Your 2008 NCS Awards Nominees
The National Cartoonists Society has released most of the divisional award nominees for its yearly awards and has officially confirmed the leaked and all-but-confirmed Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year award nominees Dave Coverly, Al Jaffee and Dan Piraro, vying for the award known more generally as "The Reuben." The comic book nominees are Nick Abadzis (Laika), Bryan Lee O'Malley (Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together) and Shaun Tan (The Arrival) -- all strong nominees for a category that sometimes favors a candidate or two well-liked in the world of strips that may not have a high profile in comic books. The other things that pop out at me are a Drew Friedman nomination in newspaper illustration, Cul De Sac suggesting Richard Thompson may win the Reuben in the next five years by its appearance in the strips division category its first year, a book illustration category nomination for Jay Stephens, and a couple of nominations for Glenn McCoy. Also, who doesn't like Purple and Brown?
Reuben (Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year)
* Dave Coverly
* Al Jaffee
* Dan Piraro
Animation Feature
* Brad Bird, Ratatouille
* Sylvain Deboissy, Surf's up
* David Silverman, The Simpsons Movie
Television Animation
* Sandra Equihua; Jorge Gutierrez, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera
* Stephen Silver, Kim Possible
* Richard Webber, Purple and Brown
Book Illustration
* Nancy Beiman, Prepare to Board
* Sandra Boynton, Blue Moo
* Jay Stephens, Robots!
Comic Books
* Nick Abadzis, Laika
* Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together
* Shaun Tan, The Arrival
Editorial Cartoons
* Gary Brookins
* Michael Ramirez
* Bill Schorr
The Reuben Awards ceremony will be held during the NCS year convention to be held this year the weekend of May 25 in New Orleans. All the guys will be in tuxedos.
