GHASTLY AWARDS 2013 Nominees announced

from the official press release . . . . .

EDITOR”S NOTES:  2013 was a very good year for horror in comics.  It’s now time for the Ghastly Awards to decide where the top honors will go.  While I wasn’t able to read everything that was nominated, I am familiar with most of these works, and have added my recommendations/comments in italics to give it a local/personal flavor . . . . .

        

           The Ghastly Award Judges are proud to announce the 2013 Ghastly Award Nominees.   The nominees, chosen by the Ghastly Award Judges, reflect the wide range of horror material being published in print and web comic form today.  All Nominees were selected from work that was submitted by comic Publishers and Creators throughout the year for Ghastly Award consideration.
Named after acclaimed comics creator “Ghastly” Graham Ingels, the awards are now in their 3rd year.

          Fan and Creator Voting will be open from January 10, 2014 until January 24, 2014 at www.ghastlyawards.com.   You may only vote once for the 2013 Nominees, and Fans will decide the winner of the Best New Series Award.   Winners will be announced in January 31, 2014.

We thank everyone who took the time to submit their work for this years awards.

The 2013 Nominees are:

Best Ongoing Title:

Afterlife with Archie (Archie Comics) - - an impressive first issue
B.P.R.D. (Dark Horse) - - - always high quality reading
Coffin Hill (Vertigo) - - I didn’t read this
John Carpenter's Asylum (Storm King Comics) - - my pick to win . (Read a review of Issue #1 here - -   http://www.bcrefugees.blogspot.com/2013/06/hidden-treasures-still-finding-books.html                                                                                                                                                                                            Rachel Rising (Abstract Studios) – also very good. Too bad only one can win.

Best Mini-Series:
Colder (Dark Horse)
Five Ghosts: The Haunting of Fabian Gray (Image Comics)
Killogy (IDW Publishing)
Locke & Key: Omega (IDW Publishing) - - I’ve read none of the five nominees yet. However, if I had to predict = it would be this one. I’ve read the earlier volumes and they are excellent.
Lot 13 (DC Comics)

Best One-Shot:

'68: Hallowed Ground (Image Comics) I completely missed this. 
Baltimore: The Widow and The Tank (Dark Horse)  My pick.  Two fantastic tales.
Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven & The Red Death (Dark Horse)  A close runner-up.
Fubar: Free Comic Book Day (Alterna Comics/Fubar Press) Consistently good and entertaining.
The Living Corpse: Haunted (Dynamite Entertainment) Sadly, I didn’t check this out.

Best New Series (Fans Will Decide the Winner):
Abe Sapien (Dark Horse)  Always good, but hardly “new”.
Afterlife with Archie (Archie Comics)  Bold and beautiful.  My pick.
Coffin Hill (Vertigo)
Ghosted (Image Comics)
Ten Grand (Image Comics)

Best Anthology:
American Vampire Anthology (Vertigo)
Bela Lugosi's Tales From the Grave (Monsterverse Entertainment)  Awesome stuff here.  My pick.
Bloke's Terrible Tomb of Terror (Independent)
The Witching Hour (Vertigo)
Twisted Dark (T Publications)

Best OGN:
Aliens: Inhuman Condition (Dark Horse)
Eldritch (SLG)
Flesh & Blood Vol. 3 (Monsterverse Entertainment) – My pick. A horrific tribute to classic Hammer Films.
Hellboy: The Midnight Circus (Dark Horse)
The Shadow Out of Time (SelfMadeHero)

Best Archival Collection: 
B.P.R.D. 1948  (Dark Horse)  Can’t go wrong with this work.  My second pick.
Creepy Archives Vol. 17 (Dark Horse)
The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics: Haunted Horror (IDW Publishing/Yoe Books)
The Human Gargoyles (Bleeding Moon Comics)
Steve Ditko Monsters Vol. 1: Gorgo (IDW Publishing/Yoe Books) Hard to obtain otherwise, so this makes it a solid number one pick.  I loved this Charleton series, read when I was much younger.

Best Writer:

John Arcudi (Abe Sapien, B.P.R.D.)
Cullen Bunn (Helheim, Sixth Gun)
Joe Hill (Locke & Key: Omega)  His style just slays me. My pick.
Terry Moore (Rachel Rising)
Paul Tobin (Colder)

Best Artist:
Richard Corben (Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, The Raven and the Red Death) – Number one for sure.  Untouchable when he handles the right material.
Glenn Fabry (Lot 13)
Juan Ferreyra (Colder, Kiss Me Satan)
Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife with Archie)
Gabriel Rodriguez (Locke & Key: Omega)

Best Inker:
Terry Moore (Rachel Rising) Very fine work here. My pick.
Jason Paulos (EEEK!)
Drew Rausch (Eldritch, My Blacks Don't Match)
Emma Rios (Pretty Deadly)
Rob Sacchetto (Rob Sacchetto's Cape Fear)

Best Letterer:
Jack Morelli (Afterlife with Archie)
Nate Piekos (Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities, Colder, Kiss Me Satan, To Hell You Ride)
Robbie Robbins (Locke & Key, X-Files)
Clem Robins (B.P.R.D., Baltimore, Hellboy in Hell, The Strain) My pick. So responsible for the consistent style to the Mignola books.
Rus Wooton (Ghosted, The Walking Dead)

Best Colorist:
Jordie Bellaire (Pretty Deadly, The X-Files)
Jay Fotos ('68, Locke & Key: Omega)
Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife with Archie)
Miroslav Mrva (Ghosted)
Dave Stewart (Abe Sapien, B.P.R.D., Hellboy: The Midnight Circus) The coloration in Mignola’s books is spot-on, and often a dark red spot.

Best Web Comic:
Chopping Block (choppingblock.keenspot.com)
Crossed: Wish You Were Here (crossedcomic.com)                                                                                                             Crossed is my pick.  So well done, even without the shock value.  Spurrier does a fine job scripting, often tackling moral/philosophical issues underneath  the main story.                                                                                                                                                                                                         Last Halloween (last-halloween.com)
My Blacks Don't Match (drewrausch.com/comic/its-alive)                                                                                        The Eighth Seal (thrillbent.com/comics/the-eighth-seal)

Hall of Fame Inductees:
Gene Colan – I hope they both get in.
Archie Goodwin – Colan was an artistic innovator, but Goodwin did so much to influence genres, writing and artists during his editorial tenure that I give him the nod.

We congratulate all of the Nominees for what they bring to the comic reading community.  To be nominated by the Ghastly Award Judges is a big honor and the Ghastly Awards are here to celebrate your achievements.

Judges:
Decapitated Dan, Rachel Deering, Mike Howlett, Belinda "Spaced" McNeill, Lonnie Nadler, Bree Ogden
Staff:
Steve Banes, Pedro Cabezuelo, Denise Dutton

Founded in 2011 by Decapitated Dan with the help of Steve Banes, Mike Howlett, Lonnie Nadler and Mykal Banta, the Ghastly Awards recognize outstanding achievements in Horror Comics over a range of 15 different categories. The nominees are chosen by other horror comic book professionals and winners are chosen by a panel of judges. Since the start of the awards, 5 more judges have been added into the group.

The Awards were named for acclaimed comics creator "Ghastly" Graham Ingels. Starting in 2013 the Ghastly Awards switched over to a Submission based process. Comic Publishers and Creators can submit their books for nomination consideration throughout the calendar year. The top five nominees in each category will be chosen by the Judges, and will then be voted on by the Judges, Creators and Fans to decide the winners.
The Ghastly Award Judges work strictly on a volunteer basis. There is no paid staff and the awards are completely funded from the generous donations of its sponsors.