2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards

The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an annual award voted on by web cartoonists themselves. The nominations ballots for the 8th annual award cover webcomics active in 2007 and were emailed to pre-registered voters by 2008-01-07 and closed those submissions on 2008-01-23 [cite web| url=http://forums.comicgenesis.com/viewtopic.php?t=83539| title=Nomination Round Begins Monday, Jan. 7th| author=MHPayne| publisher=comicgenesis.com| accessdate=2008-01-27] . The nominees were announced on 2008-02-03 [cite web| url=http://ccawards.com/2008finalists.html| title=The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards - 2008 Finalists| publisher=ccawards.com| accessdate=2008-02-03] , and voting on those finalists had commenced on 2008-02-08.

Voting ended on 2008-03-08, and the winners were announced in a live ceremony, hosted by MegaCon on 2008-03-08. [cite web| url=http://www.megaconvention.com/news.asp| title=MegaCon Convention - News| publisher=MegaCon| accessdate=2008-01-27] . The ceremony was presented by The Committee's Live Presentation Director of Ceremonies, Mark Mekkes [cite web| url=http://www.ccawards.com/committee.html| title=Web Cartoonists Choice Awards - Committee| publisher=ccawards.com| accessdate=2008-01-01] , accompanying him was Tim “JT” Shea and Scott Gallatin, which were covering the event for their podcast, [http://gigcast.nightgig.com The Gigcast] , a popular webcomic-themed podcast [cite web| url=http://gigcast.nightgig.com/archives/581| title=The Gigcast - 2008 Web Cartoonists Choice Awards| publisher=gigcast.nightgig.com| accessdate=2008-03-11] . The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards had an online ceremony as well. Including the talent of several artists, each presentation was designed as a separate webcomic strip, announcing the nominees and winner, for each category [cite web| url=http://www.ccawards.com/2008-big4ceremony.html| title=Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards - The Big 4| publisher=ccawards.com| accessdate=2008-03-08] [cite web| url=http://www.ccawards.com/2008-fab14ceremony.html| title=Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards - The Fab 14| publisher=ccawards.com| accessdate=2008-03-08] .

There are 18 categories for the 2008 awards, with divisions for art and writing, [cite web| url=http://www.ccawards.com/categories.htm| title=Web Cartoonists' Choice Award Categories| publisher=ccawards.com| accessdate=2008-01-27] . The total categories for 2008 were reduced from the 26 that had been present in the 2007 awards, primarily due to the Committee dropping the "genre categories" from the list. The Committee's 2008 Chairman, Frank "Damonk" Cormier, had stated, on [http://www.webcomicbeacon.com The Webcomic Beacon] , that the Committee had received a high amount of feedback to limit the categories. When people were voting on the 2007 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards, they were also asked what new genres, or categories, they thought should be included. Cormier explained, "We had a lot of people voting for 'no new genres', in fact, 'abolish the genres completely'." [cite web| url=http://webcomicbeacon.com/2008/01/06/twcb-episode-5-the-web-cartoonists-choice-awards/| title=Episode 5: The WCCAs| publisher=webcomicbeacon.com| accessdate=2008-01-06]

Outstanding Comic

Presented by Dylan Meconis of [http://dylanmeconis.com/ Quirky Bird]

* "Girl Genius" by Phil and Kaja Foglio - Winner
* "Achewood" by Chris Onstaad
* "Gunnerkrigg Court" by Tom Siddell
* "Perry Bible Fellowship" by Nicholas Gurewitch
* "The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton

Outstanding Newcomer

Presented by Sheryl Schopfer of [http://www.deerme.net/ Deer Me]

* "Octopus Pie" by Meredith Gran - Winner
* "Bear and Kitten" by Andy and Angie
* "Pictures for sad children" by John Campbell
* "The Dreamer" by Lora Innes
* "The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton

Outstanding Artist

Presented by Sergio Torres of [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/sergio/naivety/series.php Naivety Incarnate]

* Tracy J Butler of "Lackadaisy" - Winner
* Aaron Diaz of "Dresden Codak"
* Dylan Meconis of "Family Man"
* Nicholas Gurewitch of "The Perry Bible Fellowship"
* Phil Foglio of "Girl Genius"
* Sarah Ellerton of "The Phoenix Requiem"

Outstanding Layout

Presented by [http://davidmcg.net/ David McGuire]

* "Copper" by Kazu Kibuishi - Winner
* "Atland" by Nate Piekos
* "Dresden Codak" by Aaron Diaz
* "Gunnerkrigg Court" by Tom Siddell
* "The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton

Outstanding Use of Color

Presented by [http://blindkingdom.livejournal.com/ Dominique Ferland]

* "Dresden Codak" by Aaron Diaz - Winner
* "Girl Genius" by Phil and Kaja Foglio
* "Gunnerkrigg Court" by Tom Siddell
* "Penny Arcade" by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik
* "The Perry Bible Fellowship" by Nicholas Gurewitch
* "The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton

Outstanding Black and White Art

Presented by Bryant Paul Johnson of [http://tragi-comix.com/ Tragi-Comix]

* "Lackadaisy" by Tracy J Butler - Winner
* "Crowfeathers" by Amy "SageBrush" Watson
* "Digger" by Ursula Vernon
* "Octopus Pie" by Meredith Gran
* "The Adventures of Dr. McNinja" by Chris Hastings (and Kent Archer)
* "Three Panel Soul" by Ian McConville & Matt Boyd

Outstanding Photographic Comic

Presented by Kane Lynch of [http://mythandmadness.com/ Myth and Madness]

* "A Softer World" by Emily Horne and Joey Comeau - Winner
* "Alien Loves Predator" by Bernie Hou
* "Dark Red" by Lynn French and Joanna McKenzie
* "Legostar Galactica" by D.M. Jeftinija
* "Twisted Kaiju Theater" by Sean McGuinness

Outstanding Character Rendering

Presented by Fesworks of [http://theshifterarchive.com The Shifter Archive]

* "Lackadaisy" by Tracy J Butler - Winner
* "Gunnerkrigg Court" by Tom Siddell
* "Scary Go Round" by John Allison
* "The Dreamland Chronicles" by Scott Christian Sava
* "The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton

Outstanding Environment Design

Presented by Adam Holwerda of [http://www.emptyheadbox.com/ Empty Headbox]

* "Girl Genius" by Phil and Kaja Foglio - Winner
* "Atland" by Nate Piekos
* "Dresden Codak" by Aaron Diaz
* "Gunnerkrigg Court" by Tom Siddell
* "The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton

Outstanding Website Design

Presented by Vladimir Bazan Estrada of [http://www.ihooky.com/comic.php Ihooky]

* "Lackadaisy" by Tracy J Butler - Winner
* "Atland" by Nate Piekos
* "Octopus Pie" by Meredith Gran
* "PvP" by Scott Kurtz

Outstanding Use of The Medium

Presented by John Campbell of pictures for sad children.

* "Dresden Codak" by Aaron Diaz - Winner
* "Diesel Sweeties" by R Stevens
* "Dreamland Chronicles" by Scott Christian Sava
* "VG Cats" by Scott Ramsoomair
* "xkcd" by Randall Munroe

Outstanding Writer

Presented by Tony Piro of [http://www.calamitiesofnature.com/ Calamities of Nature]

* Kaja and Phil Foglio of "Girl Genius" - Winner
* Chris Onstaad of "Achewood"
* Spike of "Templar, Arizona"
* Sarah Ellerton of "The Phoenix Requiem"
* Tom Siddell of "Gunnerkrigg Court"

Outstanding Character Writing

Presented by Lee Bretschneider of [http://www.wheelchairromeo.com/ Wheelchair Romeo]

* "Templar, Arizona" by Spike - Winner
* "Achewood" by Chris Onstaad
* "Girl Genius" by Phil and Kaja Foglio
* "Lackadaisy" by Tracy J Butler
* "Questionable Content" by J. Jacques
* "The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton

Outstanding Long Form Comic

Presented by [http://www.JonathonDalton.com Jonathon Dalton]

* "The Order of the Stick" by Rich Burlew - Winner
* "Girl Genius" by Phil and Kaja Foglio
* "Gunnerkrigg Court" by Tom Siddell
* "Templar, Arizona" by Spike
* "The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton

Outstanding Short Form Comic

Presented by Brian Brown of [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/boxbrown/bellen/series.php Bellen!]

* "Perry Bible Fellowship" by Nicholas Gurewitch - Winner
* "Penny Arcade" by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik
* "Sinfest" by Tatsuya Ishida
* "Three Panel Soul" by Ian McConville & Matt Boyd
* "xkcd" by Randall Munroe

Outstanding Single Panel Comic

Presented by [http://theonewhatis.livejournal.com/ John Cob]

* "xkcd" by Randall Munroe - Winner
* "The Book of Biff" by Chris Hallbeck
* "Bunny" by H. Davies
* "Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal" by Zach Weiner
* "Savage Chickens" by Doug Savage

Outstanding Comedic Comic

Presented by Bryan Chojnowski of [http://www.muffin-time.com/ Muffin Time]

* "Penny Arcade" by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik - Winner
* "Beaver and Steve" by James Turner
* "Dinosaur Comics" by Ryan North
* "The Order of the Stick" by Rich Burlew
* "xkcd" by Randall Munroe

Outstanding Dramatic Comic

Presented by Mike May of [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/commonname/stockfootage/series.php Stock Footage]

* "Gunnerkrigg Court" by Tom Siddell - Winner
* "Crowfeathers" by Amy "SageBrush" Watson
* "The Phoenix Requiem" by Sarah Ellerton

References

External links

* [http://www.ccawards.com/ Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards]
* [http://gigcast.nightgig.com/archives/581 The Gigcast's live coverage of the MegaCon Ceremony]
* [http://webcomicbeacon.com/2008/01/06/twcb-episode-5-the-web-cartoonists-choice-awards/ The Webcomic Beacon's Frank "Damonk" Cormier interview]