englert (colorist), Crank! (letterer), and Jenny Frisson (covers) [Image Comics]

* The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn (writer), Brian Hurtt (artist, incl. covers), and Bill Crabtree (colorist) [Oni Press]

* Spell Checkers, vol. 3: Careless Whisper graphic novel by Jamie S. Rich (writer), Nicolas Hitori de and Joëlle Jones (artists), Warren Wucinich (letterer), and Joëlle Jones (cover) [Oni Press]

* Please also consider George Kambadais for Best New Talent and It Girl and the Atomics #6 as Best Single Issue.

These are, of course, not everything published last year, not all of my friends, and not even all of some of these folks' work. But its a good core of friends and colleagues. Keep them in mind!

Current Soundtrack: This week's episode of Survivor

UPDATES TO THE WEB STORE

I've just added a couple of new items to the site's store:

* Spell Checkers vol. 3

* Spell Checkers 1-3 sale bundle

* A Boy and a Girl preorders

* Original art for the first ten pages of A Boy and a Girl

All books come signed.  

A Boy and a Girl will be mailed two days before release in order to get it to you as close to the on-sale date as possible. (Currently December 12, 2013.)

Order for Christmas, I can ship to any location you need.  

Current Soundtrack: M.I.A., Matangi

NEW SENSATIONS

BIG DAY! BIG DAY! BIG DAY! 

Two new releases are landing today. 

First, you don't even have to go anywhere, you can click over to ComiXology right now and get a download of the digital-only first issue of The Double Life of Miranda Turner , by myself and George Kambadais, with lettering by Crank! and published by Monkeybrain.

Need convincing? Why not try a four-page preview at Comics Book Resources.

It's only $0.99. Buy it. Subscribe! 

Also on sale at long last is Spell Checkers, vol. 3: Careless Whisper , the completion of the first trilogy, but also a fine stand-alone comedy in its own right.

Art by Nicolas Hitori de and Joëlle Jones.  Published by Oni Press.

In comic shops, available through online retailers, and also still at Comixology. 

Here is Oni's page for the series. 

Spell Checkers will also end up in my store whenever my comps come. I'll likely add a discounted triple bundle, too, if you need the whole series.

Current Soundtrack: Arcade Fire, Reflektor

IT'S TOO LATE, SOMETHING I'VE LEARNED

So, bad news: Spell Checkers has been held up at the distributor level and will not be in stores today. This is very frustrating for all of us, as we've been waiting a long time to see the finished product on the stands.

We are assured Careless Whisper will street next Wednesday, on Mischief Night, the day before Halloween.

In the meantime, if you either can't wait or are generally a digital reader, you can get the book through ComiXology for a mere $5.99. No distributor there, just us. (And, FYI, if you buy comics on the site rather than through the app, Apple doesn't get a cut, and the rest of us get more!)

Jesse drowns her sorrows.

Also, I'm being told that it looks like A Boy and a Girl will be a week or two late due to a longer shipping time from the printer than expected. At this point, I just wish someone would take a two-by-four to my head. 

Current Soundtrack: Katy Perry, Prism  (though I doubt I'll make it all the way through)

AS I TAKE YOUR HAND AND LEAD YOU TO THE DANCE FLOOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

On October 23, Oni Press will release the third volume in their magical comedy series Spell Checkers. Written by Jamie S. Rich, with art by Nicolas Hitori de and Joëlle Jones, SPELL CHECKERS VOLUME 3: CARELESS WHISPER caps the first trilogy by ringing out the school year, sending its teen witch anti-heroines to prom.

“When Spell Checkers started back in the day, we always had an eye on doing three,” Rich commented. “The stories were designed with that in mind. While each volume reads as its own thing, as a package, you’re getting an entire school year. Given how much of what happens hinges on the vicious social landscape that makes high school what it is, it just seemed natural to send the girls to the big dance.”

Originally conceived by Rich and Jones, Spell Checkers has often been described as “Mean Girls with magic.” The comics follow three teenage witches–Cynthia, Kimmie, and Jesse–who rule their school with wicked spells and even wickeder one-liners. “I wanted to go with a pretty basic formula for rude comedies,” Rich said.

“Though the central characters may be on top of the heap, they are also pretty stupid and deserving of every comeuppance they get. At the same time, they’re the only ones who fail to see how badly they keep messing up. The plot of CARELESS WHISPER actually centers on them paying for past misdeeds, with a rival we’ve seen before teaming up with one we haven’t to cause all kinds of trouble on the dance floor.”

Rejoining Rich for this graphic novel are the series artists, Joëlle Jones and Nicolas Hitori de. As with the first two books, Jones provides the cover and flashback sequences, while Hitori de draws the main timeline. “It’s always fun to see how our work goes together,” Hitori de says. “Joëlle’s style is more realistic than mine, so it’s a bit backwards that she draws all the characters when they are younger, but  it’s also sort of humorous. By the time the girls are in high school, they are, for lack of a better term, more ‘cartoony.’ They don’t live in the real world.”

 

Cover colors by Warren Wucinich.

“Writing Spell Checkers is a bit of a juggling act,” Rich added. “On one hand, you have these girls who are kind of cruel and never really learn anything, and on the other, I do want people to like them and care about what happens to them. Writers say this all the time and it sounds dopey, but the girls really did take on more dimension the more I hung around with them. The secret is that, deep down, they care the most about the things they claim to care about the least. Hence, in CARELESS WHISPER, Cynthia reveals that she wants to be Prom Queen. No tricks, no magic, she wants to win that crown. But, you know, famous last words….”

“People always ask how Jamie can write such bratty teenage girls,” Hitori de said. “I answer, ‘Are you kidding? Spend five minutes with him, he’s a jerk.’ But just like he does in real life, he makes me laugh when I read the scripts. The difference is, at least he’s not insulting me!”

“Well, except for that bonus comic I had Chynna Clugston Flores draw,” Rich replied. “That was written with the express intention of insulting you.”

“Mon dieu!”

SPELL CHECKERS VOLUME 3: CARELESS WHISPER goes on sale from Oni Press on October 24 and retails for $11.99.  It has 152 black-and-white pages and is intended for teen audiences and older.

 ***

Current Soundtrack: Pet Shop Boys, Behaviour: Further Listening 1990-1991

 

MY AUTUMN'S DONE COME

The new issue of Diamond's Previews catalogue is out this Wednesday, and it includes three books of mine, set to be released over three months: the second It Girl and the Atomics collection from Image Comics in September, followed by Spell Checkers, Volume 3 in October and A Boy and a Girl in November, both from Oni Press.

It Girl and the Atomics, Round Two: The World is Flat details were already posted here.

The other two books have advance solicits listed at Comics Continuum. Check out Oni's full catalogue for the month.

 

Illustration by Joëlle Jones, colors by Warren Wucinich, design by Keith Wood

SPELL CHECKERS VOLUME 3: CARELESS WHISPER GN

Written by Jamie S. Rich, art by Nicolas Hitori De, Joelle Jones, cover by Joelle Jones, Warren Wucinich.

It's time for prom, and Cynthia really wants to be prom queen. The only hitch is, she wants to win the crown legitimately, meaning all the students she terrorized with wickedness and magic over the school year hold her fate in their hands. Meanwhile, an ancient evil with an even bigger grudge against all three Spell Checkers finally sees its opportunity for revenge. Expect all kinds of insults and injuries in an epic dance floor showdown!

152 pages, black and white, $11.99

Illustrations by Natalie Nourigat, design by Keith Wood

A BOY AND A GIRL GN

Written by Jamie S. Rich, art by Natalie Nourigat

Travis and Charley have just met. It's Charley's last night in town, and Travis can't let her leave without getting her to go on a date. In a future where real people are rapidly being supplanted by lifelike androids, sometimes one shot is all you get. Intelligence may be artificial, but the emotion is real in a futuristic romance from the writer of 12 Reasons Why I Love Her and the cartoonist behind Between Gears.

168 pages, $19.99

* 

Note: We will be selling A Boy and a Girl   art here in the store. Have you checked out Natalie's art that's already on sale? More is coming!

Current Soundtrack: The Blow Monkeys, Feels Like a New Morning