6/15/2008 - Winners of the 2008 Joe Shuster Awards were announced at a public ceremony on June 14th in Toronto with Master of Ceremonies Rick Green (Prisoners of Gravity, The Frantics). The awards were the final event at the Sequential Art Symposium held in the auditorium of the Toronto Public Library’s Lillian H. Smith branch on College Street.

The Symposium featured talks related to comics and the 70th anniversary of the Superman character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, as well as a Superman-themed art exhibit entitled “Visions of an Icon” featuring work by Canadian comic book artists.

Guests for the symposium included Darwyn Cooke, Tom Grummett, Ty Templeton and many more creators. All nominees were invited to attend and participate.

Creator nominees are nominated for their BODY OF WORK during the previous calendar year, not just for one specific work, although they may have only had one specific work published. Winners are selected by a jury. The 2008 jury includes:

MARK ASKWITH
GARNET FRASER
MATT GRANGER
DUANE MURRAY
MIKE 'NUG' NAHRGANG

Hall of Fame and Retailer Awards are selected by individual committees after a review and discussion of eligible candidates. Four Hall of Fame candidates were initiated into the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame in 2008.

The Joe Shuster Awards are run by the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association (CCBCAA), a not-for-profit organization that relies on sponsorship, eBay and convention sales of prints and memorabilia or private donations. 2008 sponsors include: Lionshead Resort, Comic Guaranty LLC (CGC), Sipps Publishing, Diamond Distributors, Quebecor World, comicspriceguide.com and Mirificent Enterprise.

For more information please contact joeshusterawards@yahoo.ca

JOE SHUSTER AWARDS 2008 WINNERS for Work Published in 2007

OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK WRITER

- Cecil Castellucci for The P.L.A.I.N. Janes (DC/Minx)

OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK ARTIST

- Dale Eaglesham for Justice Society of America #2-4, 6-7, 9-11 (DC Comics)

OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CARTOONIST (WRITER/ARTIST)

- Jeff Lemire for Essex County Vol. 1: Tales From The Farm, Essex County Vol. 2: Ghost Stories (Top Shelf)

OUTSTANDING COVER BY A CANADIAN COMIC BOOK ARTIST

- Steve Skroce for Doc Frankenstein #6 (Burleyman)

OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK COLOURIST

- Dave McCaig for Nextwave, Agents of H.A.T.E. #12, New Avengers #27-35, Fallen Son – The Death of Captain America #1: Wolverine, Marvel Comics Presents #1-4, Wolverine #50, Avengers Classic #7 (Marvel Comics) DC Infinite Halloween Special #1 (DC Comics), The Other Side #4-5 (DC/Vertigo) Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jensen #1 (ONI Press)

OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK &/OR GRAPHIC NOVEL PUBLISHER

- Drawn & Quarterly

OUTSTANDING CANADIAN WEBCOMICS CREATOR / CREATIVE TEAM

- Ryan Sohmer and Lar De Souza for Least I Can Do http://www.leasticoulddo.com and Looking for Group http://www.lfgcomic.com

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT BY A CANADIAN RELATED TO COMIC BOOKS

David Watkins for using comic books as a teaching tool

CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CREATOR HALL OF FAME

Stan Berneche
John Byrne
Pierre Fournier
Edwin R. "Ted" McCall

FAVOURITE CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CREATOR - ENGLISH LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS

Faith Erin Hicks - Zombies Calling

FAVOURITE CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CREATOR - FRENCH LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS

Philippe Girard aka phlppgrrd - Danger Public

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL (NON-CANADIAN) COMIC BOOK CREATOR

Ed Brubaker - Captain America, Criminal, Immortal Iron Fist, Uncanny X-Men

HARRY KREMER OUTSTANDING CANADIAN COMIC BOOK RETAILER

Big B Comics - Hamilton, Ontario

Congratulations to all of the winners, nominees and all of the eligible creators for another memorable year of great comics, both in print and online!

About Joe Shuster (1914 – 1992)
The Joe Shuster Awards are named in honor of the great artist, JOE SHUSTER (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and Siegel, that electrified the industry 70 years ago in 1938 and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon.

About The Joe Shuster Awards
The national achievement award for Canadians working on comic books, graphic novels and webcomics, the Joe Shuster Awards were established in 2004 and first presented in April 2005. The awards are named after Joe Shuster, the Canadian-born co-creator of Superman, and are named as such with permission of his estate. The Joe Shuster Awards honour the people who create comics, publish comics and sell comics.