The Harvey Awards

The Harvey Awards are one of the comics industry’s oldest and most respected awards. The Harveys recognize outstanding achievements in 24 categories, ranging from Best Artist to the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame. They are the only industry awards both nominated by and selected by the full body of comics professionals. Beginning in 1988 at the Chicago Comic-Con, the Harveys enjoyed long runs at the Dallas Fantasy Fair and at Oakland’s Wondercon. The Pittsburgh Comicon, fourth venue for the awards, began hosting the awards in 2000 and ending in 2002. The 2003 awards will be presented on-line. A new home for the 2004 awards will be announced shortly.

The Harvey Awards are presented annually to those creators and publications that receive the most votes from their peers in the comics industry. In January of each year, nominating ballots are sent to comics professionals and publishers. Qualifying professionals are able to nominate up to five entries in each category. The top five nominees, plus ties, in each category are placed on the final ballot, which is mailed in early April. Final ballots are returned in late April or early May and the votes are tabulated. Winners are announced each year at the Harvey Awards banquet. (The 2003 awards will be presented on-line. A new home for the 2004 awards will be announced shortly.)

The Harvey Awards Executive Committee, or subgroups of the Executive Committee, oversees the publication and mailing of the nominating ballots, tabulation of the nominees, publication and mailing of the final ballot, tabulation of the final votes and organization and presentation of the awards. The Executive Committee does not nominate candidates for the Harvey Awards, nor engage in selection of the candidates or winners. This is done solely through votes cast by the comics professionals who choose to participate in the process. Ballots are made available to all qualifying comics professionals, either directly from the Harvey Awards Executive Committee, or from publishers who receive bundles of ballots and disseminate them to professionals in their employ.

The Harvey Awards Executive Committee:

Denis Kitchen (Chairman)

Denis Kitchen is a cartoonist, agent and publisher. He founded and ran Kitchen Sink Press (1969-1999), publishing creators such as Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman and R. Crumb. He also founded the non-profit Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in 1986 and remains its chairman. His Denis Kitchen Art Agency represents, among others, the Kurtzman estate for both literary rights and sales of original artwork. His new Denis Kitchen Publishing published Harvey Kurtzman's "The Grasshopper and the Ant" in 2001. At the request of Adele Kurtzman, Harvey Kurtzman’s widow, Kitchen reconstituted the Harvey Awards committee in late 1999.

Paul McSpadden (Harvey Awards Administrator)

Paul McSpadden’s been involved in comic fandom since the early ‘60s: contributing to, and publishing, some of the earliest fanzines, organizing groundbreaking conventions and educating collectors around the country. In the ‘80s and ‘90s he was guest coordinator for the Dallas Fantasy Fair, bringing such diverse talent as Harvey Kurtzman, R. Crumb, Al Williamson, Burne Hogarth, Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane, Frank Miller, Mark Schultz, Los Bros. Hernandez and hundreds of others to Dallas. From 1991 to 1997, McSpadden was Administrator of the Harvey Awards, returning to that post in early 2000 at the request of Adele Kurtzman. McSpadden’s knack for locating and preserving rare comics material has been instrumental in the publishing of many archival collections of old comics. He’s supported his comics habit by working at the Federal level with the Head Start program for nearly 30 years. McSpadden and his wife of over 27 years, Connie, have two children, John, l9, and James, l8. While he says, "I can't draw, I can't write, I can't sing. I have no talent whatsoever," those who know McSpadden say that he does have talent: making folks feel welcome and comfortable in any situation (they do agree with the drawing, writing and singing comments, however).

Nellie Kurtzman

Nellie is the youngest of Harvey and Adele Kurtzman's four children. She has been profoundly influenced by her father's life and career, though her time with him was not as long as she wished it could have been. Nellie proudly represents the family as part of the Harvey Awards Executive Committee. She lives in New York where she works in children's book marketing and is also currently working on a documentary about her father's life in conjunction with filmmaker Thom Powers.

Todd Scott

Todd Scott has been a fan of this art form for over twenty years. His interest in this medium first drew him into the industry professionally as a subscription clerk at Mile High Comics in the mid-eighties while still in college. After a brief stint running the Denver Distribution Center for Diamond Comic Distributors, he was finally able to put his degree in Journalism to good use (much to the pleasure of his parents) as a copywriter for Diamond's Marketing Department in Baltimore, MD. Since 1994, he has traveled far and wide as Diamond's Trade Show and Special Events Coordinator, promoting the wonders of comics at conventions and trade shows. He recently married a lovely girl from Baltimore, and spends his free time cooking, watching movies and - naturally - reading comics.

Anthony Bozzi

The most recent addition to the Harvey Awards Executive Committee, Anthony was formerly with Image Comics.

Dave Bissel and Jim Titus (Creative Consultants)

The acclaimed design house of Bissel & Titus will be providing direction and input on updating the look of the Harvey Awards and will be collaborating on the Awards presentation this year.

Jamie Riehle (Web Master)

A life-long comics collector and veteran of 10 years in the comics industry, including over seven years heading up the marketing department for Kitchen Sink Press, Jamie Riehle now works in the tumultuous world of dot coms in Boston. In the summer you can usually find him biking along the Charles River. In the winter, he can be found stopping pucks late at night in any one of several hockey leagues. He's currently working on the official Will Eisner web site with Katy Garnier (who also designed this site).

Sponsors:

DC Comics

Diamond Comic Distributors

Dark Horse Comics

Bongo Comics

Slave Labor Graphics

Cartoon Books

Angelfire

The name 'Harvey Awards' is a trademark owned by Adele Kurtzman and is used on this site and by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art with permission.

Other News

• 2003 Harvey Award Nominees Announced

Other Information

• The Comics Journal's history of comics industry awards