Blank Slate pride at Eisner award nomination for ‘Nelson’

By John Freeman on 10 April 2012 • ( 1 )

Comic-Con International have announced that Blank Slate’s Nelson has been nominated for the Best Anthology honour in the 2012 edition of the the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.

Created by a team of 54 of the UK’s most prominent comic creators, Nelson was devised as a celebration of the incredible diversity of talent within the rapidly growing British comics industry. Envisioned and edited by veteran UK creators Rob Davis and Woodrow Phoenix, the book unites a dynamic range of literary, mainstream, independent and small-press talent to tell the story of protagonist Nel Baker from her birth in 1968 to the present day.

Comprised of yearly snapshots, Nelson combines a myriad of stylistic approaches and decades of British history in one compelling, beautifully-rendered graphic novel.

For Blank Slate, Nelson presents a great opportunity to promote the rapidly expanding comics scene in Britain. Speaking on the book’s Eisner nomination, Editor Rob Davis states “It’s great to see Nelson getting this recognition, not just because it shines a light on the mind-boggling profusion of talent in British comics right now, but because it’s a unique experiment that takes the anthology format and uses it to create a genuine novel.

“Everyone involved has a shared belief in the power of comics to make stories come alive.”

Co-editor Woodrow Phoenix added “I’m really proud of what we achieved with this book. It proves that you don’t need guns, superpowers, zombies or swords to make a story compelling”.

Met with international acclaim from both mainstream and specialist book reviewers when released in November 2011, Nelson quickly sold out of its initial run, all profits from which will be donated to Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.

– ISBN: 978-1-906653-23-1 | 252 pages | 236 x 178mm softcover with flaps, full colour | £18.99

• More about Nelson on the Blank Slate web site her • Order Nelson from Blank Slate

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.