Entries came in from students all over the country, and after a tough committee process, the NCSF picked their winner. This year the winning student was Chris Houghton who is a junior at the College for Creative Studies in Michigan. Below is one example of this student’s fine work.
by Chris Houghton, winner of the 2009 NCSF’s Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship
These kids really had a great opportunity in applying for this scholarship. They not only win a tidy sum to help with their schooling, but they also win an all expense paid trip to the National Cartoonists Society’s annual Reuben Awards to accept the prize. This year the Reubens will be in my neck of the woods when it comes to Hollywood for the Memorial Day weekend.
Also, the applicants get their work before a fine group of professionals who thoroughly discuss the entrants and their work. I know this because as a board member of the NCSF, I was one of the judges. Some others on the judging panel with me included Rick Kirkman (“Baby Blues” comic strip), Tom Richmond (MAD Magazine), Daryl Cagle (MSNBC.com politcal cartoonist), Michael Ramirez (Investor’s Business Daily political cartoonist & last year Pulitzer winner), Sandra Lundy (“Between Friends” comic strip), and other fellow freelance cartoonists John Kovaleski (who spearheaded the committee), Sean Parkes, and Ken Alvine.
The NCSF is a fully licensed non-profit organization, and can always use your tax deductible donations for things like this scholarship, helping to further other items of importance to the field of cartooning, and helping out cartoonists in need. Click HERE to visit the NCSF website!
And to see the full press release on the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship winner with even more samples of his art, please click HERE!
Some of you may have already seen this posting as it was up for a few hours last week. My apologies for the repeat. I thought I had clearance to let you all read about this, but as it turned out, we needed to make sure the nominees had all been notified before I told my tale publicly.
For those of you tuning in for the first time, it’s a riveting tale of espionage and intrigue merry-go-rounding about the secrets of the inner sanctum of cartoondom. Proceed if you dare.
On the Sunday afternoon of March 1, I was a part of a terrific group of cartooning folk who gathered at the home of Mell Lazarus (Momma comic strip artist) to judge the Feature Animation Reuben Division Award being given by the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) at their annual Reuben Awards coming in May.
Mell Lazarus (Momma cartoonist), Chad Frye, Tim Burgard (storyboard artist), Frank Gladstone (animation consultant), Nik Ranieri (Disney animator), Monte Wolverton (cartoonist-MAD), and David Folkman (Hogan’s Alley magazine) with Mell’s dog.
Each year the NCS gives awards in various categories that include comic strips, comic books, illustration, animation, editorial cartoons – you name it! All of these awards given by peers are followed by the prestigious Reuben Award itself for Cartoonist of the Year.
While the Reuben has historically reflected many cartooning genres, this year’s nominees for the big prize happen to all come from the world of comic strips: Dan Piraro (Bizarro), Dave Coverly (Speed Bumps), and Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine).
Our local LA Chapter committee who met at Mell’s place had quite a job in front of us. With only one award for all of Feature Animation, we set out to nominate the best work from theatrically released feature films. That means we had to consider storyboard artists, development artists, directors, art directors, designers, etc. If you click here to see the history of this award, you will see that the prize has often been awarded to many directors. This year the nominees are all guys who worked in the trenches.
So, with much thought and discussion, the nominees for this year’s NCS Feature Animation Division Award are:
Clay Kaytis – Supervising Animator, Rhino from Bolt
Nicolas Marlet – Character Designer for Kung Fu Panda
James Baxter – Character Animator for Kung Fu Panda
The Reuben Awards are in a different city every year. This coming Memorial Day weekend, they will be coming to Hollywood, my backyard! Boasting seminars by Disney animator Eric Goldberg, illustrator Drew Struzan, In the Bleachers cartoonist Steve Moore, and more, this year’s event promises to be quite the cartoonists party!
Living in the big sprawling city of Los Angeles, there always seems to be something cool happening. Seeing that this is a town of entertainment talent, that something cool often is related to my profession which I really dig! I love being around creative people. This past Thursday night, March 5, happened to be one of those cool nights.
My writer friend, Steve D’Arcangelo, and I drove to The Skirball Cultural Center right off the 405 freeway not far from the famous Getty Center museum. I’ve driven past the Skirball hundreds of times yet never made it my destination. It is known as a museum and fine arts center celebrating the Jewish contribution to the arts and American life. By reputation, I have heard of their wonderful exhibits over the years, but right now they have an exhibit that appealed directly to me – COMICS!
Mell Lazarus, Keith Robinson, Superman, Chad Frye, and Marv Wolfman.
The exhibit ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950 is currently on display there until August 9 (together with a sister exhibit of comic book characters in the movies). This comics exhibit showcases the artwork of the many Jewish artists responsible for the creation of Batman, Superman, Captain America, and many more. Work by Joe Simon, Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Bob Kane, Siegel and Shuster, and the great Jerry Robinson are among those featured.
So this is what it feels like to be on display. Or is he trapped in the Phantom Zone? Chad Frye with some classic Superman memorabilia.
Jerry Robinson, now in his late 80s, was the curator of this special exhibit, and flew out from New York to give a talk to a very full auditorium that night. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, his legacy is forever sealed as the creator of the Joker when he worked for Bob Kane as a youth, and after comic books went on to draw political cartoons for over 35 years in syndicated strips such as Life With Robinson and Still Life. Perhaps one of his most heroic real life moments was when he negotiated a financial settlement for Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster back in the late 1970s decades after they had been forced to sell their creation for a paltry sum back in the early days of comic books.
Mark Evanier interviewing Jerry Robinson at LA’s Skirball Center with one of Jerry’s classic Batman covers in the background.
I first met Jerry about thirteen years ago through the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) and have been friendly ever since. When I was President of the Comic Art Professional Society (CAPS), back in January of 2007 we held a banquet in Jerry’s honor for his lifetime of inspiration. He may have created one of comicdom’s greatest villains, but Jerry is one of the good guys.
Jerry Robinson and Chad Frye
Jerry’s talk at the Skirball was really a conversation on stage with Mark Evanier – a wonderful writer of many television shows animated and live action, as well as in comic books (he works a lot with cartoonist Sergio Aragonès). Few people know as much about comics and the rest of pop culture quite like Mark, and is really the perfect person to guide such an evening.
A nice close-up of Mark Evanier with Jerry Robinson.
What made the evening even more special were the fact that many colleagues were in attendance that night. Folks like Bill Morrison (Bongo Comics), David Folkman (Hogan’s Alley magazine), Mell Lazarus (Momma comic strip), Keith Robinson (Making It comic strip), Marv Wolfman (comics writer), Mark Waid (comics writer), Tom Luth (comics colorist), Benton & Anson Jew (storyboard artists), Michael Aushenker (comics writer and artist), Bradley Rader (comics artist), and even Dan “Homer Simpson” Castellaneta.
Jerry Robinson with his wife Gro, and son Jens who heads up the Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate that Jerry founded in the late 1970s.
Jerry Robinson, a true gentleman, a wonderful talent, and a tireless advocate for the work of cartoonists!
