In recognition of the phenomenal talent dailyplanetdc.com showcased last year, we’ll be awarding our contributors and collaborators their own digital honor!
Created in 2020, the Siegel & Shuster Award of Excellence is an original accolade put together by the Daily Planet. It’s named after Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and features authentic digitally composited autographs from Noel Neil’s Lois Lane, Jackie Cooper’s Perry White and Clark Kent’s signature featured in a 1940s fan club newsletter.
Voting will close Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2021.
2021 was a year like none other, and many are glad it’s over while hoping for a better 2022. So many stories came out of last year. As the Daily Planet’s executive editor, I chose nominations for each category. I made my decision based on craft, creativity, factuality and so much more. I’ve narrowed each of the nine categories down to six candidates for each, with the help of Sam Kent who decided on nominees for the “Art & Design” bracket.
The “Top Story” award will be decided by the number of views an individual article has received in 2021. This will be the only award not impacted by the general public vote.
There are a total of 10 different award categories for 2021. We ask our readers to vote bellow. Explore each section and choose your favorite. Readers can vote on each category more than once if they refresh the page.
Best original art & design
Over the course of the year the Planet has had notable contributions from fantastic artists and designers. Our “Best Original Art & Design” award is set to commend their phenomenal talent. Click each image to see the full work and vote for your favorite piece bellow.
Mariano Chikko for the Colorization of the Snyderverse Storyboards
These storyboards outlined the original plans for Zack Snyder’s five-film arc for Superman. However, these plans changed and Snyder has said that there is an unseen revision of these storyboards. The storyboards were compiled from photos taken by AccidentallyDan, which was later posted on social media and censored by Warner Bros. until the exhibition officially opened, compiled by MrJ0NA, and the illustrations were colorized by MarianoChikko, with editing of the fan zine by SamuEl_Kentman and BenzZachary. The exhibition at the AT&T Discovery District of Dallas, Texas was called “The Dreamscapes of Zack Snyder’s Justice League: An Exclusive Exhibit” as part of promotion for the release of the long-awaited “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” which finally arrived on Thursday March 18, 2021, and was hailed as a “global phenomenon” by a senior executive at WarnerMedia. Fans continue to clamor for the continuation of the Superman saga using the rallying roar of #RestoreTheSnyderVerse.
Variant ‘Snyderverse Saga’ cover for the Fall 2021 Daily Planet magazine by Cristián Arriagada
For the bi-annual Daily Planet magazine, Cristián Arriagada contributed the first variant cover which features a homage to the classic “Star Wars” poster. The poster shows Superman blasting his heat vision upwards to the sky, like Luke Skywalker holding up his lightsaber. On the left is the Knightmare landscape, with Apokolyptian ships overhead and a boom-tube showing the Apokolyptian family of Darkseid, DeSaad and Granny Goodness. Steppenwolf’s head floats above like Darth Vader’s helmet in the Star Wars poster. The poster also shows additional Justice League members, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern, hovering in the air.
Justice League cover for Spring 2021 Daily Planet magazine by Cristián Arriagada
For the Spring 2021 Daily Planet magazine, Cristián Arriagada contributed a fantastic poster of the Justice League members on a hilltop, inspired by the concept art from the cover of The Art of the Film book for “Justice League”.
Zack Snyder’s Birthday Monument by Cristián Arriagada
An illustration by Cristián Arriagada recognizing Zack Snyder for his work in the DC universe.For Zack Snyder’s birthday, Cristián Arriagada lent a fabulous piece of Zack Snyder in the same pose as the Superman statue in the Heroes Park, which gets destroyed over the course of events in “Batman v Superman” and is replaced by a monument that says “If you seek his monument, look around you.” This art piece, which accompanies an article by Sanjayan Karthikeyan, has a logo of Zack Snyder’s production company, The Stone Quarry, with the same inscription. A very fitting birthday tribute!An illustration by Cristián Arriagada recognizing Zack Snyder for his work in the DC universe.
Colorized wallpaper for ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ by Aino
Aino is a very talented artist from Finland, who enjoys 3d modeling in Blender and game designs. Aino kindly contributed a colorization of a SnyderCut film poster and made a wallpaper which has been widely used as key art by various news outlets and podcast episode cover art, as well as on the DailyPlanetDC.com website.
David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” poster by Cristián Arriagada
Cristián Arriagada lent his art skills by creating a realistic illustration of David Ayer with the cartoony skull representations of Suicide Squad members. The poster follows the aesthetic design language of the promotional campaign for “Suicide Squad” back in 2016. The battle for the release of the AyerCut continues, and the campaign is helped by powerful art like this.
Best breaking news story
Breaking news stories can be difficult to cover, especially if you’re not faster than a speeding bullet. This category recognizes the efforts, hard work and determination put in by authors who saw a story and reported on it.
Best News features
The Daily Planet’s News section is the most used category. It’s where the Planet’s top stories end up. Bellow are our Editor’s top picks for best news articles from 2021. Feel free to browse through the various articles which are previewed bellow.
Best Comics features
What would the Planet be without comics?! The “Best Comics Feature” award will celebrate the work of passionate authors who write about one of their favorite subjects, actors who portray their favorite characters and shows/movies that depict them!
Best features from The Planet
Our “The Planet” category covers a multitude of subjects that occur across the globe. Voices, opinions and so much more is immortalized within this section. Explore and vote for your favorites!
Best from Culture
This section is the Daily Planet’s most celebrated category. Our “Best Culture Feature” award will congratulate the hard work and determination shown in each article.
Awesome audio
The Planet currently collaborates with several separate podcasts. To thank them for their contributions we’d like to offer each a chance for our “Best Audio” award. Check them out and vote for your favorite!
Always Hold On To Smallville
Always Hold On To Smallville is a podcast dedicated to discussing every episode of the series that ushered in today’s golden age of superhero television, Smallville. This podcast is hosted by Zach Moore and includes various guest appearances.
All Star Superfan Podcast
Welcome to the All-Star Superfan Podcast! A show by two Irish guys in their 30s with an encyclopedic knowledge of Superman, and regrettably little else.
Krypton Report
Krypton Report is a podcast that provides insight on all things Kryptonian. Be it a book about the advanced alien race, or a show about their last son, Krypton Report will be ready with a microphone.
Always Hold On To Superman and Lois
In this special podcast from Always Hold On To Smallville, hosts Zach and Sarah discuss episodes of The CW’s “Superman & Lois.”
The Earth-16 Comics Wire Podcast
The Official Earth-16 Comics Wire Podcast is a place where all comics are celebrated. Whether it is DC, Marvel, Image, Dynamite, Dark Horse, or whoever, all publishers are recognized and celebrated!
Digging for Kryptonite
Digging for Kryptonite: A Superman Fan Journey is a podcast hosted by Anthony Desiato examining Krypton’s Last Son across time and media, with deep dives into the creative visions, character elements, eras, and individual stories that have shaped the Man of Steel for more than 80 years. Episodes release every other Wednesday.
Superman: The Animated Podcast
Superman: The Animated Podcast explores the animated stories of the Man of Steel.
Superboy: The Legacy Podcast
Superboy: The Legacy’s mission is to celebrate and honor the 1988-1992 show, “Superboy: The Series.” The podcast recognizes the blood, sweat and tears that went into the production of all 100 episodes of the series.
The Podcast of Steel
The Geek of Steel discusses every Superman topic on the Planet! From comics, to cinema, this is one heroic podcast that covers every Superman related story there is to know.
Last Sons of Krypton
Hosts Connor and Rey — no strangers to comic hero podcasts — tackle the grand daddy of them all, Superman, in this podcast both for fans and newbies alike!
The Aspiring Kryptonians
Join Tasmin, Ashley and Evan as they talk all things Superman! They discuss their thoughts on the latest and greatest Superman comic books, TV episodes, Film and Animation, as well as their thoughts on current events surrounding Superman.
Uncovering The Truth In Minnesota
Uncovering the Truth in Minnesota is an investigative podcast based out of the state of Minnesota. Unconstrained, unbiased, and driven for the truth, follow us as we use journalism to tell the untold stories of Minnesota.
Best multimedia story
Multimedia stories are articles that feature multiple facets of storytelling. Content included features audio, video and/or any other form of storytelling that helps convey the authors message in a creative way.
Best Superman feature
There would be no Daily Planet without Superman. This category celebrates our favorite hero by recognizing the extraordinary talent that has written about the Man of Steel.
Who is aspiring kryptonians and how are they ahead of holding on to Smallville?!
[…] Jan. 5, 2022 I published an article containing a series of polls. The polls were my top six pics for this years best articles, […]