Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Forward Progression

      Regie Rigby
      July 13, 2002
      Ambidextrous
    Recent
    • Revisiting the Witchblade/Fathom/Tomb Raider Crossover

      Daniel Gehen
      February 8, 2021
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • Jumping On: The Flash Rebirth #1

      Regie Rigby
      June 14, 2016
      Big Two, DC Comics, Jumping On
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: 6 Most Expensive Comic Books April 2021 Update

      nguyen ly
      April 17, 2021
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • This Week in Image for 9/30: Sex Revival

      Regie Rigby
      September 28, 2015
      Image
    Recent
    • 4.0

      Review: Beast Wars #2 another chance to change the past

      Stephen Cook
      March 3, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 3.5

      Strange Girl #7

      Regie Rigby
      April 18, 2006
      Reviews
    Recent
    • Singles Going Steady – Vowels, Who Needs Them?

      Daniel Gehen
      March 8, 2021
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Daniel LuVisi: Introduces The Last Man Standing

      Regie Rigby
      July 15, 2009
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade: X-O Manowar Classic Omnibus

      Regie Rigby
      May 22, 2015
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • VISITOR is the Quintessential “SPIRIT” Story

      Daniel Gehen
      March 26, 2021
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Is This the Week You Finally Check Out 2000 AD?

      Regie Rigby
      September 23, 2019
      News, Press Release
    Recent
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Image Comics and TMP Announces SPAWN’S UNIVERSE

      Daniel Gehen
      February 18, 2021
    • SAVAGE DRAGON IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 17, 2021
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Review: 'Renegade: Martin Luther: the Graphic Biography'

      Regie Rigby
      October 27, 2017
      Books
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: 6 Most Expensive Comic Books April 2021 Update
  • Collecting Profile: Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Collecting Profile: 1990 Marvel Universe Trading Cards
  • Collecting Profile: Red Sonja
  • Collecting Profile: Dr. Doom
  • VISITOR is the Quintessential “SPIRIT” Story
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Columns

The Jester Awards 2008 – Part One

Regie Rigby
December 31, 2008
Columns, Fool Britannia

Good Evening my Foolish Friends, and welcome to the Annual Jester Awards, when we here at FoolCentral get to give a pat on the back to those comics and comics creators that have brightened our world in the past twelve months.

Now, speaking personally, 2008 has been something of a bad year in pretty much all respects. However, that’s not a reason to be grouchy on my favourite holiday of the year – and some folk have had a blindingly good ’08, so let’s forget about the bad and look back at some of the good bits.

I always get annoyed when awards ceremonies mess about for ages giving awards to people you’ve never heard of for doing things you didn’t even know people did, before finally getting around to the awards that really matter. Well, that’s not a problem with the Jesters – since everything is awarded pretty much at my whim (no ‘phone vote scandals here, in fact no voting of any kind – democracy is not always a good thing in my view…) we can just get right on with it.

Without further ado, let’s get down to the first award: Best anthology. Traditionally this award goes to the UK’s perennial favourite 2000AD. In previous years the only competition (at least from comics that I have access to) has been from the myriad of news-stand kiddie fayre that seem to exist merely as vehicles for giving away cheap plastic toys*.

But this year a competitor has emerged that is head and shoulders above the rest, and although it’s aimed at a different audience than The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic the new kid on the block is actually giving dear old ‘Tooth a bit of a run for its money. the Jester for “Best Anthology” 2008 goes to The DFC for many reasons. The first, and most important is that I like it – but since every Jester winner has to fulfil that criteria it’s hardly worth mentioning.

No, The DFC takes the gong this year because it’s been consistently brilliant, and wonderfully diverse. They started out using the pull of the big name author Phillip Pullman – he of Northern Lights** fame. But from the start it also sported the anarchic mayhem of the Etherington Brothers’ Monkey Nuts, and all manner of other good things.

As the weeks have progressed, so the roster of stories has expanded and deepened – almost every genre has now been examined at least once, and there really has been something for everybody in each and every issue. Alongside Monkey Nuts, Particular favourites of mine have been Emma Vicelli’s Violet and Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood’s Prince of Baghdad, but there really haven’t been many strips I haven’t liked***.

It is a worthy winner, and as they head towards their first anniversary we here at FoolCentral wish them all the best.

The next award is for the “Best Comic Book Movie”. Let’s not pretend it isn’t a straight choice between two – the nominees are obviously Iron Man and The Dark Knight, and I have to be honest it was a really tough choice. Regular readers will know that in the great Marvel vs. DC conflict I’m a DC man to my very core, and as a DC man I have always had a great fondness for The Bat.

I loved Iron Man though. It was very, very close to perfect. It was like a comic book movie stock cube – the very essence of everything that makes a comic book movie concentrated in one place. Downey Junior was a fantastic Tony Stark, the SFX were spectacular and the tone of the whole thing was just the right side of taking it seriously. It was a bright, shiny bundle of armour clad joy.

The Dark Knight, on the other hand, was an entirely different kettle of fish. The key word in the title was Dark, but then that’s how I’ve always liked my Bat, so that was fine by me – this is the vision of Gotham City that I’ve always seen, although it will come as no surprise to those of you who’ve seen it (and surely by now that’s pretty much everyone, isn’t it?) that it was Heath Ledger’s astonishing performance as The Joker that really made this film stand out for me.

Finally there’s a movie version of the clown Prince of Crime that really gets right to the heart of the character. Caesar Romero did a good job of capturing the character’s whimsical side in the old sixties version, but those “Camp Crusader” stories never went anywhere near his insanity and evil. Don’t even get me started on Jack Nicholson’s take on the character back in that first Tim Burton movie – I’m not sure who he was supposed to be, but he was nowhere near The Joker that I know.

Ledger quote simply nailed it, and it’s largely because of his performance that the Jester Award for Best Comic Book based Movie 2008 goes to The Dark Knight. Please, please please, can we have some more like this?

Our final award for this part of the proceedings is the Jester for the Best Self Published Comic*****.

As ever there is some stiff competition for this award. Small and Self Publishers are in my opinion the backbone, heart and soul of the comics industry. They are at the root of everything and they don’t get anything like the recognition they deserve. Honestly, I’m tempted to give this to about a dozen different comics, but in the end, there can be only one.

Beating off strong competition from http://www.factorfictionpress.co.uk/girly>The Girly Comic and http://www.bahala-na.co.uk>Bahala – Na, the Jester Award for Best Self Published Comic goes to http://www.necessarymonsters.com>Necessary Monsters by Sean Azzopardi & Daniel Merlin Goodbrey. This fine comic tells stories of spies and horror in brilliantly stark black and white ink drawings. Dialogue is equally stark and the plotting is taut and edgy.

Frankly I can’t understand why more hasn’t been made of this excellent series, but its time for me to make a bit of a song and dance. Kudos to Sean and Daniel – long may you continue!

And now my Foolish Friends there will be a short intermission. Refreshments of your choice are available****** while you enjoy your New Year festivities. I’ll see you tomorrow, on the other side of the bells , with the first FoolBritannia of 2009, and the final part of this year’s Jesters. Tune in then for the Best Comic, Best Writer and Best Artist awards – in the meantime, have a Happy New Year!

*Do these “Lucky Bag” style comics exist elsewhere in the world, or is it only in the UK that kids have to be bribed to read even comics?

**Now filmed under its American Title The Golden Compass, but I’m not going to call it that here, because frankly, the Alethiometer isn’t a bloody compass, being a magical rather than scientific instrument and showing direction only in the most abstract and metaphorical of senses.

***Of course there have been one or two, but I’m being positive this year****, so I’ll not mention them here.

****Which is why there won’t be an award in the “What were they thinking?!” category this year.

*****Just to remind you, I know there is some discussion surrounding when a comic counts as being small press or self published. For our purposes let’s all just accept that a comic is eligible for this category because I say so and leave it at that. Cool?

******In your kitchen, if you go and make them…

Fool BritanniaRegie Rigby

Share On:
Tweet
Marvel Top 10: 2008 Moments
The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard

About The Author

<a href="http://comicsbulletin.com/byline/regie-rigby/" rel="tag">Regie Rigby</a>
Regie Rigby

Regie Rigby is a writer for Comics Bulletin

Related Posts

  • Pace Yourself

    Regie Rigby
    September 3, 2012
  • Olympian Dreams

    Regie Rigby
    August 19, 2012

Latest Columns

  • Revisiting the Witchblade/Fathom/Tomb Raider Crossover

    Daniel Gehen
    February 8, 2021
  • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

    Daniel Gehen
    December 4, 2020
  • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

    Daniel Gehen
    October 30, 2020
  • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

    Daniel Gehen
    October 27, 2020
  • What Looks Good for the Week of 10/14/2020

    Daniel Gehen
    October 12, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders