The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in

comic books 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 ...

. Named for writer-artist

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ...

, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were discontinued in 1987. The Harvey Awards are now nominated by the Harvey Awards Nomination Committee. The winners are selected by an open vote among comic-book professionals. The Harveys are no longer affiliated with Fantagraphics. The Harvey Awards Executive Committee is made up of unpaid volunteers, and the Awards are financed through sponsorships. Gary_Groth_01

Since their inception, the awards have been hosted at a string of comic book conventions, starting at the Chicago Comicon, and subsequently moving to the Dallas Fantasy Fair,

WonderCon WonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and film fan convention, convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area (1987–2011), then—under the name WonderCon Anaheim—in Anaheim, California (2012–2015, 2017–present), and Wond ...

, the Pittsburgh Comicon, the MoCCA Festival, the Baltimore Comic-Con, and currently the

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, Film, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,00 ...

History

The Harvey Awards were created as an industry award voted on entirely by comics professionals (as opposed to awards such as the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards and the Eagle Awards, which were also voted on by fans). The new awards established several categories that were new from their predecessor the Kirby Awards, including awards for inking, lettering, coloring, and production design.C. M. "Behind the Harveys," ''The Comics Journal'' #122 (June 1988), p. 19. The Harvey Awards were initially sponsored by

, the Texas-based retailer Lone Star Comics, and the Eastern Region Comic Book Retailers Association (ERCBRA). Fantagraphics established the relationship with

, designed the ballots, and compiled a mailing list of more than 1,000 comics professionals. Employees at Lone Star Comics were in charge of tabulating the ballots. The nominations for the first Harvey Awards were announced in May 1988, and the awards were presented at the Chicago Comicon in July 1988. The Dallas Fantasy Fair hosted the awards from 1989 until the Fair's demise in 1996. The 1993 Awards presentation took place shortly after Kurtzman's death; weekend events at the convention were geared toward raising money to keep the awards going. Because the Dallas Fantasy Fair was cancelled at the last minute in July 1996, the awards banquet/presentation was also cancelled. The awards were later mailed out to the recipients.Dean, Michael. "Newswatch: 2002 Harvey Awards: Motivations and Mathematics," ''The Comics Journal'' #244 (June 2002), pp. 16–21.

hosted the awards from 1997 to 1999.George, Michael; George, Renee (January 24, 2003)
"2003 Harvey Awards Banquet Cancelled, Awards Unaffected
CBR.com. The 2000–2002 awards were presented at the Pittsburgh Comicon,Mervis, Scott (April 27, 2001). "Heroic comeback," ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. 22. with Evan Dorkin serving as master of ceremonies. Jeff Smith was the keynote speaker of the 2000 awards. Frank Miller gave the keynote speech at the 2001 award ceremony, in which he vilified the comic book speculating industry, in particular ''Wizard'' magazine. He ended his speech by tearing up a copy of ''Wizard''.Brady, Matt (Sept. 27, 2008)
"Baltimore Comic Con '08: 2008 Harvey Awards Announced"
Newsarama. Tony Millionaire gave the keynote speech at the 2002 awards ceremony. In 2003, due to a cancellation by scheduled keynote speaker

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

, funding shortages forced the cancellation of that year's ceremony and banquet (which had been scheduled for the Pittsburgh Comicon). The award winners were announced at the convention. In 2004 and 2005, the presentation was held at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art MoCCA Festival in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 2006 the awards' presentation was moved to Baltimore Comic-Con, where it was subsequently held annually through 2016. During this era, Paul McSpadden served as the Harvey Awards administrator. Beginning on October 7, 2017, the Harvey Award ceremony was moved to the

. The first year, only a small reception honoring the legacy of Harvey Kurtzman was held, and no nominations or voting took place. Darwyn Cooke was posthumously awarded Harvey Awards Hall of Fame induction, presented by Adam Kubert and accepted by Cooke's widow Marsha. In 2018, the 30th anniversary of the awards was celebrated with a full ceremony held during the convention. Beginning that year, the Harvey Awards were revised to six new categories for the main awards and three possible Special Awards. The main award nominations go to works instead of individuals. The nomination process was also revamped to be done by a selection committee instead of an open vote. Final selection for the main awards was still done by an open vote by industry professionals. In 2019, the Harvey Awards gala was held on October 4, at an invite only gala in New York City during New York Comic Con. In addition to announcing the winners in the individual nominated categories, seven creators were inducting into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame including Mike Mignola and Alison Bechdel. The inclusion of an additional five creators inducted posthumously, Will Elder, Jack Davis, Marie Severin, John Severin, and Ben Oda, served to correct past omissions. In regards to these additional inductees, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' quoted Harvey Awards co-chair John Lind as explaining “We decided to balance the induction class with some of the past creators who may have been overlooked.” In October 2020, the Harvey Awards were presented during a virtual ceremony broadcast "as part of

and MCM Comic Con’s Metaverse, hosted by Vivek Tiwary and featuring appearances from Gene Luen Yang,

, Jill Thompson and Damon Lindelof".

Ceremonies, winners, nominees

* 1988 Harvey Award nominees and winners

Winners

References

External links

*Later from March 21, 2017.
Harvey Kurtzman Awards
1988–2007, Comic Book Awards Almanac
Archived
from the original on March 12, 2018. {{authority control Comics awards in the United States Harvey Kurtzman Awards established in 1988 1988 establishments in the United States

History

Categories

Current awards

Previous awards

Ceremonies, winners, nominees

Winners

See also

References

External links