Fournier receives ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Award; Eisner receives memorial award

Cindy Fournier,VP of Operations for Diamond Comic Distributors, was named the recipient of ComicsPRO’s Industry Appreciation Award during the ComicsPRO Annual Members Meeting in Atlanta, Ga.

Fournier works from Diamond’s home office of Timonium, Md.

Fournier oversees the myriad of duties related to transportation, warehouse management and operations.

In a very critical role for the industry, Fournier is responsible for pulling together all the various aspects of making sure retailers get their shipments in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Fournier has worked in the comics field since 1987, starting with the mail order division of Mile High Comics. She then went on to work for Alternate Realities Distribution Company, which was then acquired by Bud Plant Distribution. After Bud Plant sold to Diamond, Fournier was transferred to Hayward, CA, to run Diamond’s distribution center there.

The Industry Appreciation Award celebrates those who help behind the scenes of the comic-book direct market. The direct market has been crucial in developing comics’ place in pop culture and remains the way most comic-book stories get from creator to fan, ComicsPRO states. The organization aims to honor those people who stand in that gap and help smooth that process.

ComicsPRO members also created the Industry Appreciation Memorial Award to honor those who have passed away, but whose work left a positive mark on the comics specialty retailing.

The recipient of the Industry Appreciation Memorial Award was Will Eisner.

About Eisner:

Will Eisner’s breadth of material spans the eight decades of American comics history, veering from his earliest efforts in adventure and superhero comics while the medium was in its infancy, to 35 years of more mature work best exemplified by the standard-bearer for all graphic novels, A Contract With God. He is credited as an early proponent of the graphic novel and of keeping evergreen material in print. His impeccable design sense raised the bar for every artist that came with and after him. On the business side, Eisner understood the unique relationship between creator and retailer, founding the “Spirit of Comics” award that recognizes the work of the industry’s brightest retailers.

- Matt Price

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