Comic-Con International has announced this year’s nominees for the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award (commonly referred to as The Manning Award).
Since 1982, the Manning Award has been given out each year at Comic-Con in San Diego. The award is presented to a comics artist who shows exceptional knowledge and abilities early in their careers. It was named for Russ Manning, the artist known for his work on Tarzan and Star Wars newspaper strips and the Magnus, Robot Fighter comic book, who was also a popular guest at Comic-Con in the ’70s.
The 2019 nominees are Lorena Alvarez (writer-artist Hicotea, Nightlights), Ellen T. Crenshaw (artist Kiss Number 8), M.J. Kim (artist Faith: Dreamside), Sumit Kumar (artist These Savage Shores, Ruin of Thieves), and Kieran McKeown (artist Halo: Lone Wolf).
Nominees were chosen by a panel of Comic-Con board and committee members and a San Diego comics retailer. The winner will be chosen by past Manning award winners and Manning assistants and announced on July 19, during the Eisner Awards ceremony at Comic-Con.
The first recipient was Dave Stevens, Manning’s former assistant who would create The Rocketeer. Some other winners have included Jan Duursema, Steve Rude, Scott McCloud, Art Adams, Eric Shanower, Dan Brereton, Jeff Smith, Gene Ha, Alexander Maleev, David Petersen, Cathy Malkasian, Eleanor Davis, Tyler Crook, Dan Mora, and Greg Smallwood, to name a few.
More information about the Manning Awards can be found at www.comic-con.org/awards/russ-manning.