Joe Shuster Award

The Joe Shuster Awards are given out annually for outstanding achievements in the creation of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics by Canadians, there are additional awards for Retailers and Publishers. The full name is the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards.

The Joe Shuster Awards were first handed out in April 2005. The awards are administered by the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association, a not-for-profit organization formed in 2004 to work on the awards. The awards are named in honour of Joe Shuster (1914–1992), the Canadian-born co-creator of Superman.

Overview
The Joe Shuster Awards are comic book industry oriented awards that recognize the achievements of Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

The awards were initially committee-nominated, public-vote awards, but this was changed in 2008 to a committee-nominated, jury-selected model.

From 2005-7 the awards were presented on the same weekend as the Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon in Toronto, Canada. In 2008 the awards were not presented in conjunction with a comic book convention but on the same weekend as Book Expo Canada. In 2009 the awards were presented at the University of Toronto's Innis Town Hall the day before the Word on the Street Book and Magazine Festival. In 2010 the awards were once again presented at the University of Toronto's Innis Town Hall, on the same weekend as the Toronto ComiCON Fan Appreciation Event.

Although they were founded the same year, the Joe Shuster Awards have no connection with the Doug Wright Awards other than a similar desire to recognize the achievements of Canadians working on comic books and graphic novels.

In 2009, the three remaining public-vote categories went on hiatus and two new awards were added: 1. The Comics for Kids Award recognizes creators who have produced works which capture the attention and fascination of young readers, and help to create a passion for life-long reading. Works considered for this award are comic books and graphic novels by Canadian creators that are targeted at readers 14 and under. 2. The Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing honours Canadian comic book creators who self-published their work during the previous calendar year. The award includes a bursary of $500. In order to qualify you must be a citizen and current resident of Canada. Anyone who writes and illustrates a comic book of their own creation (includes creative teams) and publishes and sells that comic independently of any other publishing company and does not currently have said works distributed by a third party distributor may submit their publication for review. Format and content is at the discretion of the creators. Must include new content, not reprinted material from other sources (such as webcomics). There are no language restrictions for this award.

In January 2009, the Joe Shuster Awards website was converted to a blog format so as to be a resource for information on Canadian comic book retailers, publishers, self-publishers, webcomics and industry news.

Categories
Categories and winners of Joe Shuster Awards are as follows:

Outstanding Achievement

 * 2005 Dave Sim and Gerhard for completing Cerebus in 2004. Begun in 1977, this 300-issue series is a milestone in comic book publishing and is the longest running creator-owned comic book series.
 * 2006 Category on hiatus.
 * 2007 Category on hiatus.
 * 2008 David Watkins for using comic books as a teaching tool.
 * 2009 Category on hiatus
 * 2010 Category on hiatus

Outstanding Artist

 * 2005 Kaare Andrews for Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Year One (published by Marvel Comics)
 * 2006 Pia Guerra for Y: The Last Man (published by DC Comics/Vertigo) and a story in Spider-Man Unlimited #10 (published by Marvel Comics)
 * 2007 Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone for Batman/The Spirit #1 (published by DC Comics).
 * 2008 Dale Eaglesham for Justice Society of America #2-4, 6-7, 9-11 (DC Comics)
 * 2009 David Finch for Ultimatum #1-2
 * 2010 Stuart Immonen for Ultimate Spider-Man 130-133, New Avengers 55-60, Fantastic Four 569 (Marvel), The CBLDF Presents Liberty Comics 2 – “Trampoline Hall” (Image Comics)

Outstanding Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)

 * 2005 Darwyn Cooke for DC: The New Frontier (published by DC Comics)
 * 2006 Bryan Lee O'Malley for Scott Pilgrim Vol. 2 (published by Oni Press)
 * 2007 Darwyn Cooke for The Spirit #1 (published by DC Comics).
 * 2008 Jeff Lemire for Essex County Vol. 1: Tales From The Farm, Essex County Vol. 2: Ghost Stories (Top Shelf)
 * 2009 Dave Sim for Glamourpuss #1-4 and Judenhass
 * 2010 Michel Rabagliati for Paul, tome 06: Paul à Québec (La Pastèque)

Outstanding Publisher

 * 2005 Arcana Studio
 * 2006 Drawn & Quarterly
 * 2007 Drawn & Quarterly
 * 2008 Drawn & Quarterly
 * 2009 Les 400 coups / Mécanique Générale
 * 2010 La Pastèque

Outstanding Writer

 * 2005 (tie) Samm Barnes for Doctor Spectrum (published by Marvel Comics)
 * 2005 (tie) Ty Templeton for The Batman Adventures (published by DC Comics)
 * 2006 J. Torres for Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight and Teen Titans Go! (published by DC Comics), and Love As A Foreign Language (published by Oni Press)
 * 2007 Darwyn Cooke for Superman Confidential #1-2 (published by DC Comics).
 * 2008 Cecil Castellucci for The P.L.A.I.N. Janes (DC/Minx)
 * 2009 Mariko Tamaki for Skim (Groundwood Books) and Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx)
 * 2010 Maryse Dubuc for Les nombrils, tome 04: Duels de belles (Dupuis)

Outstanding WebComic Creator/Creative Team

 * 2007 Dan Kim, for April & May & June, Kanami & Penny Tribute''.
 * 2008 Ryan Sohmer & Lar deSouza, for Looking for Group & Least I Could Do
 * 2009 Cameron Stewart for Sin Titulo
 * 2010 Karl Kerschl for The Abominable Charles Christopher

Outstanding Colourist

 * 2008 Dave McCaig for Nextwave, Agents of H.A.T.E. #12, New Avengers #27-35, Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #1: Wolverine, Marvel Comics Presents #1-4, Wolverine #50, Avengers Classic #7 (Marvel Comics) DC Infinite Halloween Special #1 (DC Comics), The Other Side #4-5 (DC/Vertigo) Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #1 (Oni Press)
 * 2009 Francois Lapierre for “Gédéon et la bête du lac” Contes et légendes du Québec (Glénat Québec), Magasin général 4 (Casterman)
 * 2010 Nathan Fairbairn for Amazing Spider-Man #605, Dark Reign: The List – X-Men #1, Dark X-Men: The Confession #1 (Cover), Guardians of the Galaxy #16, 18-19, House of M: Masters of Evil #1, Marvel Mystery Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1, Nation X #1, Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #1-2, Timestorm 2009-2099: Spider-Man, War of Kings: Warriors #2, Wolverine #72, Wolverine: Origins #32, Wolverine: Weapon X #6-8, X-Factor #39-50, 200 (Variant) (Cover), X-Factor #45, X-Men: Kingbreaker #2-4, X-Men Origins: Gambit #1 (Marvel Comics), Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #4-5 (Oni Press)

Outstanding Cover

 * 2008 Steve Skroce for Doc Frankenstein #6 (Burleyman)
 * 2009 Niko Henrichon for Hostile Tome 1: Impact (Dupuis)
 * 2010 Darwyn Cooke for Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter (IDW)

Comics for Kids Award

 * 2009 Kean Soo for Jellaby Book 1
 * 2010 Svetlana Chmakova for Nightschool: The Weirn Books Vols.1-2 (Yen Press)

Gene Day Award for Canadian Self-Publishing (New in 2009)

 * 2009 Jesse Jacobs for Blue Winter, Shapes in the Snow
 * 2010 Ethan Rilly for Pope Hats No.1

Voters Choice - Outstanding International Creator

 * 2006 Brian K. Vaughan for Runaways (published by Marvel Comics), Ex Machina, and Y: The Last Man (published by DC Comics/Vertigo)
 * 2007 Brian K. Vaughan for Runaways and Doctor Strange: The Oath (published by Marvel Comics), Pride of Baghdad, Ex Machina, and Y: The Last Man (published by DC Comics/Vertigo)
 * 2008 Ed Brubaker for Captain America, Criminal, Immortal Iron Fist and Uncanny X-Men (Marvel Comics)
 * 2009 Category suspended

Voters Choice - Favourite Creator (English Language)

 * 2007 Dan Kim for April & May & June, Kanami & Penny Tribute''.
 * 2008 Faith Erin Hicks for Zombies Calling
 * 2009 Category suspended

Voters Choice - Favourite Creator (French Language)

 * 2007 Michel Rabagliati for Paul a la Peche, published by La Pasteque.
 * 2008 Philippe Girard for Danger Public
 * 2009 Category suspended

Harry Kremer Retailer Award

 * 2005 Now & Then Books (Kitchener, Ontario)
 * 2006 Strange Adventures (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
 * 2007 Happy Harbor (Edmonton, Alberta)
 * 2008 Big B Comics (Hamilton, Ontario)
 * 2009 Legends Comics and Books (Victoria, British Columbia)
 * 2010 The Beguiling (Toronto, Ontario)

Hall of Fame Inductees

 * 2005 Joe Shuster (1914–1992)
 * 2005 Leo Bachle (a.k.a. Les Barker) (1926–2003)
 * 2005 Adrian Dingle (1911–1974)
 * 2005 Hal Foster (1892–1982)
 * 2005 Ed Furness (1911–2005)
 * 2005 Rand Holmes (1942–2002)
 * 2006 Jon St. Ables (1912–1999)
 * 2006 Owen McCarron (1929–2005)
 * 2006 Win Mortimer (1919–1998)
 * 2006 Dave Sim (1956-)
 * 2007 Albert Chartier (1912–2004)
 * 2007 Gerald Lazare (1927-)
 * 2007 Jacques Hurtubise aka ZYX (1950-)
 * 2007 Gene Day (1951–1982)
 * 2008 Ted McCall (1901–1975)
 * 2008 Pierre Fournier (1949-)
 * 2008 Stanley Berneche (1947-)
 * 2008 John Byrne (1950-)
 * 2009 George Menendez Rae (1906–1992)
 * 2009 Réal Godbout (1951-)
 * 2009 Ken Steacy (1955-)
 * 2009 Diana Schutz (1955-)
 * 2010 Dave Darrigo (1954-)
 * 2010 Serge Gaboury (1954-)
 * 2010 Deni Loubert (1951-)
 * 2010 Richard Comely (1950-) in celebration of the 35th Anniversary of Captain Canuck 1
 * 2010 George Freeman (1951-) in celebration of the 35th Anniversary of Captain Canuck 1
 * 2010 Jean-Claude St. Aubin (1951-) in celebration of the 35th Anniversary of Captain Canuck 1