FEAST Earns Eisner Nomination

I'm pleased to report that Robert Tinnell's Feast of the Seven Fishes has been nominated for an Eisner Award in the “Best Graphic Album—Reprint” category.

Selected against some pretty heady competition, Feast of the Seven Fishes collects the highly acclaimed slice of Italian-American family life by writer Robert Tinnell (The Wicked West, The Black Forest), artist Ed Piskor (American Splendor), and artist Alex Saviuk (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Spirit). The hardcover collection incorporates authentic family recipes from the families of Tinnell and his wife, Shannon, with the entire run of the online daily strip that was serialized in 2004-2005.

A romantic comedy, the Feast storyline revolves around an Italian-American family’s celebration of the traditional Christmas Eve Feast. The time is 1983 and one of the younger members of the family, who reside in a north-central West Virginia mining and mill town, brings home a blonde, blue-eyed Protestant girl to share in both the cooking and eating. Their path to romance, however, is not an easy one.

"It's hip to trash awards these days - but I'm way too excited to be hip," said Tinnell. "The reaction to this project, whether online or in print, has been very gratifying, but nothing compares to have it recognized this way by the Eisner Awards."

In the world of comic books, the Eisner Award is the equivalent of the Oscar or Emmy. Named for innovator Will Eisner (the fabled creator of THE SPIRIT), the awards are presented at a gala ceremony at the annual San Diego Comic Con. The list of previous winners reads like a Who's Who of comic book legends: Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, Frank Frazetta, Alex Raymond, Charles Schulz, Denny O'Neill, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Miller.

For more on Feast be sure to check out our review and a chat with Tinnell about the book's real-life inspiration and recipes.