Of course, then you have to ask… why critics? What gives a critic the right to say who gets an award or not? And who decides what makes a critic? I mean, anyone can have a blog. Anyone can talk about comics. At what point does that blog make someone a “critic”?

Perhaps the entire thing should be fan-based. Let fans do the nominations, being allowed to nominate one comic for each category. The top 6 of each category are the ones who will ultimately be considered. Sort of a two-tier fan-based award ceremony.

Robert A. Howard, Tangents

He says that out of love.

I’m also a firm believer that these awards (like any others) are only as meaningful as you make them. There have been several winners that didn’t interest me, then again there were some that I had never heard of that I’ve become a fan of.

And William G’s right, if we did narrow down a time frame, it probably would be 365 days from the event rather than a calender year.

Anyway, I always just assumed voting was for the previous 365 days before the current awards ceremony. Not too difficult of an idea to hang your hat on. Probably be a good idea for Mark to use if he isnt already.

The fundamental criticism of the awards– that we’re “patting ourselves on the back”– is arguably true of any industry-inclusive set of awards up to and including the Oscars. The Oscars are far from perfect, but without their presence I don’t know if certain artistically ambitious films would even get made, much less widely seen.

As Scott McCloud has it, “the challenge is to grow outward.” Rather than see the WCCAs dismissed, I’d prefer to see them supplemented by a set of awards that are clearly “Critics’ Choices,” that come from people who are not cartoonists themselves nor at risk of becoming cartoonists at any moment.

What say you, FLEEN editors?

I just wanted to touch on what seems to be the main point of this debate; ironing out the dates of what we’re awarding. And the reason I said that it was “easier” to leave it vague wasn’t because we couldn’t make a firm time requirement. But because the votes are really entirely subjective anyway. Creating rules that can’t be regulated is just creating a level of complication that’s easier to avoid.

Unfortunately, without drastically changing our voting process (and possibly creating some kind of mind reading device) there’s no way to verify that the voters really are basing their vote on a comic’s performance during a specific time. So to be honest, the “previous year” objective is really more of a guideline than a rule.

However, as always, anyone who wants to join our planning committee and help us find ways to make the awards stronger and more respectable are more than welcome!

Actually, you disagree with me.

Any comic that has been around for at least a year is not a newcomer.

Or maybe you’re going along with Chris’s joke, and are just trying to get your own comic included. That’s all well and good - but you’re still not a newcomer.

I’ll stick by what I said before, and even if I was nominated for an award through them, I’d ask that it not be listed.

I also think it’s pretty retarded when someone quotes the fact their a winner of these awards– I guess to the outside, it does sound pretty fucking impressive that you won the best of something or other….

YIRMUMAH, Winner of the 2005 BEST COMICS EVER awards.