Broken Frontier Awards 2013: The Winners, ‘Saga’ Snags Three

Broken Frontier proudly unveils the winners of its 10th annual Broken Frontier Awards.

During the last weeks of 2013, the BF staff went through piles of comics and graphic novels and carefully selected five nominees for each of the 11 award categories. As befits a site which prides itself on its diversity of coverage, our nominations ballot once again featured a great mix of talent and projects. On December 17, we opened the ballot for a week of public voting until Christmas Eve and afterwards combined the votes with those of the BF staff, each set accounting for 50% of the final tally.

Looking at the joint results, Hawkeye was a clear fan and staff favorite, with series writer Matt Fraction and artist David Aja both taking home the awards for Best Writer and Artists in the Mainstream categories. But the book itself ultimately proved no match for Saga, which, after snagging plenty of comics industry awards earlier in the year, came out on top in the categories for Best Ongoing Series, and had a huge hand in getting Vaughan and Staples honored as the Best Writer and Artist in the indie field.  There was also massive recognition for the works by Gareth Brookes and Isabel Greenberg, two creators whose voices we, and clearly our readers too, hope to hear much more from in the years to come.

Scroll down for a complete overview of the winners of the Broken Frontier Award 2013. Keep your eyes on the site throughout the week as we’ll run spotlight articles on each of the winners.

Thanks for voting and for being such wonderful and loyal readers!

Best Writer – Mainstream

Matt Fraction (Hawkeye)

Other nominees:
Brian Michael Bendis (All-New X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, Uncanny X-Men)
Jonathan Hickman (Avengers, New Avengers)
Mark Waid (Daredevil)
Scott Snyder (Batman, The Wake)

Best Writer – Independent

Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, The Private Eye)

Other nominees:
Charles Forsman (Celebrated Summer, TEOTFW)
Nicole Georges (Calling Dr. Laura)
Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT, Red Handed: The Fine Art of Strange Crimes)
Greg Rucka (Lazarus, Lady Sabre & The Pirates of the Ineffable Aether)

Best Artist – Mainstream

David Aja (Hawkeye)

Other nominees:
Chris Burnham (Batman Incorporated)
Jamie McKelvie (Young Avengers)
Esad Ribic (Thor: God of Thunder)
Stuart Immonen (All-New X-Men)

Best Artist – Independent

Fiona Staples (Saga)

Other nominees:
Becky Cloonan (Demeter)
Michael DeForge (Very Casual)
Marcos Martin (The Private Eye)
Gary Northfield (Teenytinysaurs)

Breakout Talent

Isabel Greenberg (The Encyclopedia of Early Earth, Tall Tales and Outrageous Adventures)

Other nominees:
Gareth Brookes (The Black Project)
Hannah Eaton (Naming Monsters)
Charles Forsman (Celebrated Summer, TEOTFW)
Katie Green (Lighter Than My Shadow)

Best Ongoing Series

Saga (Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples, Image)

Other nominees:
Copra (Michel Fiffe)
Hawkeye (Matt Fraction & David Aja, Marvel)
Mind MGMT (Matt Kindt, Dark Horse)
Young Avengers (Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie, Marvel)

Best Limited Series

Trillium (Jeff Lemire, DC/Vertigo)

Other nominees:
Dream Thief (Jai Nitz & Greg Smallwood, Dark Horse)
Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard 2 (David Petersen et al, BOOM! Studios/Archaia)
Numbercruncher (Si Spurrier & PJ Holden, Titan)
Storm Dogs (David Hine & Doug Braithwaite, Image)

Best New Series

Lazarus (Greg Rucka & Michael Lark, Image)

Other nominees:
Kinski (Gabriel Hardman, Monkeybrain)
Pretty Deadly (Kelly Sue DeConnick & Emma Rios, Image)
Sex Criminals (Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky, Image)
The Private Eye (Brian K. Vaughan & Marcos Martin, Panel Syndicate)

Best Original Graphic Novel

The Black Project (Gareth Brookes, Myriad)

Other nominees:
Boxers/Saints (Gene Yang, First Second)
March: Book One (John Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Nate Powell, Top Shelf)
Swear Down (Oliver East, Blank Slate)
The Encyclopedia of Early Earth (Isabel Greenberg, Jonathan Cape)

Best Book on Comics

Comics Art (Paul Gravett, Tate Gallery)

Other nominees:
Al Capp: A Life to the Contrary (Denis Kitchen & Michael Schumacher, Bloomsbury USA)
Bazooka Joe and his Gang (Jeff Shepherd & The Topps Company, Abrams ComicArts)
Curing the Postmodern Blues: Reading Grant Morrison and Chris Weston’s The Filth in the 21st Century (Tom Shapira, Sequart)
Magic Words: The Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore (Lance Parkin, Aurum Press)

Best Publisher

Image Comics

Other nominees:
Blank Slate Books
First Second
Nobrow Press
Oily Comics