The Goethe Award, later known as the Comic Fan Art Award, was an American series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1971 for comics published in 1970. The award originated with the fanzineNewfangles and then shared close ties with The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom. The Goethe Award was named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; Goethe was the person who encouraged Rodolphe Töpffer, "the father of comic strips," to publish his stories. The Comic Art Convention twice hosted the presentation of the awards, at the 1972 and 1974 CACs. The format and balloting of the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards, presented by the Comics Buyer's Guide from 1982 to circa 2010, were in many ways derived from the Goethe Award/Comic Fan Art Award.
Overview
The Goethe Awards/Comic Fan Art Awards were tallied yearly for comic books produced during the previous year, and were given out in the following categories for "professional" comics:
created the Goethe Awards in 1971; the Goethe Awards for comics published in 1970 were first published in a 1971 issue of their fanzine Newfangles. Nominations for the 1972 Goethe Awards ballot were initially published in The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom , The Monster Times, and Graphic Story World. Nominations were sent in from 335 readers. Ultimately, there were 7 categories with 4-7 nominees in each category. 700 fans voted for the final nominees. The 1972 Goethe Awards were presented July 3, 1972, at the Comic Art Convention, New York City, in a ceremony emceed by Tony Isabella and Carl Gafford. The award results were also published in Comic Art News & Reviews. Ballots for the 1973 awards were printed in TBG, Comic Crusader, The Comic Reader, the Gazette Advertiser, The Menomonee Falls Gazette, and Rocket's Blast Comicollector. 1,011 fans cast their votes. The results were published in The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom #38. In 1974, the Thompsons grew frustrated with perceived ballot-stuffing and passed the awards to Tony Isabella, who changed the name to the Comic Fan Art Awards. The awards for comics published in 1973 were presented at the 1974 Comic Art Convention, held at the Commodore Hotel, New York City. They were later published in TBG #63. The final Comic Fan Art Awards were co-administered by Ken Gale and were not announced until TBG #123. In 1982, the Comics Buyer's Guide'', began presenting their Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards, in many ways modeled on the Goethe Award/Comic Fan Art Award.
