Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Surfin the Highway Nominated!



A couple of weeks ago the Eisner Award judges nominated Telltale Game's SAM & MAX SURFIN' the HIGHWAY Anniversary Edition in the category of BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM-REPRINT. Since I've done only a smattering of comics in my career I suppose it's fortunate for me that they have a reprint category at all.

Telltale Games motivated the project and it was tough sifting through all the old material and patching and cleaning up some of the new pages that hadn't been included in the original. Once I got through that I wondered about how a new volume of this book should look. I had scrawled a rough concept, wanting to have fun with the idea of this book being some rare dusty relic from Grandma's attic. Posing as Max I drew and wrote on maps of the Philippines for the interior covers and scanned a real Sam & Max police badge to use in a collage. It was fun to cobble together the disturbing author photo made from an antique snapshot found in my wife's grandparent's basement.

Jake Rodkin at Telltale did the heavy lifting on the project. Pages were scanned from old film and originals, painstakingly cleaned-up, graphic design of the covers, emboss mechanicals devised, colorful personalities wrangled. Two versions of the book were created; a paperback with the embossed cover and the Limited Edition hardcover with signed numbered bookplates. That's the one that's up for the Eisner, alongside some very cool books including Vol 1 and 2 of the Hellboy Library Edition by my old pal Mike Mignola.

Telltale is so excited about the nomination that they have some bundles on sale that offer various combinations of the books, games and other Sam & Max items. Check out: TELLTALE GAMES EISNER SPECIALS.

Some of my extremely talented collegues are nominated for Eisners as well, all in the BEST PAINTER/MULTIMEDIA ARTIST:
Enrico Casarosa's Venice Chronicles
Scott Morse's TIGER!TIGER!TIGER! also nominated for BEST LETTERING
and Jill Thompson for Magic Trixie Sleeps Over

The Awards are presented during San Diego's Comic-Con International at the end of July. Should be a fun night.

--Starchie

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Steve,
I'm so happy for you. You definitely deserve it.

Congrats!

Vujovic said...

That's awesome. Hope you win. Wish I could make it to Comic-Con this year, but most likely not.

Either way, I'll be rooting for you from far away.
Go Steve!

Pop-Monkey said...

Congrats and good luck! I ordered the collection when it was solicited and it took quite a while to actually arrive, but it's a tremendously fun book and was well worth the wait.
Gots my fingers crossed!

Mr. Andersson said...

I probably read it through three-four times in a row when I got it. I just couldn't believe the amount of jokes being pulled in each frame.
You totally deserve to win this.

Anonymous said...

Something that predated me now makes me feel old. I find myself on the other side of the world, and it's all I need to go back for a moment. Funny how even something as farcical as Sam and Max can become sentimental. Win or lose there are pleanty of grateful people out there.

Mike Scott said...

I wanted to point you to this nifty crocheted MAX doll:

http://www.offworld.com/2009/04/day-tentacle-sam-max-amigurumi.html

Lois2037 said...

YYAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!

Oliver Kurth said...

Congratulations!

gilau said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gilau said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gilau said...

>8D, your the man steve, go for it! even with my bad english i bougth myne,i used to go evry were with it, it was like my bible xD, well, thats what my best friend told me when my fricky, obsesive fansi love for your comics made her fill even jelous, like my comic was my best friend or somthing like that, yes ,yes im sick, but i have a long life and history as a freeky,and surfing the highway made somthing that anything ealse had done scinse i was like 12 years old, i recobered and reamembered what i know i want for me, some how gave me back what i want to be and how i wanted to live my life, i cant explain,but thats what your work made on me, what ever, thanx for the fun i have with surfin the highway, sadly i lend my comic to a teasher who fantastic words stoll from me my comic ¬_¬, he never asked for it,even then i havent idea of how it happened that i told hem "i want to lend you my comic." :B naw i reamembered some thing you wrote for the comic telling that that had happend to other of your fans. This is the perfect momment for baing a new one 8D!winning or losing to my taste, never say more than what undoubtedly you do in the minds of your readers, but good luck,i will be pending, and what the hell, i would be verry happy if you win xD...maybe to long for a comment on a blog...sorry a yes and too for earesing and postibg, erasing and posting i had to cut the text 8B.

leemoyer said...

Well deserved. apart from its smaller size, I prefer most everything about the reprint. Bravo to You and to Telltale for giving the people what they need - a really really good laugh!

Chris E. said...

That's pretty awesome. I ordered this last year since I didn't own the original print, but I have read it. It's just fun to read over and over and find all the crazy things I had missed the first time around.

Junaid said...

Congratulations man!

I got one a few months ago and I must say, it feels pretty good having this after years of watching the few that were left on eBay for over 200 dollar...

Jay Fabares said...

the hubby and I love our copy :) well deserved nomination!