Will Eisner - Michael Schumacher [147]
Even with these stipulations, Ann had strong reservations about her husband’s winning such an award, which was entirely likely.
“I felt that if the award was named after Will, he should not be able to participate. I said, ‘You ought to disqualify yourself,’ but he said, ‘I can’t very well …’ Burne Hogarth, who for some reason didn’t like Will, was interviewed, and he said, ‘What do you think about a man who has an award named after himself so he can win it?’ That’s the kind of stuff that people say, even though you know it isn’t true and it’s done completely out of your control. People are always going to say that you had an in on that award. I said, ‘Will, it’s just not you. You shouldn’t have people think that about you.’ But he did not listen to me.”
Dave Olbrich bowed out of his administrative post shortly after the awards were introduced, and Jackie Estrada, a volunteer organizer with San Diego Comic-Con, took over. “Dave and Will and Denis Kitchen came to Comic-Con and said, ‘Since you’re nonprofit, would you be willing to take over these awards and have them under your umbrella?’” she recalled. “They suggested that I be the one to administer them.”
Estrada was well qualified for the job. She had attended the very first San Diego Comic-Con back in 1970 and became involved in it as a volunteer four years later. What started out as a part-time seasonal job blossomed into a year-round adventure. She eventually wound up inviting guests and working on the souvenir book, which put her in touch with a large number of artists, including Eisner, who contributed art to the annual souvenir book.
By this point, conventions bore almost no resemblance to Phil Seuling’s old Fourth of July gatherings in New York, and none was bigger than the annual gala event in San Diego, which featured enormous crowds arriving from all over the world, many decked out in the costumes of their favorite characters; panel discussions with some of the biggest names in the industry; and displays and booths selling, advertising, or showing off anything related to comics, from memorabilia to the latest offerings. The convention, with its high energy and noise, was not for the faint of heart. People were packed in so tight that just walking from display to display required resolution and patience. Art and commerce collided, with predictable results.
Having been around since the early days of the conventions, Eisner had watched them grow and evolve from the modest to the overblown, and he observed their effect on the industry. “It is to me a most important development in the history of the comic book marketplace,” he said of the comics convention. “I believe it will be seen by historians as an underlying force that changed the direction of comic book content.”
The Eisner Award ceremonies became one of the cornerstones of the convention in San Diego. In her early days with the awards, Jackie Estrada was given a crash course in the logistics of organizing and administering the industry’s version of the Oscars. Planning began months prior to the awards ceremony, and the schedule was tight.
“We mail out a call for stories,” she said, explaining the process that has evolved over the years, “and tons of books come pouring in. I have five judges, selected to get the full spectrum of background. I have a retailer, somebody from book distribution, someone who actually creates comics, a journalist of some kind, and a reviewer. I bring these five people to San Diego, to a hotel for a three-day weekend, and they have a meeting room where all the submitted material is laid out. They have to narrow everything down to the most worthy items in each category, then make sure they’ve read all those items in every category, and then vote on them to determine what goes on the ballot. The ballot goes out to creators, publishers, and retailers in the comic book industry. There’s an online ballot today. To be nominated is