Two Eisner Noms for Night Chef

Nom Nom

Night Chef has been nominated for two Eisners: Best Publication for Kids and Best Painter/Multimedia Artist!

Also nominated in the Best Publication for Kids category is A Song for You and I by K. O’Neill. I haven’t read this new book but the illustrations in the their Tea Dragon Society books are so good. There are no black outlines and the colors do everything. They somehow remind me of Yixing teapots. How do they do it?

I’m also happy to see The Faraway Forest: Wally’s Route by Debbie Fong nominated in the Best Publication for Early Readers category. It also about a raccoon but this one delivers mail. The colorist is Kayla Katanzaro and the colors are deep and luminous. Again, I would like to know how they do it.

I will also be voting for Trung Le Nguyen who has a new book in the Best Publication for Teens category, Angelica and the Bear Prince. Though Tillie Walden is also my favorite in the same category. This will be tough. And I can’t decide whether to vote for Juni Ba for Best Artist/Writer or Linnea Sterte. I loved his Djeliya book and Linnea Sterte’s book A Frog in the Fall is treasured by my daughter.

My Fifteen Favorite Moments from Night Chef

Comics drawings are the size of stamps so let’s celebrate these Eisner nominations by taking a closer look at fifteen of my favorite panels from the book.

1. Welcome to Mole’s Hole! Panko the Possum is serving green drinks, likely Blooming Algae. The frog is playing “Hop on My Lily Pad.” Can you see Night Chef hiding in the corner?

2. Rudy the frog using a tiny pamaypay to fan the grill.

3. What do all the animals at Mole’s Hole have in common? They all eat WORMS!

4. Farewells make Mole tear up.

5. Bad owls are fun to draw.

6. You know the cricket kebab is good because the fox brings it with him as he runs for his life.

7. Night Chef jumping over a broken plank bridge. Does this pose remind you of a famous photograph?

8. Is there any sound more lonesome than a coyote and his pack of dogs howling from a passing freight train?

9. Or more pitiful than an orphaned baby crow?

   

10. These raccoons are all named Pat.

11. I had the most enjoyable summer sitting at my desk painting this book. Why rent an airbnb on a lake when you could stay in a surprisingly spacious, moss-covered tub.

12. Crows are able to remember people and pass the information on to future generations. When I learned that I also came up with my ending for the book.

13. This is Mole’s version of when restaurants put up photos on the wall and reminds me of cave paintings.

    

14. Bowls are for naps.

    

15. Remember when a bell ringing in the distance meant someone made food for you? Me neither but we should all be so lucky.

    Looking at these drawings again I realize that they contain many of my memories of summer. I hope they inspire you. Summer is time to go on adventures, even sitting at a desk to paint a 200-page comic.

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If you are interested in owning original art from Night Chef, the watercolor pages are now up for sale at Athenaeum Comic Art.