Nominees for the National Cartoonists Society’s 2008 Division Awards have been posted. The winners will be announced during the Reuben Awards dinner on Memorial Day weekend.
TELEVISION ANIMATION
- Bryan Arnett – Character Design – “The Mighty B!” – Nickelodeon
- Ben Balistreri – Character Design – “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” – Cartoon Network
- Sandra Equihua and Jorge Gutierrez – Creators – “El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera” – Nickelodeon
FEATURE ANIMATION
- James Baxter – 2D Character Animator – “Kung Fu Panda”
- Clay Katis – Supervising Animator, Rhino – “Bolt”
- Nicolas Marlet – Character Designer – “Kung Fu Panda”
NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION
- Lars Leetaru
- Mark Marturello
- Sean Kelly
GAG CARTOONS
- Pat Byrnes
- Mort Gerberg
- Werner Wejp-Olsen
GREETING CARDS
- Kevin Ahern
- Jem Sullivan
- Debbie Tomassi
NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS
- Stephan Pastis – “Pearls Before Swine” – United Feature Syndicate
- Mark Tatulli – “Lio” – Universal Press Syndicate
- Richard Thompson – “Cul de Sac” – Universal Press Syndicate
NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS
- Vic Lee “Pardon My Planet” – King Features Syndicate
- Mark Parisi “Off the Mark” – United Feature Syndicate
- Jeff Stahler “Moderately Confused” – United Feature Syndicate
MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION
- Daryl Collins
- Bob Staake
- Sam Viviano
EDITORIAL CARTOONS
- Mike Luckovich
- Jeff Parker
- Michael Ramirez
ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION
- Roy Doty
- Craig McKay
- Jack Pittman
COMIC BOOKS
- Chris Blain GUS & HIS GANG – First Second Books
- Matthew Forsythe OJINGOGO – Drawn & Quarterly
- Cyril Pedrosa THREE SHADOWS – First Second Books
That is the strongest set of nominees for newspaper comic strip I’ve seen in a long time! I have a really hard time picking one among those three – they’re all excellent.
I think it’s also worth noting here the nominees for the big Reuben award, cartoonist of the year: Dan Piraro, Dave Coverly, and Stephan Pastis.
Um…where’s book illustration?