Fantastic Fangirls: Comics and Culture

In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments. But this week we are making a very special announcement in lieu of the Q&A. The 82nd Academy Awards nominations were announced earlier this morning; now we have invited a special guest to announce the first ever Fantastic Comic Book Award nominations! From the pages of Spider-Man, the lovely model and actress, Mary Jane Watson!

Hi there, I am so excited to be here announcing the first ever Fantastic Comic Book Award nominees. There are four categories for individual characters and an ensemble award. The winners will be announced Tuesday March 9 after a month of open voting. The Fantastic Fangirls and I hope everyone will participate and come out to support our favorite characters! Now without further adieu, here are the nominees.

In the category Best Character in a Supporting Role, Male the nominees are:

Colonel Kane in Detective Comics
Ken Hale/Gorilla Man in Agents of Atlas
Luke Cage in New Avengers
Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Ms. Marvel
Ragdoll in Secret Six

Well, I know who I’m rooting for, but good luck, fellas! In the category Best Character in a Supporting Role, Female we had a tie so there are six nominees. The lovely supporting ladies are:

Barbara Gordon/Oracle in Batgirl
Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel in New Avengers
Jessica Jones/Jewel in New Avengers
Karla Sofen/Ms. Marvel in Dark Avengers
Layla Miller in X-Factor
Pepper Potts in Invincible Iron Man

That’ll be tough! Next, in the category Best Character in a Leading Role, Male the nominees are:

Conner Kent/Kon-El/Superboy in Adventure Comics
James Barnes/Captain America in Captain America
Jimmy Woo in Agents of Atlas
Norman Osborn/Iron Patriot in Dark Avengers
Tony Stark/Iron Man in Invincible Iron Man

Wow, what a year, huh? Okay the last list of individuals, Best Character in a Leading Role, Female. The nominees are:

Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird in New Avengers: Reunion
Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman in Spider-Woman
Kate Kane/Batwoman in Detective Comics
Rikki Barnes/Nomad in Nomad: Girl Without a World
Stephanie Brown/Batgirl in Batgirl

Okay! We at the Fantastic Comic Book Awards want to give a round of applause for all of those performances. The final category honors ensembles and we have eight top vote getters. In the category of Best Ensemble, the nominees are:

Agents of Atlas
Dark Avengers
Green Lantern Corps
Invincible Iron Man
New Avengers
New Mutants
Secret Six
X-Factor

That’s it! Thanks for coming. Make sure you vote and come back March 9 for the announcement! Have a great day!

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For this entirely made up Award, a total of 91 individuals and 18 teams were nominated by and voted on by a committee consisting of the four Fantastic Fangirls and six guests. Everyone is invited to vote for the final winners. To vote send an email to anika@fantasticfangirls.org with the Subject Line Comic Book Award Ballot. Vote for ONE individual character or team in each category. You may vote in any combination of categories but only one ballot per person will be counted so please do not email until you are ready and please send only one email. You will receive a confirmation email when your vote is counted. Please be patient and give me 2 days before emailing that you have not received the confirmation. Votes will be accepted through Saturday March 6. We will post reminders!

Anyone and everyone is encouraged to vote; invite your friends and readers and feel free to campaign on your own blog (remember to link back) and Twitter. Do not feel you have to have read all these comics in order to participate, though we encourage everyone to pick up the books. This is a popularity contest, a fun way to honor some of our favorite characters. Please remember it is all for fun and save the drama for the movies! Comment or email with any questions. Thank you!