Amanda of the webcomic Salt the Holly (where she is assisted by fellow DDer BetaJess) made this an easy story to cover with her lucid answers to interview questions, and I'd like to thank her for her enthusiastic assistance. She and her colleagues pulling together this year's awards are obviously a tremendous asset to the Drunk Dunk community. The others are mentioned below.
The voting allows any qualifying DD entity to be submitted in the voting, and the final winner will be the high vote getters. Voting is open through August 10. Voting is open to all Drunk Duck members. Winners are expected to be announced in late August.
Winners for 2007 are listed here. You may be surprised at some of the now-prominent names that were in the competition and members of Drunk Duck at that time.
Q: What are the Drunk Duck Awards?
A: The awards are set up to recognize DrunkDuck-hosted comics in many categories. We have the standard genre categories (fantasy, noir, adventure, etc.) and standard art categories (black/white, color, experimental, etc) as well as some other fun ones like best protagonist or most deliciously offensive. We're hoping to pull some deserving comics into the limelight and honor them for the things they do really well. The presentations will be done awards-show-style but in comic form by other DrunkDuck artists. It's going to be epic! You can vote or follow the presentations as they come about at Drunk Duck Awards 2008.
Q: Where did the idea for the awards arise, and who was involved?
The first DD Awards took place last year, headed up by DrunkDucker Subcultured. Due to scheduling restrictions, he wasn't able to host this year's ceremonies, so a group of us banded together in the forums to whip the 2008 version into shape. BlkKnight, UsedBooks, Iba (http://www.drunkduck.com/last_words), Bocaj, and me... we're basically the foot soldiers for getting this project off the ground.
Q: What do people win?
A: Erm...the admiration and respect of their peers? Plus bragging rights! And a nifty banner/icon to display! Alas, the support and funding is... simply not enough to do more. Maybe next year? *insert hopeful Bambi eyes here*
Q: Is DrunkDuck owner Platinum Studios involved in the awards?
A: The admins, moderators, and overall DrunkDuck community have shown tremendous support and encouragement which is awesome! Sadly, Platinum Studios shows no particular interest in the goings on these days. They've been silent thus far on requests for support/involvement. I'm sure they're very busy with other things, especially since DrunkDuck isn't really a money-making venture.
Q: What makes you say Drunk Duck is not a money-making venture for Platinum?
A: It's hard to say what's actually going on behind the scenes as I have little to no ties with Platinum Studios itself. As it appears, aside from revenue generated by advertising and the occasional comic they pick up for publication, DD is pretty much ignored. I could be completely wrong, but PS doesn't maintain much of a presence on DD other than a navigation bar at the top.
Q: What is your perception of the Drunk Duck community? Is there even a community?
A: There's definitely a community! A very active one, in fact. We're all from different walks of life, but (for the most part) we're capable of having interesting, lively, even intellectual conversations in the boards. I personally believe we're one of the most open, friendly communities on the net. Sure, some of our residents can be snarky (or, let's face it, absolute punkfaces), but overall, we're good people, extremely supportive and helpful both on the message boards and in comic comments.
Q: Why limit the focus to Drunk Duck?
A: DD is full of fantastic comics - and there are so darn many of them! Many of our artists don't advertise beyond DD, so their influence isn't very far-reaching on the net. This means most of the huge comic awards programs miss them entirely. On a smaller scale, since there ARE so many comics on DD, community members could miss some gems - so having the awards is a good way to get some great comics in the spotlight when they could have been unnoticed.
Q: Do you foresee an annual award?
A: I'd love for the DrunkDuck Awards to be annual! This is year number two and we're still perfecting our process. *crosses fingers* If the response is positive this year, I'd definitely throw in for an annual thing.
Q: How much awareness do you think there is among Drunk Duck members of other comics communities? Do you think they're isolated?
A: There are some who tread the delicate paths between DD, SmackJeeves, and ComicGenesis... but I think most of us stick solely with DD. It's not a lack of awareness necessarily, just a matter of preference. I know there are many people who come to DD (whether from other comics communities or not) and stay because we're friendly, supportive, and 98% pure awesome.
Q: Do you follow the WCCAs (Web Comic Readers Choice Awards)?
A: I would see mention of them from time to time when a comic I followed received a nod - but I didn't actually pay much attention until I picked up the DD Awards project! Shame on me. I surfed around on the official website looking for what worked and what didn't since clearly they have more experience than we do going into this project. It's a cool venture - I can only hope *we* make it to eight years!
