The Goethe Award, later known as the Comic Fan Art Award, was an American series of

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

fan awards, first presented in 1971 for comics published in 1970. The award originated with the

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

'' Newfangles'' and then shared close ties with ''

The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publi ...

''. The Goethe Award was named after

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

; Goethe was the person who encouraged

Rodolphe Töpffer Rodolphe Töpffer ( ; ; 31 January 1799 – 8 June 1846) was a Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist. He is best known for his illustrated books (''littérature en estampes'', " graphic literature"), which are possibly ...

, "the father of comic strips," to publish his stories. The

Comic Art Convention The Comic Art Convention (CAC) was an American comic book fan convention held annually New York City, New York, over Independence Day weekend from 1968 through 1983, except for 1977, when it was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and 1978 to 19 ...

(CAC) twice hosted the presentation of the awards, at the 1972 and 1974 CACs. The format and balloting of the

Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards The '' Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG'') magazine administered the annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1982 to circa 2010, with the first awards announced in issue #500 (June 17, 1983). Upon taking over as ''CBG'' editors, Don and Maggie ...

, presented by the ''

Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publ ...

'' from 1982 to circa 2010, were in many ways derived from the Goethe Award/Comic Fan Art Award.

Overview

The Goethe Awards/Comic Fan Art Awards were tallied yearly for comic books produced during the previous year, and were given out in several categories, separated into people and works, and further divided into professional publications and fanzine/underground publications: * PEOPLE ** Favorite Pro Artist/Penciller (1970–1974) ** Favorite Inker (1974) ** Favorite Pro Writer (1970–1974) ** Favorite Pro Editor (1970–1974) ** Favorite Fan Writer (1970–1973) ** Favorite Fan Artist (1970–1973) * WORKS ** Favorite Pro Comic Book (1970–1974) ** Favorite Underground Comic/Non-Newsstand Comic (1970–1972) ** Favorite Comic-Book Story (1970–1973) ** Favorite Comic-Book Character (1970–1973) ** Favorite Fanzine (1970–1974)

History

Don & Maggie Thompson created the Goethe Awards in 1971; the Goethe Awards for comics published in 1970 were first published in a 1971 issue of their fanzine ''Newfangles''. Nominations for the 1972 Goethe Awards (for comics published in 1971) ballot were initially published in ''

(TBG)'', ''

The Monster Times ''The Monster Times'' was a horror film fan magazine created in 1972. Published by The Monster Times Publishing Co., it was intended as a competitor to ''Famous Monsters of Filmland''. Although the main editorial focus of the magazine was horror m ...

'', and ''

Graphic Story World ''Graphic Story Magazine'' was an American magazine edited and published by Bill Spicer in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Attempting to find a new direction for narrative art and a point of departure from commercial comic book stories, this jour ...

''. Nominations were sent in from 335 readers. Ultimately, there were 7 categories with 4-7 nominees in each category. 700 fans voted for the final nominees. The 1972 Goethe Awards were presented July 3,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, at the

, New York City, in a ceremony emceed by

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

and

Carl Gafford Carl Gafford (November 23, 1953–July 13, 2020) was a colorist (and occasional editor) who worked for several decades in the comics industry. He worked for a number of publishers during his career, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Topp ...

. The award results were also published in ''Comic Art News & Reviews'' no. 1. Ballots for the 1973 awards (for works published in 1972) — now renamed the Comic Fan Art Awards — were printed in ''TBG'', ''Comic Crusader'', ''

The Comic Reader ''The Comic Reader'' (''TCR'') was a comics news-fanzine published from 1961 to 1984. Debuting in the pre-direct market era (before the proliferation of comics retailers), ''TCR'' was the first regularly published comics industry news fanzine, an ...

'', the ''Gazette Advertiser'', ''

The Menomonee Falls Gazette ''The Menomonee Falls Gazette'' (subtitled "The international newspaper for comic art fans") was a weekly Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid published in the 1970s by Street Enterprises that reprinted newspaper comic strips from the United State ...

'', and ''

Rocket's Blast Comicollector ''Rocket's Blast Comicollector'' (''RBCC'') was a comics advertising fanzine published from 1964 to 1983. The result of a merger with a similar publication, ''RBCCs purpose was to bring fans together for the purpose of adding to their comic book ...

''. 1,011 fans cast their votes. The results were published in ''

'' #38 (June 15, 1973). In 1974, the Thompsons grew frustrated with perceived

ballot-stuffing Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

and passed the awards to

. The awards for comics published in 1973 were presented at the 1974

, held at the Commodore Hotel, New York City. They were later published in ''TBG'' #63 (Aug. 1, 1974). The final Comic Fan Art Awards (for comics published in 1974) were co-administered by Ken Gale and were not announced until ''TBG'' #123 (March 26, 1976). In 1982, the ''

'' (the successor to ''

''), began presenting their

, in many ways modeled on the Goethe Award/Comic Fan Art Award.

Winners

: ''Years represent when the work was published, not when the awards were presented''

People

Favorite Pro Artist/Penciller * 1970

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...

* 1971 TK * 1972

Barry Windsor-Smith Barry Windsor-Smith (born Barry Smith, 25 May 1949) is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best-known work has been produced in the United States. He attained note working on Marvel Comics' ''Conan the Barbarian (comics), Conan t ...

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017) was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein, adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his other ho ...

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

* 1973

* 1974

Jim Starlin James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, an ...

Favorite Inker * 1974 Tom Palmer Favorite Pro Writer * 1970 ''tie'' **

Denny O'Neil Dennis "Denny" Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until h ...

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

Thomas entry
''Who's Who in Comic Books: 1928–1999''. Accessed Feb. 3, 2016. * 1971 TK * 1972

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

Dennis O'Neil Dennis "Denny" Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until h ...

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early li ...

* 1973

* 1974

Favorite Pro Editor * 1970

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Ear ...

* 1971 TK * 1972

Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz ( ; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was an American comic book editor, and a science fiction agent. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various times he ...

* 1973

* 1974

Favorite Fan Writer * 1970

Jan Strnad Jan Steven Strnad (sometimes credited as J. Knight; born 1950) is an American writer of comic books, horror, and science fiction. He is known for his many collaborations with artist Richard Corben, as well as his work in the ''Star Wars'' expan ...

* 1971

* 1972 Don & Maggie Thompson **

Tom Fagan The Rutland Halloween Parade is an annual event held on (or around) Halloween in the city of Rutland, Vermont, since 1960. The parade has a strong superhero theme and has been the setting for a number of fictional comic book adventures. Local offi ...

Paul Levitz Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002 to 2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...

* 1973 Don & Maggie ThompsonDon Thompson entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Feb. 4, 2016. Favorite Fan Artist * 1970

Robert Kline The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

* 1971 TK * 1972

Richard Corben Richard Corben (November 1, 1940December 2, 2020) was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in '' Heavy Metal'' magazine, especially the ''Den'' series which was featured in the magazine's first film a ...

Don Newton Don Newton (November 12, 1934 – August 19, 1984) was an American comics artist. During his career, he worked for a number of comic book publishers including Charlton Comics, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics. He is best known for his work on The Pha ...

John Fantucchio John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

Martin Greim Thunderbunny is a comic book character who transforms from a boy into a superhero resembling a large pink humanoid rabbit. The character was created by Martin L. Greim. Publication history Thunderbunny's first appearance published by a major comp ...

* 1973

Newton entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Feb. 4, 2016. ** Howard Bender (3rd runner-up)Bender entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Feb. 4, 2016.

Works

Favorite Pro Comic Book * 1970 '' Green Lantern/Green Arrow'' (DC) * 1971 TK * 1972 Conan (Marvel) ** ''

Swamp Thing Swamp Thing is a superhero and antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several different incarnations throughout his publication. The ch ...

'' ** ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

'' ** ''

The Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

'' * 1973 ''

'' (DC) * 1974 ''

E-Man E-Man is a comic-book character, a superhero created by writer Nicola Cuti and artist Joe Staton for the American company Charlton Comics in 1973. Although the character's original series was short-lived, the lightly humorous hero has become a cul ...

'' (Charlton) Favorite Underground Comic/Non-Newsstand Comic * 1970 ''Captain George Presents'', by George Henderson of Toronto, Canada * 1971 TK * 1972 ''

'' ** ''Bedtime Stories'' ** '' Further Adventures of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' ** '' Fantagor'' ** ''Skull Comics'' ** ''Phase'' Favorite Comic-Book Story * 1970 "No Evil Shall Escape My Sight" by

and

in '' Green Lantern/Green Arrow'' #76 (DC) * 1971 TK * 1972 "The Black Hound of Vengeance!" in ''Conan'' #20 ** "And Through Him Save a World" in ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'' #89 ** "The Pact" in ''

New Gods The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

'' #20 ** "Dark Genesis" in ''

'' #1 * 1973 "Night of the Bat," by

, and

Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian Americans, Italian-American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' and ...

in ''

'' #7 (DC) Favorite Comic-Book Character * 1970

Deadman Deadman or Deadman's may refer to: * "Deadman" or "dead man", are alternative terms for a dead man's switch * "Deadman's foot" is another name for a Salamander (metallurgy), Salamander in metallurgy * "Deadman anchor" is a buried object (log, con ...

(DC) * 1971 TK * 1972 Conan (Marvel) **

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' No. 73 on September 19, 1941 (cover dated November 1941), th ...

) * 1973 Conan (Marvel) Favorite Fanzine * 1970 '' Newfangles'' * 1971 ''

'' * 1972 ''

'' (edited by

Paul Levitz entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Feb. 4, 2016. ** ''

'' ** ''

Comixscene James F. Steranko (; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator. His most famous comic book work was with the 1960s superspy feature ...

'' ** ''Comic Crusader'' ** ''

'' ** ''

'' * 1973 ''

'' (edited by

) * 1974 ''

References

Sources

* 1970 awards (presented in 1971): * 1971–1974 awards: * 1971 awards (presented in 1972): * 1972 awards (presented in 1973): * 1973 awards (presented in 1974): * 1974 awards (presented in 1975): {{American Comic Book Industry Awards Comics awards in the United States