Vaulty Award Winners Recognizes Best Comics of 2016

Our podcast crew, Cracking the Vault's Tony Asaro, Amy Nunag, and Patrick Clarke, recently recognized the best in 2016's comics via our annual comic book awards, The Vaulty Awards.

This year we added a Listener's Choice selection, so now your favorites are recognized also.

Don't miss out on these awesome comics, available in a comic shop near you.

Episode 90 of the podcast (listen here) announced the winners, but we've put them in print for you right here.

So, without further ado, here are the winners!

THE 2016 VAULTY AWARDS: WINNERS

Best Publisher 2016

• Amy, Tony, and Listener's Choice – Image Comics​
• Patty – Marvel​ Comics

Best Artist 2016

• Patty – Mike Del Mundo (“Weirdworld” & “Vision” (covers))
• Amy – Skottie Young (“I Hate Fairyland” & covers)
• Tony – Fiona Staples​ (“Saga” & covers)
• Listener’s Choice – Greg Tocchini (“Low”)
• Honorable Mention – Nicola Scott

Best Animal In A Comic 2016

• Tony – Jonathan The Actual Wolverine (“All-New Wolverine” by Tom Taylor & Marcio Takara​)
• Amy – Sandor (“Animosity” by Marguerite Bennett & Rafael de Latorre)
• Patty – Howard T. Duck (“Howard The Duck” by Chip Zdarsky​ & Joe Quinones)
• Listener’s Choice – Lying Cat (“Saga” by Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples)

How To Talk To Girls At Parties, Vaulty Winner

Best Comic-Based TV Show 2016

• Amy – Agent Carter​: Season 2
• Patty – Marvel's Luke Cage​
• Tony – Marvel's Daredevil​: Season 2
• Listener’s Choice – The Flash​ (2016)

Best Annual, One Shot, or Original Graphic Novel, 2016

• Patty – “How to Talk to Girls At Parties” (by Neil Gaiman​, Fabio Moon, & Gabriel Ba)
• Amy – “The Wicked + The Divine 1831” (by Kieron Gillen​, Stephanie Hans, & Jamie McKelvie​)
• Tony – “Love is Love” (by Marc Andreyko​, et al)
• Listener’s Choice – “DC Universe Rebirth #1” (by Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis, Gary Frank, & Phil Jimenez)

Best Comic-Based Movie 2016

• Tony, Amy, Patty, and Listener's Choice – Captain America​: Civil War

Best Writer 2016

• Amy, Tony – Greg Rucka​ (“Wonder Woman”, “Black Magick”, “Stumptown”, & “Lazarus”)
• Patty – Nick Spencer (“Captain America: Sam Wilson”, “The Astonishing Ant-Man”, & “The Fix”)
• Listener’s Choice – Rick Remender (“Black Science”, “Low”, “Seven to Eternity”, “Tokyo Ghost”, “Devolution”, & “Deadly Class”)
• Honorable Mentions: Dan Slott, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marguerite Bennett, Ryan North, & Jason Aaron

Breakthrough Creator 2016

• Patty – Tom King (“Vision”, “Batman”, “The Omega Men”, “Sheriff of Babylon”, & “Grayson”)
• Amy – Gerard Way​ (editor: Young Animal, writer: “Doom Patrol”, “Shade The Changing Girl”, & “Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye”)
• Tony – Brittney L. Williams (“Patsy Walker: AKA Hellcat” & “Goldie Vance”)
• Listener’s Choice – Matt Kindt​ (“Dept H”, “Ether”, “Divinity II”, “Divinity III”, “4001AD”, “Ninjak”, & “Rai”)

Series with The Best Covers 2016

• Tony – “Monstress” (by Sana Takeda)
• Patty – “Island” (by Simon Roy, Lin Visel, Malachi Ward, Matt Sheean, Michael DeForge​, Johnnie Christmas, Marian Churchland, & Fil Barlow)
• Amy – “Scarlet Witch” (by David Aja)
• Listener’s Choice – “Saga” (by Fiona Staples)

Motor Girl, Vaulty Award Winner

Best Limited Series 2016

• Amy, Tony – “Vision” (by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta)
• Patty – “Superman: American Alien” (by Max Landis​, Nick Dragotta​, Matthew Clark, Tommy Lee Edwards, Doc Shaner, Joelle Jones, Mark Buckingham, Jae Lee, Steve Dillon, Francis Manapul​, Jonathan Case, & Jock)
• Listener’s Choice – “"Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (by James Tynion IV​ & Freddie E. Williams II)

Best Tween / Young-Adult Comic 2016

• Patty and Listener's Choice – “Goldie Vance” (by Hope Larson & Brittney L. Williams)
• Amy – “Lumberjanes” (by Kat Leyh, Shannon Watters, Carey Pietsch, & Ayme Sotuyo)
• Tony – “Joyride” (by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, & Marcus To)

Best Superhero Comic 2016

• Tony, Amy – “Wonder Woman” (by Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, Liam Sharp, & Bilquis Evely)
• Patty – “Silver Surfer” (by Dan Slott​ & Mike Allred​)
• Listener’s Choice – “Vision” (by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta)

Best Moment of Squeee 2016

• Amy – Peter sings to Robot Kitty Pryde in “Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde #3” (by Sam Humphries & Alti Firmansyah)
• Tony – 1st appearance of Jonathan The Actual Wolverine in “All-New Wolverine #7” (by Tom Taylor & Marcio Takara​)
• Patty – Persephone returns in “The Wicked + The Divine #18” (by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie)
• Listener’s Choice – Cyclops in “Death of X” (by Jeff Lemire​, Charles Soule, & Aaron Kuder​)

Best New-to-You Comic

• Patty – “Arrowsmith” (by The Official Kurt Busiek Page​ & Carlos Pacheco) (2003)
• Amy – “Kingdom Come” (by Mark Waid​ & Alex Ross) (1996)
• Tony – “Rachel Rising” (by Terry Moore Art​) (2011)
• Listener’s Choice – “East of West” (by Jonathan Hickman​ & Nick Dragotta) (2013)

Vaulty Award Winner for Best Kids/All-Ages Comic 2016

Best Kids / All-Ages Comic 2016

• Tony – “Above The Clouds” (by Melissa Pagluica​)
• Patty – “Bird Boy” (by Anne Szabla)
• Amy – “Space Battle Lunchtime” (by Natalie Riess)
• Listener’s Choice – “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” (by Christina Rice, Agnes Garbowska​, Ted Anderson, Brenda Hickey, Katie Cook, Andy Price, Thomas Zahler, & AMF)

The I Love You Man Award for Best Recommendation To You By Someone From Cracking The Vault in 2016

• Amy – “Pretty Deadly” (recommended by Tony), “Rebels” (recommended by Patty), & “Vision” (recommended by Jake)
• Tony – “DC Bombshells” (recommended by Amy), “Vision” (recommended by Patty & Jake)
• Patty – “Supergirl: Being Super” (recommended by Tony)
• Listener’s Choice – “Paper Girls” (recommended by we all)

The Zdarsky Award for Funniest Comic 2016

• Tony – “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6 / Howard the Duck #6” [“Animal House”] (by Ryan North, Chip Zdarsky, Erica Henderson, & Joe Quinones)
• Patty – “Howard The Duck” (by Chip Zdarsky & Joe Quinones)
• Amy – “Patsy Walker: AKA Hellcat” (by Kate Leth & Brittney L. Williams)
• Listener’s Choice – “Giant Days” (by John Allison & Max Sarin)

East of West, Vaulty Award Winner

Best Comic Villain 2016

• Tony – Brian Michael Bendis for “Civil War II”
• Patty – Shalla-Bal from “Silver Surfer” (by Dan Slott & Mike Allred)
• Amy – Ananke from “The Wicked + The Divine” (by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie)
• Listener’s Choice – The Horsemen from “East of West” (by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta)

Best New Ongoing Series 2016

• Patty and Listener's Choice – “Ether” (by Matt Kindt & Dave Rubin​)
• Amy – “Wonder Woman” (by Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, Liam Sharp, & Bilquis Evely)
• Tony – “Motor Girl” (by Terry Moore)

Best Colorist 2016

• Patty – Mike del Mundo / Marco D'Alfonso (“Weirdworld”)
• Tony and Listener's Choice – Matt Wilson (“Paper Girls”, “The Mighty Thor”, “The Wicked + The Divine”, “Black Widow”, “Cry Havoc”, “Phonogram”, & “Captain Marvel”)
• Amy – Hwei Lim (”Mirror”)

The Flow My Tears Award for Saddest Moment In Comics 2016

• Tony, Amy, and Listener's Choice – “Saga #38” (by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples)
• Patty – “Vision #12” (by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta)

Comic of the Year 2016

• Patty, Amy – “Vision” (by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez Walta)
• Tony – “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl” (by Ryan North & Erica Henderson)
• Listener’s Choice – “East of West” (by Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta)

Read #1ComicADay with Empire's Comics

Last Tuesday, Ben and I were meeting to plan great things for the comic shop (I'm the marketing maven). He says to me, "I want to start reading one comic book everyday."

This sounds like one of his cockeyed plans to get me to read through some of the titles that are piling up in my "Read Pile." Turns out I have a bad reputation for keeping up on the titles I love. Just ask Joey or Patrick or Jake or the pugs...

But this is different: this time it's for himself. We commiserate about how life and work and business and the business of life get in the way and how comics get pushed aside far too easily.

And then, well... things got in the way. Two days go by but I still hadn't read anything -- not even on "New Comic Book Wednesday." So, today, Thursday, we're meeting again (there's always lots to do right before Free Comic Book Day Festival).

Before we start working, Ben says, "I want to read one comic everyday, so that's what I'm going to do first."

"Ok. Me too." So he reads Low and I read Think Tank (by Matt Hawkins who you can meet at FCBD Festival, by the way).

And thus begins a new movement, a new initiative! You are invited to join us, even if you already read one comic (or more) every day. But if you don't, we're ok being a movement of two (haha, pathetic!).

Ben will post his reads on Instagram/Twitter and I will post mine on Twitter. We'll be hashtagging it with #1ComicADay.

Turns out that this works really well: we both read three books today.

Share Your Old Comics With Future Generations

By Kevin Winter
Today is a special post.  I will not talk about a specific series or comics.  I will not review the trends or comment on DC's new relaunch that we are well into.  Today I shall talk about what to do with your comics when you no longer have room.  Everyone will face this fact, after all, you can store only so many comics where you live.  The question becomes...

What do I do with my old comics?  
With many stores not buying comics, and very few comics worth a any money on eBay -- unless, say, we’re talking about Chew number 1 or Action Comics number 1 -- what do you do with them? Hold a yard sale and sell them for 25 cents each?

Think About Future GenerationsI would like to say that I would do something else with them.  Around the country there are several special collections of just comic books and they are looking for donors just like you that are willing to part with their comics so they can be added to the collection for a future generation of people.


Now this is not for everyone, and I stress, do your research and contact the different institutions with what you are willing to donates. Found out if they have those issues already, and whether they want your comic books.  Libraries rely on donations -- for example, the newest issue of Fantastic Four -- for the new comics, since they do not get funds to buy individual comics.

Organizations That Appreciate Old Comic Books
The biggest one in the country is Michigan State University.  MSU’s comic book collection boasts around 200,000 individual American comics,

along with about 50,000 foreign language comics.  Their website is a bit bare bones, and it can be difficult to navigate the site to see what they have already, so you’ll need to call or email them.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has a large collection, around 40,000 individual issues along with a large collection of manga, original art and more.  They are also the official home for the Eisner award nominees and winners.  They are looking for newer runs of currently running comics.  They also have a big Golden Age selection.  As a personal note, this is where I send a lot of my comics and manga.  
Northern Illinois and Bowling Green are two colleges that have smaller collections.  They  might be willing to take donations, but be forewarned unlike MSU and VCU they do not have dedicated staff just for comics.  Also Bowling Green is more focused on original artwork.
UC Riverside has a small collection.  It is mainly to complement their science fiction/fantasy book special collection that they have.  They do not have a special website for comics, and it is all but impossible to search their collection online.
So if you want to donate your comics think of these libraries.  There are a few more than I mentioned.  Again, do your research, email the people at the libraries.  A 20 pound box of comics can cost about $9 dollars to ship via the cheapest way possible (which is the way I send it!) and that can hold quite a few comics.







###

About The Author
Kevin Winter is someone with an opinion about almost everything. A comic fan of several years, he can be seen around Empire's Comics Vault on Wednesdays, and generally spouting an opinion (if anyone wants to hear it or not)...  also trying not to get on Ben's bad side.

Free Comic Book Day 2012 is Saturday, May 5

We're deep into the planning stages for this coming Free Comic Book Day. For those of you unfamiliar with FCBD, it's practically a national holiday! More accurately, Free Comic Book Day is celebrated around the world to promote every aspect of comic books - reading, writing, drawing, the works.

At Empire's Comics Vault, we had more than 10,000 free comic books to give away last year - and we gave most of them away. This year it will be the same. There's absolutely no catch. And best of all, as many of you already know, we have a reputation for allowing fans to take one of each free comic book that's available. Stay tuned for more information this month, and enjoy this commercial we've put together for you.

Number 1 Right Now on KCRA A*List

The Race So Far

Right now, thanks to you, our store fans, we're holding steady at #1 in the Bookstore category in KCRA's A*List competition. Last week we moved from 16th to 9th in about 30 minutes. Then in the next few minutes we moved into the #2 spot. By March 14, at 1 a.m., we took the #1 spot.

So now the hard work begins - staying at #1. Yesterday we fell into the second place spot, but quickly regained #1. That means, however, that someone is hot on our trail.

Vote

To participate, please visit our page on the KCRA A*List website. We hope you'll consider voting for us, however we know that there are many fine shops that promote comic books in Sacramento. It would be amazing to be #1 at the end of the contest in 45 days - it would be even more amazing for the top 5 spots to all be comic book shops!

Here's a look at the current standings in the Book Store Category: