San Diego Comic-Con 2005: Tag Team Edition
August 1, 2005
written by Karin Kross and Liz Miller

SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2005 [Canceled] (14-17 Jul 2005) San Diego, California BOB CLAMPETT HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2005 (14-17 Jul 2005) Eisner Awards

Bookslut writers Liz Miller and Karin Kross both attended Comic-Con this year, and learned just how easy it is to miss someone completely amid 100,000 comics, movie, and television fans.

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9:00 p.m.: Arnold Drake sings a little joke song he's written about Comic-Con, which includes a sardonic dig at Stan Lee. The Joss Whedon fans have long since left.

My notes are pretty sketchy from here on out. Acceptance speeches are usually short and to the point. Kyle Baker, on receiving one of his two awards for the night, dashes on stage, all but yells "Thank you!" into the mike, and scurries offstage again.

It is, of course, the first Eisner awards at which the man himself is no longer present, and a heavy fog of nostalgia hangs over the room. Almost everyone has an Eisner story to share; you can't say the man is not missed.

11:20 p.m.: Er. Why is George Perez's friend posing with two pneumatic convention model-types to accept the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award?

11:45 p.m.: You know you're tired when your bed at the hotel is more inviting than the bar.

The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award

BOB CLAMPETT HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2005 (14-17 Jul 2005) Eisner Awards

Congratulations to this year's recipient, George Pérez.

The Clampett Award is named after the beloved animator and cartoonist Bob Clampett, director of countless popular Warner Bros. cartoons and the creator of Beany and Cecil.

Both the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award and the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award are given out each year at a gala ceremony in conjunction with the Eisner Awards. The Eisner Awards are held under the auspices of Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Past winners of the Clampett Award:
Forrest J. Ackerman (1984), Robert A. Heinlein (1985), Bernie Wrightson and Jim Starlin (1985), Ray Bradbury (1987), June Foray (1988), Phil Yeh (1989), Sergio Aragonés (1990), the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (1991), Archie Goodwin (1992), Jack Kirby (1993), Will Eisner (1994), Maggie Thompson (1995), Andrew Vachss (1996), Joe Kubert (1997), Frank Miller (1998), Jerry Robinson (1999), Peter Laird (2000), Mark Evanier (2001), Herb Trimpe (2002), Alex Ross (2003), Mimi Cruz Carroll (2004), George Pérez (2005).

Spirit of Will Eisner Lives on at Eisner Awards
07-18-2005 04:35 AM

The 17th Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards were bestowed on Friday July 15 in a gala ceremony in the ballroom at the San Diego Convention Center. The awards event was dedicated to Eisner, who died in January. His presence was felt throughout the evening, as presenter after presenter shared thoughts about the late comics giant. The ceremony was preceded by a slide show of Eisner’s career and a video with taped tributes from many creators who couldn’t attend, including Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, and Dave Sim. Will’s widow, Ann, appeared briefly on stage to welcome everyone.

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Among the other awards given out over the evening were the Comic-Con’s Clampett and Manning awards. The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, presented by Bob’s daughter Ruth, went to George Pérez for his donation of artwork to raise money for several charities, especially A.C.T.O.R. The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award went to Chris Bailey, writer/artist of the all-ages title Major Damage, published by Sky Dog Press.