The organizers of The Doug Wright Awards, Canada’s premier comics and graphic novels awards, are happy to announce that three of the country’s best-known cartoonists, Chester Brown, Seth, and Dave Sim, have created one-of-a-kind original artwork to be auctioned off during their 2007 fundraising drive.
Each an internationally respected cartoonist, Chester Brown (Louis Riel, Ed the Happy Clown), Seth (Clyde Fans, Wimbledon Green) and Dave Sim (Cerebus), have agreed to provide the Doug Wright Awards with their interpretation on a unique theme: the monster comics of Jack ”King” Kirby.
The revered artist behind such superhero comics as Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Silver Surfer, and The X-Men, Kirby had an illustrious career that stretches back to the early days of comics. Long before he came up with his popular superhero creations, he was honing his skills on Marvel’s “monster comics” of the 1950s and early 1960s—many of which have earned a cult status among cartoonists and comic fans.
These pre-superhero Kirby comics featured such unforgettable characters as Fin Fang Foom, Groot, Goom, Gagoom (Son of Goom), and Korilla, among many others. As an homage to this era, each cartoonist has taken their pen to paper and given us a unique take on a Kirby monster.
Each one-of-a-kind artwork will go up for auction on eBay beginning Monday, October 8, 2007, with all of the proceeds going toward the non-profit Doug Wright Awards.
Seth will help kick off the auction on October 8 with his moody take on Groot, who first walked the earth in Tales to Astonish No.13 (1960).
Groot, as drawn by Seth.
A few days later, on October 11 , Kitchener, Ontario’s Dave Sim will offer up “Nip’por”—his humorous interpretation of the work of both Kirby and Canadian cartoonist Doug Wright (who created the popular weekly strip Nipper).
Dave Sim’s dramatic reinterpretation of Doug Wright’s Nipper.
Rounding out the auction, on Monday, October 15, will be Toronto’s Chester Brown, who serves up his singular version of an action-packed Kirby monster story that originally appeared in Tales to Astonish No. 34 (1963). Brown’s recreation of page 5 from “A Monster At My Window” is a sight to behold.
Chester Brown’s Kirby recreation.
Each auction will be on eBay for seven days, and is open to bidding from fans from around the world.
The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian cartooning were established in 2005 to recognise the best in Canadian cartooning talent. The annual event was named in honour of Doug Wright, the cartoonist behind one of the longest-running and best-loved comic strips Doug Wright’s Family (or Nipper), who died in 1983, at the age of 65.