Dan DeCarlo: contributed the model sheets to Archie and his pals, created new characters that are among the most well-known comic characters in America, if not the world.

Herge: Tintin's creator wasn't in the Hall of Fame already? I wish there were more creators like him around.

John Stanley: considered by many to be second only to Carl Barks. It's a crying shame there aren't Little Lulu books in stores today reprinting his stuff.

John Buscema: I'll admit it, this vote is partially because he died recently. That said, I've always *loved* his work. He created, in my mind, the "definitive" versions of many characters. Plus he taught a lot of kids how to draw. He does deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Just a quick comment on awards, since I have had a fair amount of experience with both civilian professional and military awards systems--both as a nominator and a judge.

First, as you mention, no matter how the system is designed and administered, there are going to be people unhappy with the results. That being the case, anyone involved in the judging process needs to have or develop extremely thick skin.

To have a successful system, the nominating process needs to have very clearly defined rules regarding categories and the people or items being judged. Then, the judges have to have a clear set of visible guidelines with which to judge nominees/entries, and the scoring system needs to be clearly defined and weighted in some manner that is acceptable to a wide range of people who are experts in that particular field.

A qualified panel (five or more) of impartial judges needs to be selected, and the judges need to judge the nominees/entries as fairly as possible using the guidelines.

The results are then tallied, either by the judges or a third party, and published or announced at the appropriate time.

As a check and balance, the process is scrubbed and critiqued by judges each year, suggested changes reviewed and incorporated into the process for the next round of judging.

If the awards process is run in this fashion, no mature, rational person can really ask for more. So, in my opinion, if anyone who calls up after the fact and gets rude or abusive to a judge because of some perceived slight, they deserve to get hung up on...or get a swift kick in the pants.