| Eagle Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Awarded for | British-based awards for comic book creators, titles, and characters |
| Sponsored by | Mike Conroy (1977–1990, 2000–2014) Cassandra Conroy (2008–2014) |
| Location | British Comic Art Convention (1977–1979, 1981) Marvel Comics Film & Fantasy Convention (1980) London Comic Mart (1983) Birmingham Comic Art Show (1984, 1986) UKCAC (1987–1990) Comic Festival (2000, 2002) Comic Expo (2004, 2006–2008) London MCM Expo (2010–2012) London Film and Comic Con (2014) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Hosted by |
|
| Formerly called | MCM Awards The Stan Lee Eagle Award True Believer Comic Awards (2014) |
| First awarded | 1977 |
| Last awarded | 2014 |
| Website | EagleAwards.co.uk (defunct) |
The Eagle Awards were a series of British awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's seminal boys' comic Eagle, the awards were launched in 1977 for comics released in 1976.[2]
"[S]et up and financed by a group of dealers and fanzine editors" with the intention of including "people with... diverse interests... to make the poll as impartial as possible,"[2] the Eagles were described as "the first independent [in the UK], nationally organised comic art awards poll." The hope was that the Eagle Awards would "become a regular annual fandom event,"[2] and indeed, they were the preeminent British comics award in the 1980s and the 2000s (being mostly dormant in the 1990s), variously described as the country's comics equivalent of the Oscars[3] or the BAFTAs.[4][5] The Eagle Awards were usually presented in a ceremony at a British comic book convention; venues over the years included the British Comic Art Convention, UKCAC, Comic Festival, Comic Expo, and the London MCM Expo. Hosts for the ceremonies included such notables as Simon Pegg, Norman Lovett, Fraser Ayres, Billy West, and Anthony Stewart Head.
Initially the Eagle Award itself was a certificate; eventually the award became an engraved trophy.
Notable repeat Eagle Award winners included Alan Moore, who won the Favourite Comicbook Writer award an impressive eleven times (including sweeping the U.K. and U.S. categories in the period 1985–1987); Terry Austin, who won the Favourite Inker award nine times; Alex Ross, who won the Favourite Comics Artist (Fully Painted Artwork) seven times in ten possible years; and Laura DePuy Martin, who won the Favourite Colourist award six straight times. 2000 AD won the Favourite (Colour) Comic award 12 times, while The Walking Dead won Favourite Black & White Comicbook seven straight times. Batman was voted Favourite Comicbook Character 12 times and Judge Dredd won the award seven times; while the X-Men dominated the Favourite Comicbook Group or Team category, winning it eight times in the span of 11 years. Wolverine won the Favourite Comicbook Character category three times, the Favourite Supporting Character award three times, and the Character Most Worthy of Own Title twice.
In 2014, in connection with Stan Lee, the Eagle Awards were renamed, and presented as, the True Believer Comic Awards. They have not returned since then.
- ^ Morris, Marcus (1977), The Best of The Eagle, London: Ebury Press, ISBN 978-0-7181-1566-1, p. 5.)
- ^ a b c Burton, Richard "'The Eagles' are launched!" in Burton (ed.) Comic Media News #30 (Mar-Apr 1977), p. 11
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
TCJ84was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Huntwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Rigby, Regie. "An Eagle-ly anticipated development!" Comics Bulletin (May 28, 2010).