National Cartoonists Society Announces Nominees for 2011 Reuben Awards
The National Cartoonists Society announces its nominees for the 2011 Reuben Awards, including the selections for the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year, professional cartooning's highest honor. This year's awards will be presented at a black tie dinner on Saturday, May 28, during the 65th Annual Reuben Awards Weekend, May 27-29, in Boston, MA.
This year's nominees for the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year are Glen Keane, animator of "Tangled;" Stephan Pastis, creator of "Pearls Before Swine" and Richard Thompson, creator of "Cul De Sac." The winner will receive a statuette designed by and named after the NCS' first president, Rube Goldberg. Past Reuben winners have included Al Jaffee, Patrick McDonnell, Scott Adams, Sergio Aragones, Garry Trudeau, Gary Larson, Cathy Guisewite, Mike Peters, Jim Davis, Lynn Johnston, Bill Watterson and Charles Schulz.
In addition, the year's top cartoonists in thirteen fields, from animation to newspaper strips to illustration and greeting cards, will be honored in the NCS Division Awards. These awards are voted on by a combination of the general membership (by secret ballot) and special juries overseen by various NCS Regional Chapters. A full list of nominees is attached and many of these cartoonists' works appear in your comics pages.
The National Cartoonists Society (www.reuben.org) is the world's largest and most prestigious organization of professional cartoonists. Founded in 1946 by a small group of cartoonists while entertaining the troops at military bases, the NCS now has a membership of more than 600 of the world's major cartoonists. Members work in many branches of the profession, including comic strips, comic books, editorial cartoons and magazine and book illustration.
2011 NCS REUBEN AWARD AND DIVISION AWARD NOMINEES (see below for link to artwork samples):
CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR: Glen Keane, Stephan Pastis, and Richard Thompson.
DIVISION NOMINEES:
GRAPHIC NOVELS: Darwyn Cooke - "The Outfit;" Joyce Farmer - "Special Exits;"
James Sturm - "Market Day."
NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS: Brian Basset -"Red and Rover;" Jeff Parker and Steve Kelley - "Dustin;" Richard Thompson - "Cul de Sac."
NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS: Doug Bratton -"Pop Culture Therapy;" Chad Carpenter - "Tundra; "Glenn McCoy - "Flying McCoys."
TELEVISION ANIMATION: Dave Filoni - Supervising Director / Production Designer, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars;" Dan Krall - Art Director, "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated;" Scott Wills - Art Director, "Sym-Bionic Titan."
FEATURE ANIMATION: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders, Directors, "How to Train Your Dragon;" Glen Keane, Animation Director, "Tangled;" Nicolas Marlet, Character Designer, "How to Train Your Dragon."
NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION: Sean Kelly; Michael McParlane; Dave Whamond.
GAG CARTOONS: Bob Eckstein; Zachary Kanin; Gary McCoy
GREETING CARDS: Jim Benton; Dan Collins; Teresa Roberts Logan.
MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION: Lou Brooks; Anton Emdin; Tom Richmond.
BOOK ILLUSTRATION: Sandra Boynton - "Amazing Cows;" Jared Lee - "The 3 Wise Guys;" Mike Lester - "The Butt Book."
EDITORIAL CARTOONS: Bob Gorrell: Mike Lester; Gary Varvel.
ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION: Anton Emdin; Jack Pittman; Dave Whamond.
COMIC BOOKS: Stan Sakai -"Usagi Yojimbo;" Chris Samnee - "Thor the Mighty Avenger;" Jill Thompson - "Beasts of Burden."
To interview NCS president Jeff Keane, please contact Claudia Smith at King Features Syndicate at 1-800-526-5464 or
cmsmith@hearst.com.
Samples of the nominees' work are available at www.reuben.org, where you will find more information about the National Cartoonists Society, including members' biographies, lists of past Reuben winners, and other historical information about the society and cartooning.