This past Saturday at New York Comic Con, the 2021 Harvey Awards were held virtually and announced the 2021 winners in the following categories: Book of the Year, Digital Book of the Year, Best Children or Young Adult Book, Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel, Best Manga, and Best International Book.
The awards, named after Harvey Kurtzman, the legendary creator who is best remembered for creating MAD, are one of the comic industry’s oldest and most prestigious awards. The Harvey’s have been a fixture in the industry, spotlighting the best in comic books, graphic novels, manga, and more, as selected by a full body of comic and publishing professionals since 1988.
Nominees for this year’s awards were selected by a committee of diverse industry voices, including creators, publishing professionals, retailers, educators, and librarians. The Harvey Awards Steering Committee is co-chaired by Nellie Kurtzman, John Lind, and Chip Mosher. Chris D’Lando and Camilla Di Persia of ReedPop and Eden Miller are coordinating this year’s awards.
This year’s nominees and winners are as follows:
Book Of The Year:
- The Book Tour by Andi Watson (Top Shelf Productions)Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Department of Truth, Vol 1: The End Of The World by James Tynion IV, Martin Simmonds (Image Comics)
- Heaven No Hell by Michael DeForge (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf (Abrams)
- The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (Random House)
- Monsters by Barry Windsor-Smith (Fantagraphics)
- Stone Fruit by Lee Lai (Fantgraphics)
- Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber (DC Comics)
- Save It For Later: Promises, Protest and Parenthood by Nate Powell (Abrams)
WINNER: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (Random House)
Digital Book of the Year
- Adora and The Distance by Marc Bernardin and Ariela Kristantina (Comixology Originals)
- Crisis Zone by Simon Hanselmann – Serialized on https://www.instagram.com/simon.hanselmann/
- Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal – Serialized on https://www.instagram.com/aminder_d/
- Friday by Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martin – http://panelsyndicate.com/comics/friday
- Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe – https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/list?title_no=1320
WINNER: Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe – https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/list?title_no=1320
Best Children or Young Adult Book
- Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter (Scholastic Graphix)
- Class Act by Jerry Craft (Quill Tree Books)
- The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (Random House)
- Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney and Robyn Smith (DC Comics)
- Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright (Scholastic Graphix)
WINNER: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (Random House)
Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel
- The Boys by Amazon, based on The Boys (DC Comics)
- Invincible by Amazon, based on Invincible (Image)
- Loki by Disney+, based on The Avengers (Marvel Comics)
- Superman & Lois by CW, based on Superman (DC Comics
- Sweet Tooth by Netflix, based on Sweet Tooth (DC/Vertigo)
- WandaVision by Disney+, based on The Avengers (Marvel Comics)
WINNER: WandaVision by Disney+, based on The Avengers (Marvel Comics)
Best Manga
- Asadora! by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)
- Boys Run the Riot by Keito Gaku (Kodansha Comics)
- Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto (VIZ Media)
- Remina by Junji Ito (VIZ Media)
- Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo (VIZ Media)
WINNER: Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto (VIZ Media)
Best International Book
- The City of Belgium by Brecht Evans, translated by Brecht Evans (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Factory Summers by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Moms by Yeong-shin Ma, translated by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Paul At Home by Michel Rabagliati, translated by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall (Drawn & Quarterly)
- The Winter of the Cartoonist by Paco Roca, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)
WINNER: Moms by Yeong-shin Ma, translated by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly)
This year the following creators were inducted into the Harvey Hall of Fame for their respective storied careers:
- Rumiko Takahashi
- Bernie Wrightson
- Jeffrey Catherine Jones
- Barry Windsor-Smith
- Michael Kaluta
In a press release announcing the winners, Chris D’Lando, Harvey Awards Coordinator and ReedPop Content Manager, said about the annual awards:
“Each year, the Harveys afford creators the opportunity to be recognized by their peers for their tremendous contributions to the comic book industry.
On behalf of the Kurtzman family and of our team involved in the awards, I would like to congratulate all the winners for this year’s Harvey Awards.”
For more information about Harvey Kurtzman and the Harvey Awards and past winners, visit harveyawards.com or the Harvey Awards social media pages (Facebook and Twitter).