Eisner 2019 Webcomics Nominations!

Hitting you hot off the presses of the cultural Zeitgeist, it’s the Digital Strips Blog here with the nominees for the 2019 Eisner awards!…

…two weeks after they were announced!

But tardiness aside, there’s some interesting titles on the block this year. We can’t help but notice, too, that 60% (or, three out of the five) of the offerings in the Webcomics category are hosted on Line Webtoon — but then, the pervasiveness of that ever-expanding hub of Webcomics content is no surprise to erstwhile listeners of the Digital Strips podcast now, is it?

Here, then, are your Eisner Awards 2019 Webcomics Category finalists.

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From Pictures to Prose

Webcomic authors are creative people – who can’t always be constrained by the number of words one can fit into a comic panel.

Although Lord knows the constraints haven’t stopped a creator or two from time to time (Rich Burlew, Order of the Stick #282)

As they grate to narrate, more than one webcomic artist has dabbled in the time-honoured practice of the novel – not only for collections of their comics, but for fully-fleshed works of fiction or non-fiction that either tie into their webcomics worlds, or even stand fully apart. Today, we’re going to look at a few webcomic writers who’ve crossed the comic page’s gutters and tested the idiom that a picture is worth… well, you get it!

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DS 524: You’re All Sherple

Sherp ATVRobin Kaplan’s Ushala at World’s End is a comic worth looking at … again. The work has expanded since last we saw this exceptional comic, in some ways that we never would have foreseen. Follow the sherp and don’t miss out on this story!

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DS 523: We Made It a Thunderdome

Our long look at Mad Rupert’s Sakana was so delightful, Jason decided we should also look at her choose your own adventure experiment, Pol-Apo. It’s got a biting wit in the writing and a fun soul that is extinguished much too soon with a hiatus that might be permanent. Steve continues the enjoyment train by introducing Oddity Woods, a kid detective tale as charming as it is engrossing.

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DS 521: The C-Dub-iverse

Tom Welling and Erica Durance of SmallvilleAfter giving their thoughts on the PvP collection currently on Kickstarter, the guys take another look at Madeline Rupert Jaspering’s Sakana, a comic DS first took a look at back in 2012. What’s changed? What’s the same? Is it still as fun and character-rich as it was back then? Listen in to this first part of that return to Sakana to find out!

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DS Conversation: Brock Heasley

The cover to Paper Bag Mask, a novel by Brock HeasleyJason talks with Superfogeys creator Brock Heasley about his first novel, Paper Bag Mask, the real-world inspirations for that story, the Kickstarter currently wrapping up for the first volume of Superfogeys, and the long, winding road to where that comic is now.

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DS 520: Get Your Voyeur On

Movie poster for film, Warm BodiesZomCom brings us moment-to-moment undead gags that are sure to leave you in stitches! Also, Jason took a look back at The Last Halloween and got so engrossed in the first chapter that he couldn’t even more on to the second (soon, though!). Finally, Steve introduces us to the lovely world of Yehuda Devir and his wife with One Of Those Days (and some awesome behind the scenes videos to boot).

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DS 519: Snake Dancey Pants

Panel from the comic, Goodbye to HalosKate Beaton has provided years of quality, silly jokes with Hark! A Vagrant, and now that she’s ending the comic and declaring the site to be an archive, you should go enjoy all that wonderful silliness. Also, a new webcomic is launching soon, and the guys are interested in the process involved with starting a new online comic these days. All that, plus our review of Goodbye to Halos, a wonderful fantasy comic that features representation for LGBTQ people and a fun, exciting fish-out-of-water story to boot.

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DS 518: A Quiet Place To Celebrate Things

CochiseHey, it’s time to celebrate another webcomic milestone, this time involving John Allison and his massive, impressive body of work. Another thing we celebrate in this episode is Brigid Alverson, a former DS co-host and contributor who has opinions on a recent article from The Comics Journal about Amazon/Comixology and the Small Press Expo. Finally, we do what we do best: review the comic, Kochab, by Sarah Webb.

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