Eisner Award for Fatale Colorist Dave Stewart.

The 2013 Eisner Awards were announced last night, and Dave Stewart received the award for Best Colorist for his work on Fatale, Batwoman, and a handful of Dark Horse books including BPRD and The Massive.

Fatale and its contributors received six Eisner nominations this year, but the book was otherwise shut out, thanks mostly to the great work being done on Saga and Hawkeye.

We extend our congratulations to the winners and, indeed, to all who received the honor of being nominated.

Bullets: Fatale Ghost Variant, Brubaker Interview, Art of Phillips Promotions.

A few quick announcements.

• Fatale #15 Ghost Variant.  Can't believe I missed this, but Comics Beat noted that the latest issue of Fatale was released with a beautiful variant cover by Ed Brubaker's former Catwoman collaborator, Darwyn Cooke.  The "Ghost Variant" was announced on the issue's release date by the small and enigmatic group of retailers; you can find a copy by contacting the participating stores or searching the online auction sites.
• CBR Interviews Brubaker on Velvet.  At Comic Book Resources, guest contributor Casey Gilly provides a short interview with Ed Brubaker on his upcoming series Velvet.  The series will be "meta-textual," commenting on the Cold War, the espionage genre, and the way men and women are portrayed differently.
• Art of Phillips Bookplates and Exhibit.  Finally, in consecutive blog posts, Sean Phillips made a couple announcements concerning the promotion of The Art of Sean Phillips, out in October.  British store OK Comics will sell their copies with an exclusive bookplate signed by the artist, and the Lakes International Comics Art Festival will commemorate the book with an art exhibit from October 6th to November 10th.

Opening night of the Kendal, England, exhibit includes a screening of 12 Angry Men, for which Sean Phillips contributed the artwork for the Criterion Collection.  Phillips writes, "The original painting for that cover will be in the exhibition along with over a hundred other pieces."

UPDATE: ...and, I forgot to link to an MTV Geek interview with Brubaker, a fairly lengthy article about both Fatale and Velvet.

Velvet by Brubaker and Epting, Debuting in October.

We noted that Ed Brubaker had big plans for Image Expo, and the announcement came today.  As CBR reports, Brubaker is reuniting with Captain America artist Steve Epting for Velvet, an espionage comic that focuses on a spy who returns to the field after working as the personal assistant to the head of the world's largest intelligence agency.

Nerdist had the exclusive announcement and a brief interview with Brubaker.  The idea for the comic has been brewing for about eight years, Epting is now free to work on the book, and Fatale colorist Bettie Breitweiser will be joining the team.

VELVET #1
story ED BRUBAKER
art STEVE EPTING & BETTIE BREITWEISER
cover STEVE EPTING

OCTOBER 2
32 PAGES / FC / M
$3.50

ED BRUBAKER and STEVE EPTING redefined Captain America with the “Winter Soldier” saga… and everything they’ve done so far has been leading to VELVET!

When the world’s best secret agent is killed, Velvet Templeton, the Personal Assistant to the Director of the Agency, is drawn off her desk and back into the field for the first time in nearly 20 years… and is immediately caught in a web of mystery, murder and high-octane action.

Sexy and provocative, with a dark twist on the spy genre, this EXTRA-LENGTH first issue by two of the industry’s best-selling creators will knock you out!

The new ongoing series (with brief breaks planned between arcs) is scheduled to debut on October 2nd.  As he did with Criminal, Incognito, and Fatale before it, Brubaker is teasing the series with a short "trailer" which you can find at Nerdist and CBR, with slightly easier navigation at the latter.