HUMBOLDT — The 2019 Sequential Magazine Awards has a familiar Humboldt name on the winners’ list.
The award celebrates the best in independent Canadian comic book creation and Jeff Burton took home second place in the Favourite Podcast category.
This was a surprise to Burton since he has only produced two episodes of The Audio Adventures of Auroraman and his podcast has a unique format compared to the other nominees.
“The other four are standard podcasts; news and reviews type stuff, with frequent shows... I wasn’t expecting much.”
Burton only released two editions of his Auroraman comic in 2019 but nothing that could compete with the finalists that were chosen, he said, including creations from fellow Canadian Comic Book Alliance members that are Burton’s friends and colleagues.
The Alliance as a whole had multiple nominees and winners or runners up in all categories, except the webcomic category.
It is great to see members of the Alliance represented, Burton said.
Following a slow 2019 for Auroraman, Burton has a busy year ahead of him, including the third episode of The Audio Adventures of Auroraman and two new Auroraman comics that are “lightyears ahead” of his 2019 comics.
“This year is my comeback year after a couple of years of slower-moving things.”
Nominations were open starting in November with a panel of judges choosing the final five to eight nominees in each category. Comic book fans from around the world were then free to vote on the magazine website. Approximately 2,500 people took part in the voting process.
It was an interesting process to watch, Burton said, because selected judges and the public had a say in who won.
To know that he has that national, and even global, following in the comic book world shows Burton that people are enjoying his work and they are interested in seeing more, he said.
“It’s pushed me to say this isn’t necessarily just for me and a few select fans who are finding it interesting. There might be people who are interested in it so let’s keep going.”
According to the Sequential Magazine website, the goal of the awards is to, “promoting and celebrating the best independent comic books made by Canadians.”
