It’s time for a true FoL first. Every year, Friends of Lulu, the national, non-profit organization, which has brought more women and girls into comic books for close to 15 years, recognizes several women who have made notable contributions in the ever-expanding comics industry. As yet another extremely successful year for women in comics continues, FoL is proud to keep the momentum going by bringing the Lulu Awards, usually presented in a West Coast event, to New York City for the first time. The 2008 Friends of Lulu award nominees have been selected by the comic-reading public, and the winners voted on by members of Friends of Lulu.

This year’s well-deserved trophies will be presented at the exciting Lulu Awards event on Saturday, June 7, 2008 at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) in Manhattan, at 594 Broadway, Suite 401 (between Houston and Prince Streets). This event starts at 8:30 p.m. and takes place during the annual, highly popular MoCCA Art Festival (the weekend of June 7 and 8; for more information, please go to www.moccany.org). Refreshments will be served, and the night’s M.C. will be the lively illustrator Emily Flake. Admission to this sure-to-be-enjoyable event is $8, and admission is free for Friends of Lulu and MoCCA members. FoL kindly requests that attendees RSVP by purchasing tickets for the event beforehand, at our site, www.friends-lulu.org. A number of tickets will also be available at the door.

This year’s Lulu Award nominees are listed below. More information about each category is at the Friends of Lulu site.

Kim Yale Award:
MARTINA FUGAZZOTTO (senior designer, gURL.com);
KIKI JONES (gURL Comix artist);
JULIA WERTZ (The Fart Party)

Woman of Distinction:
SHELLY BOND (group editor, Vertigo; editor, MINX line);
CINDY FOURNIER (VP Operations, Diamond Comic Distributors);
JANNA MORISHIMA (director, Diamond Kids Group)

Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame:
NELL BRINKLEY (early 20th century cartoonist);
MARTY LINKS (Bobby Sox/Emmy Lou); TARPE MILLS (Miss Fury);
LOUISE SIMONSON (X-Factor; Superman: The Man of Steel)

Lulu of the Year:
AUDRA FURUICHI (Nemu-Nemu);
gURL Comix (www.gURL.com);
STEPHANIE MCMILLAN (Minimum Security);
RUTU MODAN (Exit Wounds);
MARJANE SATRAPI (Persepolis)

Friends of Lulu is a national, non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote and encourage female readership and participation in the comic book industry, while acting as an advocate for current female creators. For more information about Friends of Lulu and its various critically acclaimed anthologies, please check out the site: www.friends-lulu.org. Information about the active-as-ever New York chapter, which has a table at the MoCCA Art Fest, can be found at www.friends-lulu.org/ny.

Information about our sponsors:

Founded in 2001, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) is one of a small handful of not-for-profit organizations dedicated solely to the collection, preservation, study and display of America’s favorite art form. In addition to a year-round slate of on-site exhibitions and programming, the museum holds an annual fundraiser, the MoCCA Art Festival, which has grown to be widely recognized as one of the major events of the comic convention season. MoCCA’s Website is located at http://www.moccany.org/.

IDW Publishing is a division of Idea and Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients. Among its best-selling titles are Hasbro’s THE TRANSFORMERS; Paramount/CBS’s STAR TREK; Fox’s ANGEL; the BBC’s DOCTOR WHO; and Ben Templesmith’s WORMWOOD. IDW’s 30 DAYS OF NIGHT film from Sony Pictures was released in October 2007 and was the #1 movie in its first week of release. IDW’s website is located at http://www.idwpublishing.com/.

DC Comics, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world and home to such iconic characters as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Sandman. These DC super heroes and others have starred in comic books, movies, television series (both animated and live-action) and cyberspace, thrilling audiences of all ages for generations. DC Comics’ Web site is located at http://www.dccomics.com/.

The Archie Comics line of comic books is one of the most successful, longest-running lines in the history of the comic industry. Compared to other comic publishers whose audiences are primarily male, the comics of Archie Comics are read and enjoyed by males and females alike. Archie Comics are favorite reading of young people and young-at-heart adults. They are also published in nearly a dozen different foreign languages and distributed all over the world. Archie Comics has not only spawned characters that have been successfully exploited in comics, but characters whose popularity has spilled over into other media and who have become part of current culture. In addition to comic books, ARCHIE has found success on television, radio and in the music industry. SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH has also become a major television star with two animated series and a live-action network sitcom. JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS have also enjoyed success beyond comics, with an animated series and a recording career, and a major motion picture. The characters of Archie Comics have also found success on the Internet, at http://www.archiecomics.com/.