Nick Spencer: Acclaimed Graphic Novelist

Early last year we wrote about Nick Spencer's successful, somewhat surprising transition into the world of graphic novels. Now Spencer — the former Cincinnati City Council candidate, club operator and music promoter who moved to New York City in 2008 and whose grand ambitions sometimes got him into trouble — is garnering even more attention within the world of his new endeavor, recently nabbing four nominations at the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2011: Best Short Story, Best Continuing Series, Best New Series and Best Writer.

Published by Image Comics, Morning Glories, which Spencer writes and Joe Eisma illustrates, centers on “six brilliant but troubled new recruits at Morning Glory Academy, a prestigious prep school hiding sinister and deadly secrets.” Spencer has described the series, which debuted in August 2010, as Runaways (the comic, not the band) meets Lost.

Winners in each category will be announced during this weekend's San Diego Comic-Con, the annual smorgasbord for comic-book geeks everywhere.