| Goethe Award / Comic Fan Art Award | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Excellence incomic books, as voted on by fans |
| Venue | Comic Art Convention (1972, 1974) |
| Country | United States of America |
| Presented by | Newfangles /The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom |
| First award | 1971 |
| Final award | 1975 |
TheGoethe Award, later known as theComic Fan Art Award, was a series of fan awards forcomic book creators in the United States from 1971 to 2010. The award originated in thefanzineNewfangles and was also associated withThe Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom.
Its name comes fromJohann Wolfgang von Goethe, who encouraged "the father of comic strips,"Rodolphe Töpffer, to publish his stories.[1]
TheComic Art Convention (CAC) twice hosted the presentation of the awards, at the 1972 and 1974 CACs. The format and balloting of theComics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards, presented by theComics Buyer's Guide from 1982 to circa 2010, were in many ways derived from the Goethe Award/Comic Fan Art Award.
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:
Don & Maggie Thompson created theGoethe Awards in 1971; the Goethe Awards for comics published in 1970 were first published in a 1971 issue of their fanzineNewfangles.
Nominations for the 1972 Goethe Awards (for comics published in 1971) ballot were initially published inThe Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom (TBG),[2]The Monster Times,[3] andGraphic Story World.[4] 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.[5] The 1972 Goethe Awards were presented July 3,1972, at theComic Art Convention, New York City, in a ceremony emceed byTony Isabella andCarl Gafford.[5] The award results were also published inComic Art News & Reviews no. 1.
Ballots for the 1973 awards (for works published in 1972) — now renamed theComic Fan Art Awards[6] — were printed inTBG,Comic Crusader,The Comic Reader, theGazette Advertiser,The Menomonee Falls Gazette, andRocket's Blast Comicollector. 1,011 fans cast their votes.[5] The results were published inThe Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom #38 (June 15, 1973).
In 1974, the Thompsons grew frustrated with perceivedballot-stuffing[7] and passed the awards toTony Isabella.[5] The awards for comics published in 1973 were presented at the 1974Comic Art Convention,[8] held at theCommodore Hotel, New York City. They were later published inTBG #63 (Aug. 1, 1974).[5]
The final Comic Fan Art Awards (for comics published in 1974) were co-administered by Ken Gale[9] and were not announced untilTBG #123 (March 26, 1976).[5]
In 1982, theComics Buyer's Guide (the successor toThe Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom), began presenting theirComics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards, in many ways modeled on the Goethe Award/Comic Fan Art Award.
Favorite Pro Artist/Penciller
Favorite Inker
Favorite Pro Writer
Favorite Pro Editor
Favorite Fan Writer
Favorite Fan Artist
Favorite Pro Comic Book
Favorite Underground Comic/Non-Newsstand Comic
Favorite Comic-Book Story
Favorite Comic-Book Character
Favorite Fanzine
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