The Nib won an Eisner
We won for Best Anthology in 2023, our last year of publishing. Not bad.
After many years of living in a small town in Canada, working from home with my family through the pandemic era, I ventured back out into the world for San Diego Comic Con 2023. It was my first time at Comic Con in 13 years and my first trip by plane anywhere since 2019. It was also my last chance to pick up an Eisner for The Nib, which has been nominated multiple times over the years, and is closing in one month.
We won.
The little globe on top of the award spins around. Neat.
I had been perfectly ready to lose, as with previous years, and wasn’t going get myself hyped up to be disappointed. It wasn’t until the presenters were on stage reading the nominees for Best Anthology, when I heard the cheers for The Nib, that I realized I had this in the bag.
Of course, I don't edit The Nib by myself. This award is shared with Eleri Harris, Mattie Lubchansky, Andy Warner, Shay Mirk, and Whit Taylor. These editors—cartoonists all—have worked with me closely for many years and The Nib couldn’t have accomplished all it has without them.
The magazine in particular was up for the award and special credit is due to Mark Kaufman, our designer, who has made the magazine look absolutely exquisite for 15 issues. Then, of course, there are the hundreds of cartoonists who have contributed thousands of comics from around the world, who do all the great work and make us wise-seeming editors worthy of an award.
This is bittersweet, as The Nib is closing in a little more than a month, but as I wrote when I announced the closure in May, I wanted to wind it down before it would face drastic cuts and become a shadow of itself. In other words, before it became unworthy of something like an Eisner.
We were in capable company that night. Kate Beaton won twice for Ducks. James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, and Tom King all picked up awards—all of whom I met for the first time. Nib contributors like Keith Knight, Miriam Libicki, Levi Hastings, and Josh Trujillo were there cheering us on.
You get out of your town for the first time in years and win an award, it’s easy to be flying high. I don’t believe in Energy, but I’m just going to say things were aligned on a cosmic level that bestowed good fortune on me.
What follows is but a sampling of the esoteric energies gathered last weekend along the ley lines of San Diego: Mark Russell, a fellow Eisner nominee and past-winner, who was one of the last people I saw in Portland before leaving in September of 2020, was the first friend I saw after landing back on that sweet US soil. Another friend, this one from college, who I saw while passing though my hometown on our way to Canada three years ago, was at the con for his job. Mattie Lubchansky, who I hadn’t seen in years despite working with them every day, was there. The owners of the comic shop I frequented in Portland and the one I buy from now in Canada, were somehow both present to congratulate me.
Vibes were up. The universe was in heavy synchronization. Or maybe these are just the common things that happens when the world gets turning again and we won an award, in part, because of the fact that it is our last year publishing.
In any case, I saw many other old friends, made new some ones, met with people from my Justice Warriors publisher Ahoy, and left feeling reenergized for Phase 3 or 4 of my comics career. Whatever phase it is I’m headed into next.
No con crud either, so far, and I’m not counting on it—the energy is simply too strong!
I will be back out there soon, tabling as The Nib, along with some of my own books, at SPX and CXC in September.
I’m going to write more about The Nib’s ten year run before we close. I’ve been holding off, ruminating, and frankly just dealing with so many logistical issues winding it down that I haven’t been able to sit down and get my thoughts in order.
Two more quick things for now to address questions I am getting from nearly everyone I talk to.
What is next for The Nib? Revive it! Start an imprint! Books! I’d be surprised if you never see anything from The Nib again, but for now this is it. We have to go away before we ever come back and there aren’t any plans right now.
What am I going to do next? Comics, of course. Not much is lined up at this stage, but I have some ideas brewing. When I have something, you’ll be the first to know.
You absolutely deserve it! I remember us driving up to Vancaf together way back in the day, chatting about all kinds of random things as we got stuck in traffic. I got a chance to chat with you then watch your career shift and change, see the impact of what you've done, and watch the Nib turn into became. I'm incredibly grateful for what you and everyone did to make the Nib what it was. Thank you so, so much.
Congratulations Matt, and thank you so much for the shoutouts and having me along for the ride. Hope to see you at SPX.