Eisner Awards

Judges Nominate 16 for 2024 Eisner Hall of Fame

Voters Will Select 4 for Induction

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San Diego Comic Convention (Comic-Con) has announced that the Eisner Awards judges have chosen 16 nominees from whom voters will select 4 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer. These 4 will be joining the 19 individuals that the judges have already chosen for the Hall of Fame.

The 16 nominees are Gus Arriola, Eddie Campbell, Mike Friedrich, Don Heck, Klaus Janson, Abe Kanegson, Jim Lee, Mike Mignola, Tom Palmer, Bob Powell, Mike Royer, Ira Schnapp, Phil Seuling. Leonard Starr, Jill Thompson, and Angelo Torres. 

Voting for the Hall of Fame is being held online. A two-step voting process has been put in place for enhanced security. The first step is for prospective voters to apply at https://form.jotform.com/241017226710141 . After filling out a form, eligible voters will be invited to go to the ballot and cast their votes. Individuals who were approved to vote in 2023 will be sent an invitation to participate and do not need to reregister. Those who are eligible to vote include comic book/graphic novel/webcomic creators (writers, artists, cartoonists, pencillers, inkers, letterers, colorists); comic book/graphic novel publishers and editors; comics historians and educators; graphic novel librarians; and owners and managers of comic book specialty retail stores. The deadline for voting is May 3. Voters must have registered by April 19 in order to be invited to the ballot. Questions about the voting process should be sent to the Eisner Awards administrator, Jackie Estrada at jackie@comic-con.org

The 2024 Eisner Awards Hall of Fame judging panel consists of Dr. William Foster, Michael T. Gilbert, Karen Green, Alonso Nuñez, Jim Thompson, and Maggie Thompson.   The Eisner Hall of Fame trophies will be presented in a special program during Comic-Con on the morning of July 26. A change instituted in 2023, the Hall of Fame winners will have their own special spotlight in the daytime, giving more fans the opportunity to attend.

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Eisner Hall of Fame Nominees 2024

Gus Arriola (1917–2008)

Gus Arriola wrote and drew the Mexican-themed comic strip Gordo. The strip, which prominently featured Mexican characters and themes, set a high standard with its impeccable art and design and had a long and successful life in newspapers (1941–1985). R.C. Harvey wrote in Children of the Yellow Kid: “A pioneer in producing ‘ethnic’ comics, Arriola drew upon his own Mexican heritage in creating a strip about a portly south-of-the-border bean farmer. . . . When the strip started, it was rendered in the big-foot style of MGM animated cartoons, upon which Arriola had been working until then. But over the years, Arriola dramatically changed his way of drawing, producing eventually the decorative masterpiece of the comics page, the envy of his colleagues. He frequently made the strip educational, informing his readers about the culture of Mexico.”

Eddie Campbell (1955– )

Eddie Campbell is a Scottish comics artist and writer now living in Chicago. He is best known for his award-winning graphic novel with Alan Moore From Hell, which was made into a movie in 2001. Campbell is also the creator of the semi-autobiographical Alec stories collected in Alec: The Years Have Pants, and Bacchus, a wry adventure series about some of the Greek gods surviving to the present day. The Fate of the Artist, in which the author investigates his own murder, and The Lovely Horrible Stuff, an investigation of our relationship with money, are also among his graphic novels. He received an Inkpot Award in1998.

Mike Friedrich (1949– )

Mike Friedrich began his writing career as a teenager, writing letters of comment to comics publishers. By the age of 18, he was writing professionally at first for DC with scripts for Batman, The Flash, The Spectre, Challengers of the Unknown, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, House of Mystery, The Phantom Stranger, and many others, including an extended run as writer of Justice League of America. In 1972 he moved to Marvel, where he served as writer of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Warlock, Ka-Zar, and many more. He then shifted to the business side of comics. He was one of the first alternative press publishers (Star*Reach, 1974–1979), created the Marvel Comics Direct Sales department (1980–1982), and then founded the first business management company for comics artists and writers (Star*Reach, 1982–2002). Along the way, he also co-founded WonderCon, ran retailer trade shows, and became a union representative for research scientists and research technicians at the University of California Berkeley. 

Don Heck (1929–1995)

Don Heck’s professional career began in 1949, when he got a job in the production department of Harvey Comics. In 1954, Heck joined Charlton Comics, where he did Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion. He eventually became a mainstay at Atlas/Marvel, where he started out illustrating “Torpedo Taylor” in Navy Combat and “Cliff Mason” in Jungle Tales and Jann of the Jungle. He worked on Journey into Mystery and Tales of Suspense. His first superhero assignment was on the first Iron Man story, which appeared in Tales of Suspense in 1963. Heck also worked on early stories of Thor and Giant Man but is probably best remembered for his long run on The Avengers, starting in 1964. During his time at Marvel, he also contributed to the art on Spider-Man, X-Men, and more. In 1971, Jack Kirby suggested him to DC as an artist for Batgirl. Heck drew this strip for several years along with work on such other DC titles as Justice League of America, Steel, The Indestructible Man, Wonder Woman, and The Flash.

Klaus Janson (1952– )

The penciler, inker, colorist, and educator is known for work for Marvel and DC on such comics as Daredevil, Dark Knight Returns, and Defenders. Janson made his professional debut for Marvel in 1973, inking Rich Buckler’s pencils for the “The Black Panther” in Jungle Action. He inked such diverse Marvel titles as Defenders, Deathlok, Battlestar Galactica, and Howard the Duck, although his main series was Daredevil. He inked for Gene Colan, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, and Frank Miller. Later, Janson focused on penciling and inking, rather than inking alone. With Miller, Janson worked on the The Dark Knight Returns miniseries. He also worked on The Punisher and Spawn. He received an Inkpot Award in 2012.

Abe Kanegson (1921–1965)

Abe Kanegson was the letterer on Will Eisner’s Spirit newspaper strip from 1947 to 1950. Eisner used lettering to set tone or establish mood, and Kanegson’s range allowed him to use types of lettering not often seen in comics, like blackletter, to great effect. His innovations were highly influential on many comics letterers.

Jim Lee (1964– )

DC’s president, publisher, and chief creative officer entered the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel, drawing such titles as Alpha Flight and The Punisher War Journal and gaining popularity on The Uncanny X-Men—on which, working with Chris Claremont, he co-created the character Gambit. That led to a 1991 Lee-Claremont spinoff—X-Men—with its first issue remaining the bestselling comic book of all time, according to Guinness. In 1992, Lee joined other creators to found Image, for which his WildStorm studio provided releases including WildC.A.T.s and Gen¹³. In 1998, Lee took WildStorm to DC, where he drew comics including Batman and Superman. In 2005, he co-created All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder with Frank Miller. In 2010, Lee and Dan DiDio became DC co-publishers; in 2020, Lee became the sole DC publisher. He was one of the driving forces behind the 2011 DC relaunch and made new costume designs for relaunched series and drew Justice League. In 2018, he became DC Chief Creative Officer. He received an Inkpot Award in 1992.

Mike Mignola (1960– )

In 1983, Mignola was a Marvel inker on Daredevil and Power Man and Iron Fist, later becoming the penciler on such titles as The Incredible Hulk, Alpha Flight, and the Rocket Raccoon limited series. In 1987, he began working for DC, too, and drew World of Krypton and The Phantom Stranger limited series. With writer Jim Starlin, Mignola produced the 1988 Cosmic Odyssey miniseries. Writer Brian Augustyn and Mignola produced the Gotham by Gaslight one-shot in 1989. Mignola is best known for creating Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics in 1994, kicking off a shared universe of titles including B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien, and Lobster Johnson. His other paranormal-themed titles for Dark Horse include Baltimore, Joe Golem, and The Amazing Screw-On Head. He received an Inkpot Award in 2004.

Tom Palmer (1941–2022)

Palmer’s comics career goes back to the late 1960s. He began his association with Marvel in 1967 and is most recognized for his inking on pencils by Neal Adams (The Avengers, Uncanny X-Men), Gene Colan (Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Tomb of Dracula), John Buscema (The Avengers), and John Byrne (X-Men: The Hidden Years). Palmer penciled “Jungle Jim” stories for Charlton through Wally Wood’s studio in 1969. He also penciled for Skywald’s Nightmare and DC’s House of Secrets (1970s) and Steel (1990s) and provided cover art for Marvel’s Star Trek and Star Wars titles. His inking style influenced later generations of inkers including Klaus Janson, Josef Rubinstein, and Bob McLeod. He received an Inkpot Award in 2010.

Bob Powell (1916–1967)

Powell went to work for the Eisner-Iger studio in the late 1930s. He worked for many publishers through this studio, including Fiction House (Jumbo Comics), Fox (Wonderworld Comics, Mystery Men Comics), Harvey (Speed Comics), Timely, and Quality (Crack Comics, Hit Comics, Military Comics, Smash Comics, Feature Comics). His most famous series during his Eisner-Iger years was “Sheena,” which appeared in Jumbo Comics. Later, Powell went to work in Will Eisner’s personal studio and co-plotted the first Blackhawk story in Quality’s Military Comics. When the Spirit newspaper comic book section started in 1940, Powell took on the artwork of the “Mr. Mystic” backup feature, which was written by Eisner. After a while, Powell took on the writing as well, and he continued “Mr. Mystic” until he joined the Air Force in 1943. After the war, Powell started working for himself, drawing for such publishers as Street & Smith (Shadow Comics), Magazine Enterprises (Strong Man), Harvey Comics (Man in Black, Adventures in 3-D) and Marvel (Daredevil, Giant-Man, Hulk, and Human Torch). Powell also did the pencil art for the famous Mars Attacks bubble gum trading card series. In 1961 he became art director for Sick magazine, a position which he held until his death in 1967.

Mike Royer (1941– )

Royer has worked as penciler, inker, and letterer, notably over Jack Kirby in 1970s. He assisted Russ Manning on his work for Western/Gold Key’s Magnus, Robot Fighter and Tarzan comic books. Royer later also worked with Manning on the Tarzan newspaper strip and on Star Wars in the late 1970s. He continued to work for Western as an inker of Disney stories by such artists as Tony Strobl, Sparky Moore, and Mike Arens and as artist on such titles as Tarzan, Korak, Son of Tarzan, and Space Ghost, as well as coloring books and puzzles. He adapted and drew Speed Buggy and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, while designing covers and inking stories for Hanna-Barbera’s TV Adventure Heroes. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he inked the work of Don Heck, Steve Ditko, and Ramona Fradon for such companies as Marvel and DC and inked most of Jack Kirby’s comics during this period. He also contributed to such alternative publications as Arc and to Warren’s Creepy and Eerie. He also freelanced for such magazines as National Lampoon and Cracked. He received an Inkpot Award in 1978.

Ira Schnapp (1894–1969)

Schnapp was a logo designer and letterer who brought his classic and art deco design styles to DC Comics (then National Comics) beginning with the redesign of the Superman logo in 1940. He did a great deal of logo and lettering work for the company in the 1940s. Around 1949, he joined the staff as their in-house logo, cover lettering, and house-ad designer and letterer, and continued in that role until about 1967. He also designed the Comics Code seal.

Phil Seuling (1934–1984)

Phil Seuling was a comic book retailer, fan convention organizer, and comics distributor primarily active in the 1970s. He was the organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, originally held in New York City every July 4 weekend beginning in 1968. Later, with his Sea Gate Distributors company, Seuling developed the concept of the direct market distribution system for getting comics directly into comic book specialty shops, bypassing the then-established newspaper/magazine distributor method, where no choices of title, quantity, or delivery directions were permitted. He was among the first group of recipients for the Inkpot Award at the 1974 San Diego Comic-Con.

Leonard Starr (1925–2015)

Starr did his first comic book art through the Chesler shop and Funnies Inc. In 1942, he drew Sub-Mariner and Human Torch stories for Timely and Don Winslow stories for Fawcett. He also worked for a variety of other publishers, including Better Publications, Consolidated Book, Croyden Publications, E. R. Ross Publishing, Hillman Periodicals, and Crestwood. His first work for newspapers was ghosting the Flash Gordon strip for King Features in the mid-1950s. His On Stage newspaper strip began via the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate in 1957; he drew it until 1979, when he was hired by the same syndicate to revive the Little Orphan Annie strip, which he wrote and drew until his retirement in 2000. He received an Inkpot Award in 1982.

Jill Thompson (1966­– )

The writer/artist creator of Scary Godmother (1987) became more widely known in 1991 after taking over DC’s Wonder Woman. She subsequently worked on many titles for DC/Vertigo, including contributing to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Her work has included The Invisibles, Black Orchid, and Seekers into the Mystery, and she has worked on several Sandman-related projects including At Death’s Door, The Little Endless Storybook, and The Dead Boys Detectives. She is co-creator with Evan Dorkin of the award-winning Dark Horse paranormal animal series Beasts of Burden. She received an Inkpot Award in 2015.

Angelo Torres (1932– )

Torres began his career in the early 1950s, assisting his studio mate Al Williamson on such E.C. titles as Valor together with Frank Frazetta and Roy Krenkel (the team known as the Fleagle Gang). He contributed to Atlas mystery and Western titles in the late 1950s. For Gilberton, he contributed to Classics Illustrated; for Feature Comics, he appeared in Sick during the 1960s. He contributed to Warren titles Eerie, Creepy, and Blazing Combat between 1964 and 1967. Torres was one of MAD’s mainstays, providing caricatures and movie parodies for almost 25 years. He has also worked as an illustrator for such magazines as Esquire. In 1989, he drew Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure Movie Adaptation for DC. He received an Inkpot Award in 2000.

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Judges Choose 19 for 2024 Eisner Hall of Fame

San Diego Comic Convention (Comic-Con) has announced that the Eisner Awards judges have selected 19 individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2024. These inductees include 12 deceased comics pioneers and 7 living creators. The deceased greats are Creig Flessel, A. B. Frost, Billy Graham, Albert Kanter, Warren Kremer, Oscar Lebeck, Frans Masereel, Keiji Nakaszawa, Noel Sickles, Cliff Sterrett, Elmer C. Stoner, and George Tuska. The judges’ living choices are Kim Deitch, Gary Groth, Don McGregor, Bryan Talbot, Ron Turner, Lynn Varley, and James Warren. In April, nominees will be announced for online voting to add four more inductees into the Hall of Fame.

         The 2024 Hall of Fame judging panel consists of Dr. William Foster, Michael T. Gilbert, Karen Green, Alonso Nuñez, Jim Thompson, and Maggie Thompson.

   The Hall of Fame trophies will be presented in a special program during Comic-Con on the morning of July 26. The Eisner Awards in 30+ other categories will be presented in a ceremony that evening.

2024 Eisner Awards Hall of Fame Judges’ Choices

Kim Deitch (1944- )

Pioneer underground cartoonist Kim Deitch’s best-known character is Waldo the Cat, a fictional 1930s-era animated cat who stars in the seminal Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Shroud of Waldo, Alias the Cat, and various other strips and books. Kim’s other works include Shadowlands, Reincarnation Stories, Beyond the Pale, and Deitch’s Pictorama, a collaboration with brothers Simon and Seth. Art Spiegelman has called Deitch “the best kept secret in American comics.” Deitch was co-founder of the Cartoonists Co-op Press (1973–1974) and has taught at the School for Visual Arts in New York. He received Comic-Con’s Inkpot Award in 2008.

Creig Flessel (1912–2008)

Creig Flessel drew the covers of many of the first American comic books, including the pre-Batman Detective Comics #2–#17 (1937–1938). As a writer/artist, Flessel created the DC character the Shining Knight, in Adventure Comics #66 (Sept. 1941). He drew many early adventures of the Golden Age Sandman and has sometimes been credited as the character’s co-creator. When editor Vin Sullivan left DC Comics and formed his own comic book publishing company, Magazine Enterprises, Flessel signed on as associate editor. He continued to draw comics, often uncredited, through the 1950s, including Superboy stories in both that character’s namesake title and in Adventure Comics, and anthological mystery and suspense tales in American Comics Group’s (AGC’s) Adventures into the Unknown.

A. B. Frost (1851–1928)

The work of illustrator/cartoonist Arthur Frost was published in three albums: Stuff and Nonsense (1884), The Bull Calf and Other Tales (1892), and Carlo (1913). Because of his skills in depicting motion and sequence, Frost was a great influence on such early American newspaper comics artists as Richard Outcault, Rudolph Dirks, Jimmy Swinnerton, and Fred Opper. His work appeared in magazines such as Harper’s Weekly and Punch.

Billy Graham (1935–1997)

Billy Graham was an African American comic book artist whose earliest work appeared in Warren’s Vampirella magazine in 1969. He eventually became art director at Warren, then in 1972 he moved over to Marvel, where he helped create Luke Cage, Hero for Hire with John Romita Sr. and George Tuska. From 1973 to 1976, he worked with writer Don McGregor on “Black Panther” in Jungle Action. During the 1980s, he worked with McGregor on the Sabre title at Eclipse Comics.

Gary Groth (1954– )

Gary Groth is an American comic book editor, publisher, and critic. Active as a fan, while a teenager he published Fantastic Fanzine and in the early 1970s organized Metro Con in the Washington, DC area. In 1976 he co-founded Fantagraphics Books with Mike Catron and Kim Thompson and served as editor-in-chief of The Comics Journal.  

Albert Kanter (1897–1973)

Albert Lewis Kanter began producing Classic Comics for Elliot Publishing Company (later the Gilberton Company) with The Three Musketeers in October 1941. Classic Comics became Classics Illustrated in 1947. Kanter believed he could use the burgeoning medium to introduce young and reluctant readers to “great literature.” In addition to Classics Illustrated, Kanter presided over its spin-offs Classics Illustrated Junior, Specials, and The World Around Us. Between 1941 and 1962, sales totaled 200 million.

Warren Kremer (1921–2003)

Warren Kremer studied at New York’s School of Industrial Arts and went straight into print services, working for pulp magazines. He gradually took on more comics work in Ace Publications, his first title being Hap Hazard. In 1948 Kremer began working for Harvey Comics, where he stayed for 35 years, creating such popular characters as Casper and Richie Rich and working on titles including Little Max, Joe Palooka, Stumbo the Giant, Hot Stuff, and Little Audrey. In the 1980s, Kremer worked for Star Comics, Marvel’s kids imprint, and contributed to titles like Top Dog, Ewoks, Royal Roy, Planet Terry, and Count Duckula

Oskar Lebeck (1903–1966)

Oskar Lebeck was a stage designer and an illustrator, writer, and editor (mostly of children’s literature) who is best known for his role in establishing Dell Comics during the 1930s and 1940s. Notably, he hired Walt Kelly, who became one of the star creators of the line, best known for originating Pogo while there. Lebeck also selected John Stanley to bring panel cartoon character Little Lulu to comic books. Comic book historian Michael Barrier commented that Dell’s fairy tale, nursery rhyme, and similarly themed titles “represented an effort by Lebeck, who had written and drawn children’s books in the 1930s, to bring to comic books some of the qualities of traditional children’s books, especially through rich and rather old-fashioned illustrations.”

Frans Masereel (1889–1972)

Frans Masereel is one of the most famous Flemish woodcut artists of his time. Like Lynd Ward, Masereel wrote “novels without words” and can be seen as a precursor to current graphic novelists. His first “graphic novel” was De Stad (1925), in which he described life in the city in 100 engravings. Other books are Geschichte Ohne Worte and De Idee, about an idea that’s being haunted by the police and justice. It became very popular among anti-Nazis. Masereel settled in France after World War II and died in 1972.

Don McGregor (1945– )

Don McGregor began his comics writing career in 1969, writing horror stories for James Warren’s Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella. After working as an editor on several of Marvel Comics’ B&W line of comics/magazines, in 1973 he was assigned to write the Black Panther in Marvel’s Jungle Action comics. The “Panther’s Rage” series was the first mainstream comic to have an essentially all-black cast of comics. Don also wrote Killraven, Luke Cage, Powerman, and Morbius, The Living Vampire in that time period. In the middle of the 1970s he created the historically important graphic novel Sabre, with art by Billy Graham. During the early 1980s, Don’s works included Detectives Inc. titles for Eclipse, and he worked with Gene Colan on Ragamuffins (Eclipse) Nathaniel Dusk (DC), and Panther’s Quest (Marvel). His 1990s writing included Zorro and Lady Rawhide forTopps.

Keiji Nakazawa (1939–2012)

Keiji Nakazawa was born in Hiroshima and was in the city when it was destroyed by a nuclear weapon in 1945. He settled in Tokyo in 1961 to become a cartoonist. He produced his first manga for anthologies like Shonen Gaho, Shonen King, and Bokura. By 1966, Nakazawa began to express his memories of Hiroshima in his manga, starting with the fictional Kuroi Ame ni Utarete (Struck by Black Rain) and the autobiographical story Ore wa Mita (I Saw It). Nakazawa’s life work, Barefoot Gen (1972), was the first Japanese comic ever to be translated into Western languages. Barefoot Gen was adapted into two animated films and a live-action TV drama and has been translated into a dozen languages.

Noel Sickles (1910–1982)

Noel Sickles became a political cartoonist for the Ohio State Journal in the late 1920s. He moved to New York in 1933, where he became a staff artist for Associated Press. Here, he was asked to take over the aviation comic strip Scorchy Smith. In that comic, Sickles developed a personal, almost photographic style. His method of drawing became popular among other comic artists and was particularly inspiring to Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates). Sickles and Caniff started working together closely, assisting each other on their comics. After AP turned Sickles down for a salary raise, he devoted the rest of his career to magazine illustration.

Cliff Sterrett (1883–1964)

Cliff Sterrett is one of the great innovators of the comic page and the creator of the first comic strip starring a heroine in the leading role, Polly and Her Pals. Between 1904 and 1908, he worked for the New York Herald, drawing illustrations and caricatures. He started doing comics when he got the opportunity to draw four daily strips for the New York Evening Telegram in 1911. In 1912, Sterrett was hired by William Randolph Hearst, for whom he created Polly and Her Pals. The strip was initially published in the daily comic page of the New York Journal. A year later, it also became a Sunday page and a four-color supplement to the New York American. Starting in the 1920s, Sterrett used cubist, surrealist, and expressionist elements in his artwork. In 1935 he handed over the daily strip to others to concentrate wholly on the Sunday strip, which he drew until his retirement in 1958.

Elmer C. Stoner (1897–1969)

E. C. Stoner was one of the first African American comic book artists. He worked on comics through the Binder, Chesler, and Iger Studios from the late 1930s through the 1940s. For National he drew the “Speed Saunders” story in the first issue of Detective Comics. His other credits included “Blackstone” for EC Comics; “Captain Marvel,” “Lance O’Casey,” and “Spy Smasher” for Fawcett; “Blue Beetle” and “Bouncer” for Fox; “Breeze Barton” and “Flexo” for Timely; and “Doc Savage” and “Iron Munro” for Street & Smith. From 1948 to 1951 he drew a syndicated newspaper comic strip, Rick Kane, Space Marshal, which was written by Walter Gibson, magician and famed author of The Shadow. Stoner is also believed to have created the iconic Mr. Peanut mascot while he was still a teenager in Pennsylvania.

Bryan Talbot (1952– )

Bryan Talbot was part of the British underground comix scene starting In the late 1960s, creating Brain Storm Comix at Alchemy Press, among other works. In 1978 he began the epic The Adventures of Luther Arkwright saga, one of the first British graphic novels. Talbot began working for 2000AD in 1983, producing three books of the Nemesis the Warlock series with writer Pat Mills. His 1994 Dark Horse graphic novel The Tale of One Bad Rat has won countless prizes. For four years Talbot produced work for DC Comics on titles such as Hellblazer, The Sandman, The Dead Boy Detectives, and The Nazz (with Tom Veitch). His other works include the Grandville series of books, the graphic novels Alice in Sunderland, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes (with Mary Talbot), and the autobiography Bryan Talbot: Father of the British Graphic Novel.

Ron Turner (1940– )

Ron Turner founded Last Gasp in 1970: a San Francisco–based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Over the last 50 years Last Gasp has been a publisher, distributor, and wholesaler of underground comix and books of all types. In addition to publishing notable original titles like Slow Death, Wimmen’s Comix, Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, Air Pirates, It Ain’t Me Babe, and Weirdo, it also picked up the publishing reins of important titles—such as Zap Comix and Young Lust—from rivals that had gone out of business. The company publishes art and photography books, graphic novels, manga translations, fiction, and poetry.

George Tuska (1916–2009)

George Tuska’s first professional work came in 1939, when he became assistant on the Scorchy Smith newspaper strip. At the same time, he joined the Iger-Eisner Studio. There he worked on stories for a variety of comic book titles, including Jungle, Wings, Planet, Wonderworld, and Mystery Men. In the 1940s, as a member of the Harry “A” Chesler Studio, he drew several episodes of Captain Marvel, Golden Arrow, Uncle Sam, and El Carim. After the war, he continued in the comics field with memorable stories for Charles Biro’s Crime Does Not Pay, as well as Black Terror, Crimebuster, and Doc Savage. He also became the main artist on Scorchy Smith from 1954 to 1959, when he took over the Buck Rogers strip, which he continued until 1967. In the late 1960s, Tuska started working for Marvel, where he contributed to Ghost Rider, Planet of the Apes, X-Men, Daredevil, and Iron Man. He continued drawing superhero comics for DC, including Superman, Superboy, and Challengers of the Unknown. In 1978, along with José Delbo, Paul Kupperberg, and Martin Pasko, Tuska started a new version of the daily Superman comic, which he worked on until 1993.

Lynn Varley (1958– )

Lynn Varley is an award-winning colorist, notable for her collaborations with her former husband, writer/artist Frank Miller. She provided the coloring for Miller’s Ronin (1984), an experimental six-issue series from DC Comics, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), a four-issue miniseries that went on to become a commercial and critical success. Subsequently, Varley colored other Miller books, including Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, 300, Elektra Lives Again, and The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot (with Geoff Darrow).

James Warren (1930– )

James Warren published Famous Monsters of Filmland, a magazine that influenced just about everyone in comics in the 1950s and 1960s, then went on to publish such influential comics magazines as Creepy, Eerie, Blazing Combat, Vampirella, and The Spirit in the 1960s–1980s. Creators whose work was highlighted in these magazines included Archie Goodwin, Louise Jones (Simonson), Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, Bernie Wrightson, Billy Graham, Neal Adams, Wally Wood, Alex Toth, John Severin, and Russ Heath.

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Judges Named for 2024 Eisner Awards

Six Comics Experts Make Up Nominating Committee

Comic-Con is proud to announce that the judging panel has been named for the 2024 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, which will reward excellence for works published in 2023. This year’s judges are Ryan Claytor, N. C. Christopher Couch, Andréa Gilroy, Joseph Illidge, Mathias Lewis, and Jillian Rudes:

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The judges are chosen by Comic-Con’s awards subcommittee, made up of individuals from the board of directors, staff, and various departments. The judges are selected to represent all aspects of the comics industry, including creators, retailers, academic/historians, and journalists. A separate panel of judges is in charge of judging the Eisner Hall of Fame.

The judges will select the nominees that will be placed on the Eisner Awards ballot in some 30 categories. The nominees will then be voted on by professionals in the comic book industry, and the results will be announced in an awards ceremony at Comic-Con in July.

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Eisner Awards Now Accepting Submissions for 2024

Comic-Con Sets March 15 Deadline

Comic-Con International (Comic-Con), the premier comic book and popular arts event in the world, has announced that submissions are being accepted for consideration by the judges for the 2024 Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards.

The tentative categories include best short story, best single issue/one-shot, best continuing series (at least two issues must have been published in 2023), best limited series (at least half of the series must have been published in 2023), best new series, best limited series, best publications for kids and teens, best anthology, best humor publication, best U.S. edition of international material, best graphic album–new, best graphic album–reprint, best reality-based work, best memoir, best adaptation from another medium, best digital comic, best webcomic, best archival collection, best writer, best writer/artist, best penciller/inker (individual or team), best painter (interior art), best lettering, best coloring, best cover artist, best comics-related book or periodical, best scholarly/academic work, and best publication design. The judges may add, delete, or combine categories at their discretion.

Publishers may submit a maximum of five nominees for any one category, and the same item or person can be submitted in more than one category. Each imprint, line, or subsidiary of a publisher may submit its own set of entries. Creators can submit materials for consideration if their publisher is either no longer in business or is unlikely to participate in the nomination process. Only ONE copy of each book need be submitted, even if it is being nominated in multiple categories. In addition, pdfs of the works are welcome. The cover letter should list the items being submitted and in what category, and it should include both a mailing address and an email address for the person or company submitting the material. (Guidelines for preparing submissions letters are provided with the downloadable pdf of the Call for Submissions.) There are no entry fees.

All physical submissions should be sent to Jackie Estrada, Eisner Awards Administrator, Comic-Con, 4375 Jutland Drive, San Diego, CA 92117, before the deadline of March 15. No submissions should be sent directly to the judges. Note that this address is new as of 2023.

The best digital comic and best webcomic categories are open to any new, professionally produced long-form original comics work posted online in 2023. “Digital comics” are complete issues of comics or graphic novels that are available for online viewing or for download. “Webcomics” are comics stories that are serialized online (such as a daily or weekly) and/or that use formats other than the traditional comic book page and take advantage of being online (horizontal, scrolled, etc.). The URLs and any necessary access information should be emailed to Eisner Awards administrator Jackie Estrada: jackie@comic-con.org.

The Eisner Award nominees will be announced in May, and online voting will be available to professionals in the comics industry, including creators, editors, publishers, distributors, and retailers. The results will be announced at the awards ceremony at Comic-Con on Friday, July 26.

Further information on the Eisner Awards can be found in this downloadable pdf.

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Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Hall of Fame to Have Separate Judging, Ceremony

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards will turn 36 in 2024. Each year, a panel of judges select the nominees in 30+ categories, and then professionals in the comics industry vote to choose the winners. The trophies are then handed out in an awards ceremony on Friday night of Comic-Con.

For the Hall of Fame portion of the awards, the judging has evolved to include not only nominees to be voted on via an online ballot but also automatic inductees selected by the judges. These are people that the judges feel have made major contributions to the comic book/graphic storytelling medium but are unlikely to be chosen by voters. These choices have included persons from the pioneering years of comics as well as creators who have been nominated multiple times but not yet been inducted.

As more and more creators have become eligible for the Hall of Fame (the person’s first significant professional work must have appeared at least 35 years before the year of the awards), the judging panels in recent years have felt the need to expand the number of inductees. In 2022 there were 6 judges’ choices and 6 elected inductees. In 2023 there were 15 judges’ choices and 4 elected inductees.

To accommodate the increase in recipients in 2023, a separate Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday morning of Comic-Con was established. Doing so allowed for each inductee to get greater attention, and it led to a shorter Friday night ceremony for the other 32 categories (45 minutes less than in 2022).

Holding the separate ceremony was well received, and a similar ceremony is planned for Comic-Con 2024. In addition, to lighten the load on the Eisner judges so they can concentrate on the other categories, a separate Hall of Fame judging panel has been enlisted. This panel is made up of past Eisner Awards judges whose expertise is in the history of comics. Their task is to arrive at the judges’ choice inductees and the nominees to be voted on, with the goal of reaching these decisions by early February. (The 2024 Eisner Awards Call for Entries will be issued in early January, and the judges for 2024 will be announced at that time.)

The Hall of Fame judges are Dr. William Foster, Michael T. Gilbert, Karen Green, Alonso Nuñez, Jim Thompson, and (no relation) Maggie Thompson. The co-chairs of the judging panel are Jim and Alonso. The Eisner Awards Administrator is Jackie Estrada.

The Eisner Awards, part of the San Diego Comic Convention organization, are held each summer during Comic-Con.

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2024 Will Eisner Comic Industry Hall of Fame Judges

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DC Comics can boast of six award winners at the 35th Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, held July 21 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. Batman was involved in four of the wins: Best Short Story (“Finding Batman” by Kevin Conroy and J. Bone), Best Single Issue (Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads), Best Continuing Series (Nightwing by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo), and Best Cover Artist (Redondo). In addition, Human Target (by Tom King and Greg Smallwood) won awards for Best Limited Series and Best Penciller/Inker.

Other multiple award winners were Kate Beaton’s Ducks (Best Graphic Memoir, Best Writer/Artist; Drawn & Quarterly), Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s The Night Eaters Book 1 (Best Graphic Album­–New, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist; Abrams ComicArts), and Parker: The Martini Edition (Best Graphic Album–Reprint,  Best Publication Design; IDW).

Presenters during the gala evening included voice actors Maurice LaMarche, Adam McArthur, and Eric Bauza; Batman movie producer Michael Uslan; actors David Dastmalchain, Felicia Day, and Janeshia Adams-Ginyard; comedian Stephen Glickman; comics creators Mark Buckingham and Wendy and Richard Pini; Comic-Con Special Guests Keith Knight, Stephen Notley, John Semper, and David F. Walker; and Clampett Award winner Bill Morrison.

The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, presented by Bob’s daughter Ruth, was presented to Beth Accomando and Scott Dunbier. The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award went to artist Zoe Thorogood; it was presented by past Russ Manning assistant Bill Stout.

The 17th annual Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing was presented by Mark Evanier to two recipients: Barbara Friedlander and the late Sam Glanzman. Sam’s son Thomas accepted the award on his behalf. Maggie Thompson introduced the special In Memoriam video salute to those from the Comic-Con family who died in the past year.

The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, given to a store that has done an outstanding job of supporting the comics art medium both in the community and within the industry at large, was awarded by Joe Ferrara to Cape & Cowl (Oakland, CA). Accepting was the owner, Eitan Manhoff.

The afterparty sponsor was HarperAlley. The principal sponsors were Gentle Giant Studios, mycomicshop.com, and Pan-Universal Galactic Worldwide. Supporting sponsors were Alternate Reality Comics (Las Vegas), Atlantis Fantasyworld (Santa Cruz, CA), Diamond Comics Distributors, and Golden Apple Comic and Art Foundation.

Eisner Awards Administrator Jackie Estrada opened and closed the ceremony. The Eisner Awards and ceremony are underwritten by San Diego Comic Convention.

Best Short Story
“Finding Batman” by Kevin Conroy and J. Bone in DC Pride 2022 (DC)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot
Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)

Best Continuing Series
Nightwing, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)

Best Limited Series
The Human Target, by Tom King and Greg Smallwood (DC)

Best New Series
Public Domain, by Chip Zdarsky (Image) 

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)
The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster! by Mo Willems (Union Square Kids)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)
Frizzy, by Claribel A. Ortega and Rose Bousamra (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)
Do a Powerbomb! by Daniel Warren Johnson (Image)

Best Humor Publication 
Revenge of the Librarians, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly) 

Best Anthology
The Nib Magazine, edited by Matt Bors (Nib)

Best Reality-Based Work
Flung Out of Space, by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer (Abrams ComicArts)

Best Graphic Memoir
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—New
The Night Eaters, Book 1: She Eats the Night, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Abrams ComicArts)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Parker: The Martini Edition—Last Call, by Richard Stark, Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker, and Sean Phillips (IDW)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium
Chivalry by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Colleen Doran (Dark Horse)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
Blacksad: They All Fall Down Part 1, by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, translation by Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander (Dark Horse

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
Shuna’s Journey, by Hayao Miyazaki; translation by Alex Dudok de Wit (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)
Come Over Come Over, It’s So Magic, and My Perfect Life, by Lynda Barry, edited by Peggy Burns (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)
The Fantastic Worlds of Frank Frazetta, edited by Dian Hansen (TASCHEN)

Best Writer
James Tynion IV, House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); The Nice House on the Lake, The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country (DC), The Closet, The Department of Truth (Image)

Best Writer/Artist
Kate Beaton, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Greg Smallwood, The Human Target (DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Sana Takeda, The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night (Abrams ComicArts); Monstress (Image)

Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)
Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)

Best Coloring
Jordie Bellaire, The Nice House on the Lake, Suicide Squad: Blaze (DC); Antman, Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age (Marvel) 

Best Lettering
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (IDW)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
PanelXPanel magazine, edited by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and Tiffany Babb (panelxpanel.com)

Best Comics-Related Book
Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects, by Benjamin L. Clark and Nat Gertler (Schulz Museum)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work
The LGBTQ+ Comics Studies Reader: Critical Openings, Future Directions, edited by Alison Halsall and Jonathan Warren (University Press of Mississippi)

Best Publication Design
Parker: The Martini Edition—Last Call, designed by Sean Phillips (IDW)

Best Webcomic
Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe (WEBTOON)

Best Digital Comic
Barnstormers, by Scott Snyder and Tula Lotay (Comixology Originals)

Hall of Fame:
Judges’ Choices: Jerry Bails, Tony DeZuniga, Justin Green, Bill Griffith. Jay Jackson, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Jack Katz, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Win Mortimer, Diane Noomin, Gaspar Saladino, Kim Thompson, Garry Trudeau, Mort Walker, Tatjana Wood
Voters’ Choices: Brian Bolland, Anne Nocenti, Tim Sale, Diana Schutz 

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Beth Accomando, Scott Dunbier

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Zoe Thorogood

Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing: Barbara Friedlander, Sam Glanzman

Nominees Announced for 2023 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards

Image and DC have the most nominations

SAN DIEGO – Comic-Con is proud to announce the nominees for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2023. The nominations are for works published between January 1 and December 31, 2022 and were chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges.

Once again, this year’s nominees in 32 categories reflect the wide range of material being published in the U.S. today in comics and graphic novels, representing some 150 print and online titles from over 50 publishers, produced by creators from all over the world.

Image and DC received the most nominations: Image with 20 (plus 6 shared) and DC with 11 (plus 5 shared). Image’s nominees span a spectrum of titles, with multiple nominations for Clementine, The Department of Truth, It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, Killadelphia, Love Everlasting, Monstress, and Rain. Topping DC’s nominees are Human Target and Nightwing, with 3 each.

Fantagraphics has 9 nominations, including in the Archival Collection categories, with 3 in the Comic Strip category and 2 in the Comic Book category.

Marvel Comics received 9 nominations (plus 3 shared), including 2 each in the Short Story, Single Issue, and Continued Series categories. Dark Horse had 9 (plus 2 shared), led by 2 for Jeff Lemire’s Mazebook Dark Horse Direct Edition (Best Graphic Album–Reprint, Best Publication Design).

Other publishers with multiple nominations include Abrams (with 7 plus 1 shared), Drawn & Quarterly (6), Z2 (6), IDW (5), First Second (4 plus 1 shared), Penn State University/Graphic Mundi (4), Ablaze (3 plus 1 shared), Humanoids (3 plus 1 shared), Andrews McMeel (3), TwoMorrows (3), VIZ Media (3), and BOOM! (2 plus one shared).  Six companies have 2 nominations each, and another 33 companies or individuals have 1 nomination each.

Other projects with more than two nominations are The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Best Graphic Album–New, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist, Best Letterer; Abrams), and Joe Hill’s Rain by David M. Booher and Zoe Thorogood (Best Adaptation from Another Medium, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist, Best Cover Artist; Syzygy/Image). Over 20 titles had 2 nominations.

When it comes to creators, Zoe Thorogood leads the pack with 5 nominations: the 3 for Rain plus 2 for her memoir It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth (Image), followed by Tom King with 4 (Best Writer, Best Single Issue: Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler; DC; Best New Series: Love Everlasting, Image; and Best Limited Series: The Human Target, DC). Six creators have 3 nominations. They are Sean Phillips (Best Penciller/Inker, and 2 for Parker: The Martini Edition, IDW), Bruno Redondo (Best Penciller/Inker, Best Cover Artist, and Best Continuing Series for Nightwing, DC), Mark Russell (Best Writer, Best Limited Series for Superman: Space Age, DC; and Best New Series for Traveling to Mars, Ablaze), Sana Takeda (Best Painter/Multimedia Artist, Best Cover Artist, Best Graphic Album–New for Night Eaters, Abrams), James Tynion IV (Best Writer, Best Continuing Series for The Department of Truth, Image; and Best Limited Series for The Nice House on the Lake, DC), and Chip Zdarsky (Best Writer, Best Continuing Series for Daredevil, Marvel; Best New Series for Public Domain, Image). Another thirteen creators had 2 nominations.

Named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, the awards are celebrating their 35th year of bringing attention to and highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels. The 2023 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of librarian Moni Barrette, educator/collector Peter Jones, retailer Jen King, journalist Sean Kleefeld, scholar/comics creator A. David Lewis, and comics instructor/curator TJ Shevlin.

Voting for the awards is being held online using a two-step process. The first step is for prospective voters to apply at https://https://form.jotform.com/230927489799177. After filling out the form, eligible voters will be invited to go to the ballot and cast their votes. Those who previously registered will automatically be invited to fill out the new ballot. All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote. The deadline for voting is June 9. New voters must have registered by June 2 in order to be invited to the ballot. Questions about the voting process should be sent to the Eisner Awards administrator, Jackie Estrada at jackie@comic-con.org

The Eisner Award trophies will be presented in a gala awards ceremony to be held at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront Hotel during Comic-Con on the evening of July 21.

The Eisner Awards are presented under the auspices of San Diego Comic Convention, a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation organized for charitable purposes and dedicated to creating the general public’s awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, including nonprofit educational organizations dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture.

Eisner Awards Nominees 2023

Best Short Story

• “The Beekeeper’s Due,” by Jimmy Stamp and Débora Santos, in Scott Snyder Presents: Tales from the Cloakroom (Cloakroom Comics)
• “Finding Batman” by Kevin Conroy and J. Bone in DC Pride 2022 (DC)
• “Good Morning,” by Christopher Cantwell and Alex Lins, in Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood #4 (Marvel)
• “Silent All These Years,” by Margaret Atwood and David Mack, in Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes (Z2)
• “You Get It,” by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto, in Amazing Fantasy #1000 (Marvel)

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Best Single Issue/One-Shot

• Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)
• Mary Jane & Black Cat Beyond, by Jed Mackay and C. F. Villa (Marvel)
• Moon Knight: Black, White, and Blood #3, edited by Tom Brevoort (Marvel)
• Star Trek #400, edited by Heather Antos (IDW)
• A Vicious Circle Book 1, by Mattson Tomlin and Lee Bermejo (BOOM! Studios)

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Best Continuing Series

• Daredevil, by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto and Rafael de Latorre (Marvel)
• The Department of Truth, by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)
• Killadelphia, by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander (Image)
• The Nice House on the Lake, by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno (DC)
• Nightwing, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)
• She-Hulk, by Rainbow Rowell, Rogê Antônio, Luca Maresca, and Takeshi Miyazawa (Marvel)

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Best Limited Series

• Animal Castle, by Xavier Dorison and Felix Delep, translation by Ivanka Hahnenberger (Ablaze)
• Batman: One Bad Day, edited by Dave Wielgosz and Jessica Berbey (DC)
• The Human Target, by Tom King and Greg Smallwood (DC)
• Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age, by Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham (Marvel)
• Superman: Space Age, by Mark Russell, Michael Allred, and Laura Allred (DC)

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Best New Series

• The Atonement Bell, by Jim Ousley and Tyler B. Ruff (Red 5)
• Love Everlasting, by Tom King and Elsa Charretier (Image)
• Public Domain, by Chip Zdarsky (Image)
• Star Trek, by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Ramon Rosanas (IDW)
• Traveling to Mars, by Mark Russell and Roberto Meli (Ablaze)

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Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

• Beneath The Trees: A Fine Summer, by Dav (Magnetic Press)
• Fox + Chick: Up and Down: and Other Stories, by Sergio Ruzzier (Chronicle Books)
• Grumpy Monkey Who Threw That? by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang (Random House Studio)
• Hey, Bruce!: An Interactive Book, by Ryan Higgins (Disney/Hyperion)
• The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster! by Mo Willems (Union Square Kids)

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Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

• Adventuregame Comics: Leviathan, by Jason Shiga (Amulet/Abrams)
• Frizzy, by Claribel A. Ortega and Rose Bousamra (First Second/Macmillan)
• Isla To Island, by Alexis Castellanos (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)
• Little Monarchs, by Jonathan Case (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House)
• Swim Team, by Johnnie Christmas (HarperAlley)

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Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

• Chef’s Kiss, by Jarrett Melendez and Danica Brine (Oni)
• Clementine Book One, by Tillie Walden (Image Skybound)
• Do A Powerbomb! by Daniel Warren Johnson (Image)
• Heartstopper Volume 4, by Alice Oseman (Scholastic Graphix)
• Wash Day Diaries, by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith (Chronicle Books)

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Best Humor Publication

• Cryptid Club, by Sarah Andersen (Andrews McMeel)
• I Hate This Place, by Kyle Starks and Artyom Topilin (Image Skybound)
• Killer Queens, by David Booher and Claudia Balboni (Dark Horse)
• Mr. Lovenstein Presents: Failure, by J. L. Westover (Image Skybound)
• Revenge of the Librarians, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)

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Best Anthology

• Creepshow, edited by Alex Antone and Jon Moisan (Image Skybound)
• The Illustrated Al: The Songs of “Weird Al” Yankovic, edited by Josh Bernstein (Z2)
• The Nib Magazine, edited by Matt Bors (Nib)
• Sensory: Life on the Spectrum, edited by Bex Ollerton (Andrews McMeel)
• Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes, The Graphic Album, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Z2)

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Best Reality-Based Work

• Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense, by Noël Simsolo and Dominique Hé, translation by Montana Kane (NBM)
• Alice Guy: First Lady of Film, by José-Louis Bocquet and Catel Muller, translation by Edward Gauvin (SelfMadeHero)
• But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust, edited by Charlotte Schallié (University of Toronto Press)
• Flung Out of Space, by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer (Abrams ComicArts)
• Invisible Wounds: Graphic Journalism, by Jess Ruliffson (Fantagraphics)
• Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball, by Jon Chad (First Second/Macmillan)

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Best Graphic Memoir

• Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story, by Catherine Pioli, translated by J. T. Mahany (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)
• Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)
• It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth: An Auto-Bio-Graphic-Novel, by Zoe Thorogood (Image)
• So Much for Love: How I Survived a Toxic Relationship, by Sophie Lambda, translation by Montana Kane (First Second/Macmillan)
• Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure, by Lewis Hancox (Scholastic Graphix)

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Best Graphic Album—New

• The Book of Niall, by Barry Jones (Ellie & Beatty)
• Crushing, by Sophie Burrows (Algonquin Young Readers)
• The Night Eaters, Book 1: She Eats the Night, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Abrams ComicArts)
• Ultrasound, by Conor Stechschulte (Fantagraphics)

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Best Graphic Album—Reprint

• Days of Sand, by Aimée de Jongh, translation by Christopher Bradley (SelfMadeHero)
• Geneviève Castrée: Complete Works, by Geneviève Castrée, translation by Phil Elverum and Aleshia Jensen (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Mazebook Dark Horse Direct Edition, by Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse)
• One Beautiful Spring Day, by Jim Woodring (Fantagraphics)
• Parker: The Martini Edition—Last Call, by Richard Stark, Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker, and Sean Phillips (IDW)
• Super Spy Deluxe Edition, by Matt Kindt (Dark Horse)

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Best Adaptation from Another Medium

• Chivalry by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Colleen Doran (Dark Horse)
• Rain by Joe Hill, adapted by David M. Booher and Zoe Thorogood (Syzygy/Image)
• Ten Days in a Madhouse, by Nellie Bly, adapted by Brad Ricca and Courtney Sieh (Gallery 13/Simon $ Schuster)
• Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes, The Graphic Album, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Z2)
• A Visit to Moscow by Rabbi Rafael Grossman, adapted by Anna Olswanger and Yevgenia Nayberg (Turner)

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Best U.S. Edition of International Material

• Always Never, by Jordi Lafebre, translation by Montana Kane (Dark Horse)
• Blacksad: They All Fall Down Part 1, by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, translation by Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander (Dark Horse)
• Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story, by Catherine Pioli, translation by J. T. Mahany (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)
• The Pass, by Espé, translation by J.T. Mahany (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)
• Tiki: A Very Ruff Year, by David Azencot and Fred Leclerc, translation by Nanette McGuinness (Life Drawn/Humanoids)

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Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

• Black Paradox, by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)
• The Hellbound vols. 1-2, by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok, translation by Danny Lim (Dark Horse)
• Look Back, by Tatsuki Fujimoto, translation by Amanda Haley (VIZ Media)
• PTSD Radio vol. 1, by Masaaki Nakayama, translation by Adam Hirsch (Kodansha)
• Shuna’s Journey, by Hayao Miyazaki; translation by Alex Dudok de Wit (First Second/Macmillan)
• Talk to My Back, by Yamada Murasaki, translation by Ryan Holmberg (Drawn & Quarterly)

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Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)

• Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos, by Jay Jackson (New York Review Comics)
• Come Over Come Over, It’s So Magic, and My Perfect Life, by Lynda Barry, edited by Peggy Burns (Drawn & Quarterly)
• The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1922-1924, by George Herriman, edited by J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)
• Macanudo: Welcome to Elsewhere, by Liniers, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
• Pogo The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips: Volume 8: Hijinks from the Horn of Plenty, by Walt Kelly, edited by Mark Evanier and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)

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Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)

• The Deluxe Gimenez: The Fourth Power & The Starr Conspiracy, by Juan Gimenez, edited by Alex Donoghue and Bruno Lecigne (Humanoids)
• The Fantastic Worlds of Frank Frazetta, edited by Dian Hansen (TASCHEN)
• Home to Stay! The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories, by Ray Bradbury and various; edited by J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)
• The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus 1 (Abrams ComicArts)
• Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge: The Diamond Jubilee Collection, by Carl Barks; edited by David Gerstein (Fantagraphics)

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Best Writer

• Grace Ellis, Flung Out of Space (Abrams ComicArts)
• Tom King, Batman: Killing Time, Batman: One Bad Day, Gotham City: Year One, The Human Target, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (DC); Love Everlasting (Image)
• Mark Russell, Traveling to Mars (Ablaze), One-Star Squadron, Superman: Space Age (DC); The Incal: Psychoverse (Humanoids)
• James Tynion IV, House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); The Nice House on the Lake, The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country (DC), The Closet, The Department of Truth (Image)
• Chip Zdarsky, Stillwater (Image Skybound); Daredevil (Marvel)

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Best Writer/Artist

• Sarah Andersen, Cryptid Club (Andrews McMeel)
• Kate Beaton, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Espé, The Pass (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University)
• Junji Ito, Black Paradox, The Liminal Zone (VIZ Media)
• Zoe Thorogood, It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth (Image)

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Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

• Jason Shawn Alexander, Killadelphia, Nita Hawes’ Nightmare Blog (Image)
• Alvaro Martínez Bueno, The Nice House on the Lake (DC)
• Sean Phillips, Follow Me Down, The Ghost in You (Image)
• Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)
• Greg Smallwood, The Human Target (DC)

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Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

• Lee Bermejo, A Vicious Circle (BOOM! Studios)
• Felix Delep, Animal Castle (Ablaze)
• Daria Schmitt, The Monstrous Dreams of Mr. Providence (Europe Comics)
• Sana Takeda, The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night (Abrams ComicArts); Monstress (Image)
• Zoe Thorogood, Rain (Syzygy/Image)

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Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)

• Jen Bartel, She-Hulk (Marvel)
• Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)
• Alex Ross, Astro City: That Was Then . . . (Image); Fantastic Four, Black Panther (Marvel)
• Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)
• Zoe Thorogood, Joe Hill’s Rain (Syzygy/Image)

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Best Coloring

• Jordie Bellaire, The Nice House on the Lake, Suicide Squad: Blaze (DC); Antman, Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age (Marvel)
• Jean-Francois Beaulieu, I Hate Fairyland 2022, Twig (Image)
• Dave McCaig, The Incal: Psychoverse (Humanoids)
• Jacob Phillips, Follow Me Down, The Ghost in You, That Texas Blood (Image)
• Alex Ross and Josh Johnson, The Fantastic Four: Full Circle (Abrams ComicArts)
• Diana Sousa, Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins; The Mighty Nein Origins: Yasha Nydoorin; The Mighty Nein Origins: Fjord Stone; The Mighty Nein Origins: Caleb Widogast (Dark Horse)

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Best Lettering

• Pat Brosseau, Batman: The Knight, Wonder Woman: The Villainy of Our Fears (DC): Creepshow, Dark Ride, I Hate This Place, Skybound Presents: Afterschool (Image Skybound)
• Chris Dickey, The Night Eaters: She Eats the Night (Abrams ComicArts)
• Todd Klein, Chivalry (Dark Horse); Fables (DC); Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age (Marvel)
• Nate Piekos, Black Hammer Reborn, Minor Threats, Shaolin Cowboy, Stranger Things: Kamchatka (Dark Horse), I Hate Fairyland, Twig (Image)
• Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (IDW)

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Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

• Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
• Comic Book Creator, edited by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)
• The Comics Journal #308, edited by Gary Groth, Kristy Valenti, and Rachel Miller (Fantagraphics)
• PanelXPanel magazine, edited by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and Tiffany Babb (panelxpanel.com)
• Rob Salkowitz, Forbes, ICv2, Publishers Weekly

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Best Comics-Related Book

• The Art of the News: Comics Journalism, edited by Katherine Kelp-Stebbins and Ben Saunders (Oregon State University Press)
• Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects, by Benjamin L. Clark and Nat Gertler (Schulz Museum)
• The Charlton Companion, by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)
• Gladys Parker: A Life in Comics, A Passion for Fashion, by Trina Robbins (Hermes Press)
• Resurrection: Comics in Post-Soviet Russia, by José Alaniz (Ohio State University Press)

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Best Academic/Scholarly Work

• Bandits, Misfits, and Superheroes: Whiteness and Its Borderlands in American Comics and Graphic Novels, by Josef Benson and Doug Singsen (University Press of Mississippi)
• Graphic Medicine, edited by Erin La Cour and Anna Poletti (University of Hawai’i’ Press)
• How Comics Travel: Publication, Translation, Radical Literacies, by Katherine Kelp-Stebbins (Ohio State University Press)
• The LGBTQ+ Comics Studies Reader: Critical Openings, Future Directions, edited by Alison Halsall and Jonathan Warren (University Press of Mississippi)
• Teaching with Comics and Graphic Novels. By Tim Smyth (Routledge)

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Best Publication Design

• A Frog in the Fall (and later on), designed by Linnea Sterte, Olle Forsslöf, and Patrick Crotty (PEOW)
• Joan Jett & the Blackhearts 40X40: Bad Reputation/I Love Rock-n-Roll, designed by Josh Bernstein and Jason Ullmeyer (Z2)
• Mazebook Dark Horse Direct Edition, designed by Tom Muller (Dark Horse)
• Parker: The Martini Edition—Last Call, designed by Sean Phillips (IDW)
• Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes, The Graphic Album, designed by Lauryn Ipsum (Z2)

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Best Webcomic

• Deeply Dave, by Grover, http://www.deeplydave.com/
• Delilah Dirk: Practical Defence Against Piracy, by Tony Cliff, https://www.delilahdirk.com/dd4/dd4-p46.html
• Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe (WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/list?title_no=1320&page=5
• The Mannamong, by Michael Adam Lengyel, https://mannamong.com/episode-1/
• Spores, by Joshua Barkman, https://falseknees.com/22ink1.html

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Best Digital Comic

• All Princesses Die Before Dawn, by Quentin Zuttion, translation by M. B. Valente (Europe Comics)
• Barnstormers, by Scott Snyder and Tula Lotay (Comixology Originals)
• Behind the Curtain, by Sara del Giudice, translation by M. B. Valente (Europe Comics)
• Ripple Effects, by Jordan Hart, Bruno Chiroleu, Justin Harder, and Shane Kadlecik (Fanbase Press)
• Sixty Years in Winter, by Ingrid Chabbert and Aimée de Jongh, translation by Matt Madden (Europe Comics)

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Judges Choose 15 for 2023 Eisner Hall of Fame

Voters Will Select 4 More Inductees

SAN DIEGO – San Diego Comic Convention (Comic-Con) has announced that the Eisner Awards judges have selected 15 individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2023. These inductees include 11 deceased comics pioneers and 4 living creators. The deceased greats are: Jerry Bails, Tony DeZuniga, Justin Green, Jay Jackson, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Win Mortimer, Diane Noomin, Gaspar Saladino, Kim Thompson, and Mort Walker. The judges’ living choices are Bill Griffith, Jack Katz, Garry Trudeau, and Tatjana Wood.

The judges have also chosen 16 nominees from whom voters will select 4 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer. These nominees are Gus Arriola, Brian Bolland, Gerry Conway, Edwina Dumm, Mark Evanier, Creig Flessel, Bob Fujitani, Warren Kremer, Todd McFarlane, Keiji Nakazawa, Ann Nocenti, Paul Norris, Bud Plant, Tim Sale, Diana Schutz, and Phil Seuling. More information on the inductees and nominees can be found below.

Voting for the Hall of Fame is being held online. A two-step voting process has been put in place for enhanced security. The first step is for prospective voters to apply at https://form.jotform.com/230927489799177 . After filling out a form, eligible voters will be invited to go to the ballot and cast their votes. Individuals who were approved to vote in 2022 will be sent an invitation to participate and do not need to reregister. Those who are eligible to vote include comic book/graphic novel/webcomic creators (writers, artists, cartoonists, pencillers, inkers, letterers, colorists); comic book/graphic novel publishers and editors; comics historians and educators; graphic novel librarians; and owners and managers of comic book specialty retail stores. The deadline for voting is April 28. Voters must have registered by April 18 in order to be invited to the ballot. Questions about the voting process should be sent to the Eisner Awards administrator, Jackie Estrada at jackie@comic-con.org

The 2023 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of librarian Moni Barrett, educator/collector Peter Jones, retailer Jen King, journalist Sean Kleefeld, scholar/comics creator A. David Lewis, and instructor/curator TJ Shevlin.

The Eisner Hall of Fame trophies will be presented in a special program during Comic-Con on the morning of July 21. This is a change from previous years, when the Hall of Fame was part of the Friday night Eisner Awards ceremony. This year the Hall of Fame winners will have their own special spotlight in the daytime, giving more fans the opportunity to attend.

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2023 Eisner Hall of Fame Judges’ Choices

These individuals will automatically be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Deceased Inductees:

Jerry Bails (1933–2006)
Known as the “Father of Comic Book Fandom,” Jerry Bails was one of the first to approach comic books as a subject worthy of academic study, and he was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom. He was the founding editor of the fanzines Alter-Ego, The Comicollector, and On the Drawing Board, the forerunner to the long-running newszine The Comic Reader, designed to showcase the latest comic news. He then headed the drive to establish the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors. Another important contribution was his Who’s Who of American Comic Books, published in four volumes during 1973–1976.

Tony DeZuniga (1932–2012)
Tony DeZuniga was the first Filipino comic book artist whose work was accepted by American publishers and was instrumental in recruiting many other Filipino artists to enter the U.S. comics industry in the early 1970s. He is best known for co-creating Jonah Hex and Black Orchid. DeZuniga divided his time between DC and Marvel, drawing not only Jonah Hex and Conan but also many other well-known characters including Doc Savage, Thor, The X-Men, Swamp Thing, Batman, Dracula, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Red Sonja, The Punisher, and Spider-Man.

Justin Green (1945–2022)
Justin Green is most noted for the 1972 underground title Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary. This autobiographical comic book detailed Green’s struggle with a form of OCD known as scrupulosity, within the framework of growing up Catholic in 1950s Chicago. Intense graphic depiction of personal torment had never appeared in comic book form before, and it had a profound effect on other cartoonists and the future direction of comics as literature. The underground comix pioneer was also a contributor to such titles as Bijou Funnies, Insect Fear, Arcade, Young Lust, and Sniffy Comics. In the 1990s, Green focused his cartooning attention on a series of visual biographies for Pulse!, the in-house magazine for Tower Records. It ran for ten years and was later collected as Musical Legends.

Jay Jackson (1905–1954)
Jay Paul Jackson was an African American artist who spent many years working for the Chicago Defender, in addition to working as an illustrator for science fiction magazines such as Amazing Stories and Fantastic Adventures. Jackson introduced the world to the first black superhero on January 6, 1945, in “the oldest, longest continuously running black comic strip,” Bungleton Green, in the Chicago Defender. Bungleton Green, the name of the character as well as the strip, became the literal embodiment of the black ideal, a man who in all ways was equal, even superior, to the whites whose relentless oppression Jackson constantly fought.

Jeffrey Catherine Jones (1944–2011)
Jeff Jones began creating comics in 1964. While attending Georgia State College, Jones met fellow student Mary Louise Alexander, whom she married in 1966. After graduation, the couple moved to New York City but split up in the early 1970s (writer/editor Louise Jones Simonson was inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame in 2020). In New York Jones found work drawing for King Comics, Gold Key, Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella, as well as Wally Wood’s Witzend. In the early 1970s when National Lampoon began publication, Jones had a strip in it called Idyl. From 1975 to 1979 Jones shared workspace with Bernie Wrightson, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Michael Wm Kaluta, collectively named The Studio. By the early 1980s, Jones had a recurring strip in Heavy Metal titled I’m Age. In the late 1990s, Jones started taking female hormones and had sex reassignment surgery. She passed away in May of 2011.

Aline Kominsky-Crumb (1948–2022)
Kominsky-Crumb was born Aline Goldsmith in 1948, in Long Island, New York. In 1971 she moved to San Francisco and fell in with the all-female collective that founded Wimmen’s Comix, and contributed stories to the anthology’s inaugural issues. In 1975, she departed Wimmen’s Comix and with fellow former contributor Diane Noomin launched Twisted Sisters, which would eventually spawn an anthology and a limited series featuring work by many Wimmen’s Comix contributors. Kominisky married Robert Crumb in 1978, a few years after the couple began co-creating the comic Dirty Laundry, about their life together. Aline drew her own character, “the Bunch,” later collected into Love That Bunch. In 1981 she took the editorial reins of Crumb’s Weirdo anthology and remained the series’ editor through its 1993 conclusion. In 1990, the Crumbs moved to a small village in southern France, where they continued to collaborate. Aline’s 2007 memoir, Need More Love, earned her critical acclaim.

Win Mortimer (1919–1998)
Canadian artist James Winslow Mortimer began working for DC Comics in 1945 and quickly became a cover artist for comics featuring Superman, Superboy, and Batman. He succeeded Wayne Boring on the Superman newspaper strip in 1949, leaving it in 1956 to create the adventure strip David Crane for the Prentice-Hall Syndicate. During the same period, Mortimer returned to DC and worked on a large variety of comics, ranging from humor titles such as Swing with Scooter to superhero features starring the Legion of Super-Heroes and Supergirl. He and writer Arnold Drake co-created Stanley and His Monster in 1965. By the early 1970s, he was freelancing for other publishers. At Marvel, he drew virtually every story in the TV tie-in children’s comic Spidey Super Stories (1974–1982) as well as the short-lived Night Nurse series. Mortimer’s work at Gold Key Comics included Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery, The Twilight Zone, and Battle Of The Planets.

Diane Noomin (1947–2022)
Pioneering female underground cartoonist Diane Noomin (married to cartoonist Bill Griffith) is best known for her character Didi Glitz and for editing the groundbreaking anthology series Twisted Sisters. Noomin’s comics career began in the early 1970s and included appearances in Wimmen’s Comix, Young Lust, Arcade, Titters, Weirdo, and many others. DiDi first appeared in a story called “Restless Reverie” in Short Order Comix #2 (Family Fun, 1974). Noomin has said that she used DiDi as a shield in addressing material which in later years was increasingly autobiographical. Most recently, Noomin edited the anthology Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival (Abrams ComicArts, 2019), which was inspired by the global #MeToo Movement. The book won the 2020 Eisner Award for Best Anthology.

Gaspar Saladino (1927–2016)
Gaspar Saladino started at DC in 1949 and worked for more than 60 years in the comics industry as a letterer and logo designer. It has been calculated that he designed 416 logos, lettered 52,769 comic book pages and 5,486 covers, and produced 411 house ads. The logos he designed for DC included Swamp Thing, Vigilante, Phantom Stranger, Metal Men, Adam Strange, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, and Unknown Soldier, among others. For Marvel, Saladino’s logos, which he either created or updated, include The Avengers, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, Captain America and the Falcon, and Marvel Triple Action. During the early 1970s Saladino lettered the interiors for the then-new Swamp Thing. It was in the pages of this series that he created the concept of character-designated fonts, with Swamp Thing’s distinctive outlined, “drippy” letters.

Kim Thompson (1956–2013)
Kim Thompson was born in Denmark in 1956 and grew up in the rich and varied publishing world of European comics. He arrived in the U.S. in the 1970s and immediately joined with Gary Groth, founder of Fantagraphics, to serve as co-publisher for the next three decades. Kim began working with The Comics Journal, helping produce the news reports, interviews, criticism, and commentary that would guide and outline the growth of both mainstream comics and the independent comics publishing movement going into the 1980s. By the early 1980s, Fantagraphics began publishing a list that included many of the most acclaimed comics and graphic novels of the era—among them the Hernandez Brothers’ Love and Rockets and many others—and Thompson was instrumental in their acquisition and publication. Thompson was also a key figure in bringing the best of European graphic novels to the U.S., acquiring and translating works.

Mort Walker (1923–2018)
Mort Walker was one of the best known gag-a-day cartoonists in the world. He created three long-running and famous newspaper comics: his signature series Beetle Bailey (1950–  ), Hi and Lois with Dik Browne (1954– ), and Boner’s Ark (1968-2000). Mort Walker was not only a creative spirit in comedy, but he also loved his profession. He wrote various essays and books about comics. He was the first to think up names for comics symbols and imagery which had previously remained unnamed. The man also turned the National Cartoonists’ Society into an actual professional organization and established its annual Reuben Award to honor artists and writers. He founded a Museum of Cartoon Art (1974–2002), whose huge collection of original artwork is nowadays part of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Living Inductees:

Bill Griffith (1944– )
Known for his non sequitur-spouting character Zippy the Pinhead, Griffith had his first work published in 1969 in the East Village Other and Screw. His first major comic book titles included Tales of Toad and Young Lust, a bestselling series parodying romance comics. He was co-editor of Arcade, The Comics Revue for its seven-issue run in the mid-’70s. The first Zippy strip appeared in Real Pulp #1 (Print Mint) in 1970. The strip went weekly in 1976, first in the Berkeley Barb and then syndicated nationally. Today the daily Zippy appears in over 200 newspapers worldwide. Most recently, he produced the autobiographical Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist.

Jack Katz (1927– )
Jack Katz began his career at the age of 16, doing art for Archie Comics and Fawcett’s Bulletman, and working as an assistant on several strips for King Features in the second half of the 1940s. In the early 1950s, he went to work as a comic book penciler for Marvel/Atlas Comics and continued into the early 1970s. He did art on many war, mystery, and romance titles, mainly for Marvel, but also for Better Publications. Katz was additionally present in DC’s romance titles and in the horror magazines of Warren Publishing and Skywald in the 1970s. Then he dropped out of mainstream comics to devote 12 years to his First Kingdom project: a complex science fiction epic that tells of man’s migration into space, the ensuing galactic battles, and the great mystery of mankind’s origin before the fall of civilization. Katz completed this series with issue number 24 in 1986.

Garry Trudeau (1948– )
Trudeau attended Yale University and was a cartoonist and writer for The Yale Record. He also created a comic strip called Bull Tales that moved to the Yale Daily News in 1969. Universal Press Syndicate bought the strip and started selling it nationwide to over 400 newspapers under the title Doonesbury. In his long career, Trudeau has been groundbreaking in dealing with topics like homosexuality in comic strips. He also has been a strong advocate of cartoonists’ rights. In 1975, Trudeau was the first comic strip artist to win the Pulitzer Prize, followed by the Reuben Award in 1996. Doonesbury was made into an animated short film in 1977 and a Broadway musical in 1984.

Tatjana Wood (1926– )
Tatjana Weintrob immigrated from Germany to New York in 1948, attending the Traphagen School of Fashion. In 1949, she met comics artist Wally Wood, and they married in 1950. During the 1950s and 1960s, she sometimes made uncredited contributions to Wood’s artwork. Beginning in 1969, she did extensive work for DC Comics as a comic book colorist. She was the main colorist for DC’s covers from 1973 through the mid-1980s. She did coloring on the interiors of such acclaimed series as Grant Morrison’s acclaimed run on Animal Man, Alan Moore’s issues of Swamp Thing, and Camelot 3000. She won the Shazam Award for Best Colorist in 1971 and 1974.

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2023 Eisner Awards Hall of Fame Nominees

Voters will choose 4 individuals from these 16 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Gus Arriola (1917–2008)
Gus Arriola wrote and drew the Mexican-themed comic strip Gordo. The strip prominently featured Mexican characters and themes, set a high standard with its impeccable art and design, and had a long and successful life in newspapers (1941–1985). R.C. Harvey wrote in Children of the Yellow Kid: “A strip remarkable for its graphic evolution is Gus Arriola’s Gordo. A pioneer in producing ‘ethnic’ comics, Arriola drew upon his own Mexican heritage in creating a strip about a portly south-of-the-border bean farmer. . . . When the strip started, it was rendered in the big-foot style of MGM animated cartoons, upon which Arriola had been working until then. But over the years, Arriola dramatically changed his way of drawing, producing eventually the decorative masterpiece of the comics page, the envy of his colleagues. He frequently made the strip educational, informing his readers about the culture of Mexico.”

Brian Bolland (1951– )
Brian Bolland is a British comic artist originally known for his work on Judge Dredd. He was one of the first British artists to be recruited by DC Comics in the early days of what became known as “the British Invasion,” which revolutionized the industry in the 1980s. One of his earliest works for DC was Justice League of America #200 in 1982, though he is better remembered for the 12-issue limited series Camelot 3000, DC’s first-ever “maxi-series.” He also drew the Batman graphic novel The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore, and a Judge Dredd/Batman team-up, also by Moore. In recent years, he has concentrated mainly on providing cover art, most of it for DC.

Gerry Conway (1952– )
Gerard F. “Gerry” Conway is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is best known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante The Punisher (with artist Ross Andru) and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. He is also known for co-creating the DC Comics superhero Firestorm (with artist Al Milgrom), and for scripting the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.

Edwina Dumm (1893–1990)
Edwina Dumm drew the comic strip Cap Stubbs and Tippie for nearly five decades. After graduating from high school, Edwina took a job as a stenographer for the Columbus Board of Education and enrolled in a cartooning correspondence course from the Landon School in Cleveland. Upon completing the course, she became a staff artist at the Daily Monitor in 1916 and began drawing a daily editorial cartoon at that time. She was the first woman in the nation to work as an editorial cartoonist for a daily newspaper. In 1918 she moved to New York City and submitted work to the Adams Syndication Service. Her new creation, Cap Stubbs and Tippie, followed the adventures of a mischievous little boy and his shaggy dog; it premiered as a daily strip in 1918. A Sunday page was added in 1934. Edwina’s success in New York City expanded well beyond her comic strips. She illustrated several books, and she achieved her dream of creating a cover for Life magazine in 1930 when she illustrated the cover for its January issue. Edwina’s achievements were honored in 1978, when she received the Gold Key Award from the National Cartoonists Society Hall of Fame, making her the only woman to receive this honor.

Mark Evanier (1952– )
Mark Evanier entered the comics industry in 1969 as an assistant to the great Jack Kirby, whom he wrote about in his award-winning book Kirby, King of Comics. Mark has written hundreds of comic books, most notably Blackhawk, Crossfire, DNAgents, and New Gods. He has worked with Sergio Aragonés for over 40 years on Groo the Wanderer.  He is also a historian of comic books and animation.

Creig Flessel (1912–2008)
Creig Flessel drew the covers of many of the first American comic books, including the pre-Batman Detective Comics #2–17 (April 1937–July 1938). He had debuted in comics the year before with stories in the seminal More Fun Comics #10 (May 1936). He drew many early adventures of the Golden Age Sandman and has sometimes been credited as the character’s co-creator. When DC Comics editor Vin Sullivan left DC and formed his own comic book publishing company, Magazine Enterprises, Flessel signed on as associate editor. Flessel continued to draw comics, often uncredited, through the 1950s, including Superboy stories in both that character’s namesake title and in Adventure Comics; and anthological mystery and suspense tales in American Comics Group’s (ACG’s) Adventures into the Unknown.

Bob Fujitani (1921–2020)
Artist Bob Fujitani (half-Japanese, half-Irish) drew comics for a variety of publishing houses beginning in the early 1940s. His Golden Age credits include work for Ace/Periodical House (Lash Lightning), Avon (Eerie, western), Dell (adventure and historical comics), Harvey (Green Hornet, Shock Gibson), Hillman (Flying Dutchman), Holyoke (Cat-Man), Lev Gleason (Crime Does Not Pay, Two-Gun Kid), and Quality (Black Condor, Dollman). He is also well remembered by fans for his art on the Gold Key series Turok, Son of Stone and Doctor Solar. In the comic strip world, he worked as a ghost inker on the Flash Gordon daily in the 1960s and the 1970s and on the Rip Kirby daily in the 1990s.

Warren Kremer (1921–2003)
Warren Kremer was born in the Bronx as the son of a sign painter, from whom he inherited his steady drawing hand. He studied at the School of Industrial Arts and went straight into print services, working for pulp magazines. He gradually took on more comics work in Ace Publications, his first title being Hap Hazard. Kremer ended up working for Harvey Comics, where he stayed for 35 years and became a leading penciller, working on titles such as Casper, Little Max, Joe Palooka, Stumbo the Giant, Hot Stuff, Richie Rich and Little Audrey. After Harvey closed its doors in 1982, Kremer worked for Star Comics, Marvel’s kids imprint, and contributed to titles like Top Dog, Ewoks, Royal Roy, Planet Terry, and Count Duckula.

Todd McFarlane (1961– )
Todd McFarlane began drawing comics professionally in 1984. He eventually worked his way to the top of Marvel’s artist roster with successful runs on The Incredible Hulk and Amazing Spider-Man. Marvel gave McFarlane a new title that he solely could write, pencil, and ink: Spider-Man. The first issue appeared in September 1990 and became the best-selling comic book of all time, selling more than 2.5 million copies. Following this incredible success, he left Marvel in August 1991 to form his own publishing company: Image Comics, together with his colleagues Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino. Here, he launched his series Spawn, which went on to become a 1997 movie and an animated TV series. He also founded Todd McFarlane Toys and a film/animation studio.

Keiji Nakazawa (1939–2012)
Keiji Nakazawa was born in Hiroshima and was in the city when it was destroyed by a nuclear weapon in 1945. He settled in Tokyo in 1961 to become a cartoonist. He produced his first manga for anthologies like Shonen Gaho, Shonen King, and Bokura. By 1966, Nakazawa began to express his memories of Hiroshima in his manga, starting with the fictional Kuroi Ame ni Utarete (Struck by Black Rain) and the autobiographical story Ore wa Mita (I Saw It). Nakazawa’s life work, Barefoot Gen (1972), was the first Japanese comic ever to be translated into Western languages. Barefoot Gen was adapted into two animated films and a live-action TV drama and has been translated into a dozen languages.

Ann Nocenti (1957– )
Ann Nocenti is an American journalist, filmmaker, teacher, comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work at Marvel in the late 1980s, particularly the four-year stint as the editor of Uncanny X-Men and The New Mutants (written by Chris Claremont) as well as her run as a writer of Daredevil, illustrated primarily by John Romita, Jr. Ann has co-created such Marvel characters as Longshot, Mojo, Spiral, Blackheart and Typhoid Mary. She also wrote Catwoman for DC Comics.

Paul Norris (1914–2007)
Paul Norris studied at the Dayton (Ohio) Art Institute and moved to New York in 1940, where he got a job at Prize Publications, creating the series Power Nelson, Futureman, and Yank and Doodle. Moving to work for National, he launched Aquaman with Mort Weisinger, and collaborated on various other comics. In 1942, he drew his first newspaper strip, taking over Vic Jordan for the New York Daily PM. After returning from World War II, he was hired by King Features Syndicate and worked on several comic books starring Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim. Norris was also the artist of several episodes of Secret Agent X-9 during the period 1943–1946. His big break came in 1948, when he took over the Jungle Jim Sunday feature from Austin Briggs. In 1952, he took over the Brick Bradford daily strip from Clarence Gray, which he continued until 1987.

Bud Plant (1952– )
In his over 50 years in the comics industry, Bud Plant has been a retailer, distributor, and publisher. In 1972 Bud co-founded what became the comics retailer Comics & Comix in Berkeley, California, with John Barrett and Robert Beerbohm. In 1973 Comics & Comix helped host the first Bay Area comics convention, Berkeleycon 73, at the University of California, Berkeley campus. He also published a selection of comics and zines during the1970s, most notably Jack Katz’s First Kingdom. As a wholesale comics distributor in the 1970s and 1980s during the growth of the direct market, Plant absorbed some of his smaller rivals in the 1980s, and then sold his business to Diamond Comics Distributors in 1988. He still, as Bud Plant’s Art Books, sells quality reprints and graphic novels. He exhibited at the first 48 San Diego Comic-Cons, but stopped in 2018.

Tim Sale (1956–2022)
Artist Tim Sale began working in comics in 1983, and in the course of his career he worked with Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Harris Comics, and Oni Press, with his art gracing characters including Batman, Superman, Harley Quinn, and the Justice Society of America. With Jeph Loeb he created Batman: The Long Halloween, Challengers of the Unknown Must Die!, Superman for All Seasons, Batman: Dark Victory, Daredevil: Yellow, Spider-Man: Blue, Hulk: Gray, Catwoman: When in Rome, and Captain America: White. In 1999, Sale earned an Eisner Award for Best Short Story for “Devil’s Advocate,” with writer Matt Wagner in Grendel: Black, White, and Red #1. He also received Eisners for Best Graphic Album – Reprint for Batman: The Long Halloween and Best Penciller/Inker for Superman for All Seasons and Grendel Black, White, and Red.

Diana Schutz (1955– )
Diana Schutz is a Canadian-born comic book editor who started out editing a newsletter for Berkeley’s Comics & Comix in 1981. She went on to serve as editor-in-chief of Comico during its peak years, followed by a 25-year tenure at Dark Horse Comics. Some of the best-known works she has edited are Frank Miller’s Sin City and 300, Matt Wagner’s Grendel, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo, Paul Chadwick’s Concrete, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, and Sergio Aragonés’s Groo. In addition to editing, she has translated many French and Spanish comics works into English. Diana is now an adjunct instructor of comics history and criticism at Portland State University.

Phil Seuling (1934–1984)
Phil Seuling was a comic book retailer, fan convention organizer, and comics distributor primarily active in the 1970s. He was the organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, originally held in New York City every July 4 weekend beginning in 1968. Later, with his Sea Gate Distributors company, Seuling developed the concept of the direct market distribution system for getting comics directly into comic book specialty shops, bypassing the then-established newspaper/magazine distributor method, where no choices of title, quantity, or delivery directions were permitted. He received an Inkpot Award at the 1974 San Diego Comic-Con.

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Eisner Awards Now Accepting Submissions for 2023

Comic-Con Sets March 31 Deadline

Comic-Con International (Comic-Con), the largest comic book and popular arts event of its kind in the world, has announced that submissions are being accepted for consideration by the judges for the 2023 Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards.

The tentative categories include best short story, best single issue/one-shot, best continuing series (at least two issues must have been published in 2022), best limited series (at least half of the series must have been published in 2022), best new series, best limited series, best publications for kids and teens, best anthology, best humor publication, best U.S. edition of international material, best graphic album–new, best graphic album–reprint, best reality-based work, best memoir, best adaptation from another medium, best digital comic, best webcomic, best archival collection, best writer, best writer/artist, best penciller/inker (individual or team), best painter (interior art), best lettering, best coloring, best cover artist, best comics journalism periodical or website, best comics-related book, best scholarly/academic work, and best publication design. The judges may add, delete, or combine categories at their discretion.

Publishers may submit a maximum of five nominees for any one category, and the same item or person can be submitted in more than one category. Each imprint, line, or subsidiary of a publisher may submit its own set of entries. Creators can submit materials for consideration if their publisher is either no longer in business or is unlikely to participate in the nomination process. Only ONE copy of each book need be submitted, even it if is being nominated in multiple categories. In addition, pdfs of the works are welcome. The cover letter should list the items being submitted and in what category, and it should include both a mailing address and an e-mail address for the person or company submitting the material. (Guidelines for preparing submissions letters are provided with the downloadable pdf of the Call for Submissions.) There are no entry fees.

All physical submissions should be sent to Jackie Estrada, Eisner Awards Administrator, Comic-Con International, 4375 Jutland Drive, San Diego, CA 92117, before the deadline of March 31.  No submissions should be sent directly to the judges. Note that this is a new address; please do not ship items to State Street or the previous P.O. Box.

The best digital comic and best webcomic categories are open to any new, professionally produced long-form original comics work posted online in 2022. “Digital comics” are complete issues of comics or graphic novels that are available for online viewing or for download. “Webcomics” are comics stories that are serialized online (such as a daily or weekly) and/or that use formats other than the traditional comic book page and take advantage of being online (horizontal, scrolled, etc.). The URLs and any necessary access information should be emailed to Eisner Awards administrator Jackie Estrada: jackie@comic-con.org.

The Eisner Award nominees will be announced in May, and online voting will be available to professionals in the comics industry, including creators, editors, publishers, distributors, and retailers. The results will be announced at the awards ceremony at Comic-Con on Friday, July 21

CLICK HERE for a downloadable pdf of the Call for Entries.

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JUDGES NAMED FOR 2023 EISNER AWARDS

Six Comics Experts Make Up Nominating Committee

San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC) is proud to announce that the judging panel has been named for the 2023 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, which will reward excellence for works published in 2022. The ceremony will be held during Comic-Con on Friday, July 21, 2023.

This year’s judges are Moni Barrett, Peter Jones, Jen King, Sean Kleefeld, A. David Lewis, and TJ Shevlin:

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The judges are chosen by SDCC’s awards subcommittee, made up of individuals from the board of directors, staff, and various departments. The judges are selected to represent all aspects of the comics industry, including creators, retailers, academic/historians, journalists, and fans.

The judges will select the nominees that will be placed on the Eisner Awards ballot in some 30 categories. The nominees will then be voted on by professionals in the comic book industry, and the results will be announced in an awards ceremony at Comic-Con in July.

Guidelines for submitting material for the judges will be announced on the Comic-Con website later in January.

 The Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards are presented by San Diego Comic Convention during Comic-Con each summer in San Diego.

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Windsor-Smith, Tynion IV Are Top Winners at 2022 Eisner Awards

The top winners at the 34th Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, held July 22 at the Bayfront San Diego Hilton, during Comic-Con, were Barry Windsor-Smith and James Tynion IV, who each took home three trophies. Smith’s were for his magnum opus, Monsters (published by Fantagraphics), which won for Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer/Artist, and Best Lettering. Gary Groth of Fantagraphics accepted the awards on Smit’s behalf. Tynion was on hand to thank everyone for his Best Writer award and was joined by his co-creators to accept the Best Continuing Series award for Something Is Killing the Children (BOOM!) and Best New Series for The Nice House on the Lake (DC).

   Other creators with multiple awards were artists Phil Jimenez (Best Single Issue and Best Penciller/Inker for Wonder Woman Historia) and P. Craig Russell (Hall of Fame inductee; Best Graphic Album–Reprint for The Complete American Gods), and writer David F. Walker (Best Continuing Series for Bitter Root, Best Reality-Based Work for The Black Panther Party).

   Because of the Windsor-Smith wins, Fantagraphics brought home four trophies.   DC had three wins plus one shared win (for Tynion), while Image had three wins plus two shared. IDW garnered three awards, including Best Publication for Early Readers for Julie and Stan Sakai’s Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis. Iron Circus’s You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife won both the anthology and short story categories.

The rest of the awards were spread among 17 other publishers. Most of the recipients were there in person to accept.

   Presenters during the gala evening included comic book greats Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Jim Lee; voice actor/comedian Phil LaMarr; actor/writer/director Tom Lennon; Comic-Con special guests Henry Barajas, Amy Chu, and Jock; Eisner nominees John Jennings and Skottie Young; journalist/author Angelique Roché; and Clampett Award winners Bill and Kayre Morrison.

   Denis Kitchen presented the Hall of Fame Awards. The Judges’ choices were Marie Duval and Rose O’Neill (pioneers), Max Gaines (accepted by his great-grandson, Corey Mifsud), Mark Gruenwald (accepted by his widow, Catherine Schuller Gruenwald), and Alex Niño and P. Craig Russell (who both accepted in person). The six elected inductees were Howard Chaykin, Kevin Eastman, Moto Hagio, Larry Hama, David Mazzucchelli, and Grant Morrison. Eastman was on hand to accept his trophy—the rest sent their thanks.

   The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, presented by Bob’s daughter Ruth, was presented to Annie Koyama (for). The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award went to artist Luana Vecchio; it was presented by past Russ Manning Award winner Jeff Smith. Ruth was surprised with a special presentation of an Inkpot Award.

   The 16th annual Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing was presented by Mark Evanier to two recipients: Bob Bolling and Don Rico. Members of Rico’s family accepted the award on his behalf. Maggie Thompson introduced the special In Memoriam video salute to those from the Comic-Con family who died in the past year.

   The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, given to a store that has done an outstanding job of supporting the comics art medium both in the community and within the industry at large, was awarded by Joe Ferrara to Books with Pictures (Portland, OR). Accepting was the owner, Katie Pride.

         The title sponsor for the Eisner Awards this year was HarperAlley. The afterparty sponsor was Tapas Media. The principal sponsor was Gentle Giant Studios. Supporting sponsors were Alternate Reality Comics (Las Vegas), Atlantis Fantasyworld (Santa Cruz, CA), Diamond Comics Distributors, and Golden Apple Comic and Art Foundation.

   Eisner Awards Administrator Jackie Estrada opened and closed the ceremony.

Eisner Awards Winners 2022

Best Short Story

“Funeral in Foam,” by Casey Gilly and Raina Telgemeier, in You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife (Iron Circus)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jimenez (DC)

Best Continuing Series (TIE)

Bitter Root, by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Image)

Something Is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)

Best Limited Series

The Good Asian, by Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgi (Image)

Best New Series

The Nice House on the Lake, by James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno (DC Black Label)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis, by Julie and Stan Sakai (IDW)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

Salt Magic, by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

The Legend of Auntie Po, by Shing Yin Khor (Kokila/Penguin Random House)

Best Humor Publication

Not All Robots, by Mark Russell and Mike Deodato Jr. (AWA Upshot)

Best Anthology

You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife, edited by Kel McDonald and Andrea Purcell (Iron Circus)

Best Reality-Based Work

The Black Panther Party: A Graphic History, by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson (Ten Speed Press)

Best Graphic Memoir

Run: Book One, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, and Nate Powell (Abrams ComicArts)

Best Graphic Album—New

Monsters, by Barry Windsor-Smith (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

The Complete American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, and Scott Hampton (Dark Horse)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

George Orwell’s 1984: The Graphic Novel, adapted by Fido Nesti (Mariner Books)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

The Shadow of a Man, by Benoît Peeters and François Schuiten, translation by Stephen D. Smith (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection, by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

Popeye: The E.C. Segar Sundays, vol. 1 by E.C. Segar, edited by Gary Groth and Conrad Groth (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

EC Covers Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best Writer

James Tynion IV, House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); The Nice House on the Lake, The Joker, Batman, DC Pride 2021 (DC); The Department of Truth (Image); Blue Book, Razorblades (Tiny Onion Studios)

Best Writer/Artist

Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Phil Jimenez, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons (DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist

Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Best Cover Artist

Jen Bartel, Future State Immortal Wonder Woman #1 & 2, Wonder Woman Black & Gold #1, Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary (DC); Women’s History Month variant covers (Marvel)

Best Coloring

Matt Wilson, Undiscovered Country (Image); Fire Power (Image Skybound); Eternals, Thor, Wolverine (Marvel); Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters (Oni)

Best Lettering

Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

WomenWriteAboutComics.com, edited by Wendy Browne and Nola Pfau (WWAC)

Best Comics-Related Book

All of the Marvels, by Douglas Wolk (Penguin Press)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History, by Eike Exner (Rutgers University Press)

Best Publication Design

Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man vol. 1: 1962–1964 (TASCHEN)

Best Webcomic

Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe (WEBTOON)

Best Digital Comic

Snow Angels, by Jeff Lemire and Jock (Comixology Originals) 

Hall of Fame

Judges’ Choices:

Marie Duval 

Rose O’Neill

Max Gaines

Mark Gruenwald

Alex Niño

P. Craig Russell

Voters’ Choices:

Howard Chaykin

Kevin Eastman

Moto Hagio

Larry Hama

David Mazzucchelli

Grant Morrison

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award:

Annie Koyama

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award:

Luanna Vecchio

Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award:

Bob Bolling

Don Rico

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award:

Books with Pictures, Portland, OR

Katie Pryde

HarperAlley Presents: The 2022 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards

The 34th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony will be held Friday night, July 22 in the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront, just a short walk south from the Convention Center.

The doors of the Indigo Ballroom will open at 7:45, and the ceremonies will get under way at 8:00. Attendance at the event is free to all Comic-Con members with badges and COVID wristbands. Advance seating for VIPs (nominees, sponsors, presenters) will begin at 7:00.

The Eisners: Comics’ “Oscars”

Named for the pioneering comics creator and graphic novelist Will Eisner, The Eisner Awards, considered the “Oscars” of the comic book industry, will be given out in 32 categories for works published in 2021. A complete list of all the nominees can be found in the downloadable Souvenir Book pdf. All attendees will also get a souvenir program listing the nominees.

Among presenters at this year’s ceremony are comic book greats Frank Miller (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil, Sin City, 300) and Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, American Gods), voice actor/comedian Phil LaMarr (MadTV, Samurai Jack, Futurama, Justice League), actor/writer/director Tom Lennon (Reno 911, Balls of Fury, Night at the Museum series), bestselling graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Drama, Guts), comics writer Henry Barajas (Helm Greycastle, Gil Thorpe), Eisner nominee/scholar John Jennings (Best Adaptation: Nnedi Okorafor’s After the Rain), journalist/author Angelique Roché (Marvel’s Voices), nominees Jock (artist, Snow Angels) and Skottie Young (writer, Middlewest, Strange Academy), comics and TV writer Amy Chu (DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, Rick & Morty) and Clampett Award winners Bill and Kayre Morrison. Presenting the Hall of Fame Awards this year is Denis Kitchen, publisher of dozens of Will Eisner’s works.

Sponsors

The title sponsor for the awards this year is HarperAlley, a collaborative, creator-focused publisher of graphic novels for kids and teens that connect with readers of all ages: “Our authors and artists define us through their unique, visual voices and thought-provoking storytelling. Simply put, HarperAlley publishes exceptional graphic novels for all readers, everywhere.”

The principal sponsor is Gentle Giant Studios, which manufactures the Eisner trophies. Supporting sponsors are Alternate Reality Comics (Las Vegas), Atlantis Fantasyworld (Santa Cruz, CA), Diamond Comics Distributors, and Golden Apple Comic and Art Foundation (Los Angeles). The afterparty is sponsored by Tapas Media.

Other Awards

The Eisner Awards evening includes the presentation of several other special awards. Since 1984, Comic-Con has been bestowing the annual Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award (to be presented by Bob’s daughter Ruth). This year’s recipient is Annie Koyama, of Koyama Provides. The nominees and winner of the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award, which has been handed out since 1982, will be announced by past winner Jeff Smith (creator of Bone). Also being presented is the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award, presided over by Joe Ferrara.

This is the 18th year for presentation of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The 2022 recipients are Archie writer Bob Bolling (Little Archie, Life with Archie, Betty and Me, Sabrina) and writer/artist/editor Don Rico (many comics, including Jann of the Jungle and Leopard Girl, both of which he co-created); the Finger will be presented by Mark Evanier. The major sponsor for the Finger Award is DC Comics. Supporting sponsors are Heritage Auctions and Maggie Thompson. 

Eisner Awards Nominees List for 2022

Nominees Announced for 2022 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards

Hall of Fame Select Six

2022 Eisner Nominees

2022 Eisner Judges Selected

Eisner Awards Nominees 2022

Best Short Story

“Funeral in Foam,” by Casey Gilly and Raina Telgemeier, in You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife (Iron Circus)

“Generations,” by Daniel Warren Johnson, in Superman: Red & Blue #5 (DC)

“I Wanna Be a Slob,” by Michael Kamison and Steven Arnold, in Too Tough to Die (Birdcage Bottom Books)

“Tap, Tap, Tap,” by Larry O’Neil and Jorge Fornés, in Green Arrow 80th Anniversary (DC)

“Trickster, Traitor, Dummy, Doll,” by Triple Dream (Mel Hilario, Katie Longua, and Lauren Davis), in The Nib Vol 9: Secrets (The Nib)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot (must be able to stand alone)

Marvel’s Voices: Identity #1, edited by Darren Shan (Marvel)

Mouse Guard: The Owlhen Caregiver and Other Tales, by David Petersen (BOOM!/Archaia)

Nightwing #87: “Get Grayson,” by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)

Wolvendaughter, by Ver (Quindrie Press)

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jimenez (DC)

Best Continuing Series

Bitter Root, by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Image)

The Department of Truth, by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)

Immortal Hulk, by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, et al. (Marvel)

Nightwing, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)

Something Is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)

Best Limited Series

Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star, by Daniel Warren Johnson (Marvel)

The Good Asian, by Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgi (Image)

Hocus Pocus, by Richard Wiseman, Rik Worth, and Jordan Collver, hocuspocus.squarespace.com

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, by Ram V and Filipe Andrade (BOOM! Studios)

Stray Dogs, by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner (Image)

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, by Tom King and Bilquis Evely (DC)

Best New Series

The Human Target, by Tom King and Greg Smallwood (DC)

The Nice House on the Lake, by James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno (DC Black Label)

Not All Robots, by Mark Russell and Mike Deodato Jr. (AWA Upshot)

Radiant Black, by Kyle Higgins and Marcelo Costa (Image)

Ultramega, by James Harren (Image Skybound)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

Arlo & Pips #2: Join the Crow Crowd!, by Elise Gravel (HarperAlley)

Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis, by Julie and Stan Sakai (IDW)

I Am Oprah Winfrey, by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos (Dial Books for Young Readers)

Monster Friends, by Kaeti Vandorn (Random House Graphic)

Tiny Tales: Shell Quest, by Steph Waldo (HarperAlley)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

Allergic, by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter (Scholastic)

Four-Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat, by Ben Towle (Dead Reckoning)

Rainbow Bridge, by Steve Orlando, Steve Foxe, and Valentina Brancati (AfterShock)

Salt Magic, by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House)

Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear, by Trang Nguyen and Jeet Zdung (Dial Books for Young Readers)

The Science of Surfing: A Surfside Girls Guide to the Ocean, by Kim Dwinell (Top Shelf)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

Adora and the Distance, by Marc Bernardin and Ariela Kristantina (Comixology Originals)

Clockwork Curandera, vol. 1: The Witch Owl Parliament, by David Bowles and Raul the Third (Tu Books/Lee & Low Books)

The Legend of Auntie Po, by Shing Yin Khor (Kokila/Penguin Random House)

Strange Academy, by Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos (Marvel)

Wynd, by James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas (BOOM! Box)

Best Humor Publication

Bubble, by Jordan Morris, Sarah Morgan, and Tony Cliff (First Second/Macmillan)

Cyclopedia Exotica, by Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly)

Not All Robots, by Mark Russell and Mike Deodato Jr. (AWA Upshot)

The Scumbag, by Rick Remender and various (Image)

Thirsty Mermaids, by Kat Leyh (Gallery 13/Simon and Schuster)

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata, translation by Nova Skipper (VIZ Media)

Best Anthology

Flash Forward: An Illustrated Guide to Possible (And Not So Possible) Tomorrows, by Rose Eveleth and various, edited by Laura Dozier (Abrams ComicArts)

My Only Child, by Wang Ning and various, edited by Wang Saili, translation by Emma Massara (LICAF/Fanfare Presents)

The Silver Coin, by Michael Walsh and various (Image)

Superman: Red & Blue, edited by Jamie S. Rich, Brittany Holzherr, and Diegs Lopez (DC)

You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife, edited by Kel McDonald and Andrea Purcell (Iron Circus)

Best Reality-Based Work

The Black Panther Party: A Graphic History, by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson (Ten Speed Press)

Hakim’s Odyssey, Book 1: From Syria to Turkey, by Fabien Toulmé, translation by Hannah Chute (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula, by Koren Shadmi (Humanoids)

Orwell, by Pierre Christin and Sébastien Verdier, translation by Edward Gauvin (SelfMadeHero)

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness, by Kristen Radtke (Pantheon/Penguin Random House)

The Strange Death of Alex Raymond, by Dave Sim and Carson Grubaugh (Living the Line)

Best Graphic Memoir

Factory Summers, by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall (Drawn & Quarterly)

Parenthesis, by Élodie Durand, translation by Edward Gauvin (Top Shelf)

Run: Book One, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, and Nate Powell (Abrams ComicArts)

Save It for Later: Promises, Parenthood, and the Urgency of Protest, by Nate Powell (Abrams ComicArts)

The Secret to Superhuman Strength, by Alison Bechdel (Mariner Books)

Best Graphic Album—New

Ballad For Sophie, by Filipe Melo and Juan Cavia, translation by Gabriela Soares (Top Shelf)

Destroy All Monsters (A Reckless Book), by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)

In., by Will McPhail (Mariner Books)

Meadowlark: A Coming-of-Age Crime Story, by Ethan Hawke and Greg Ruth (Grand Central Publishing)

Monsters, by Barry Windsor-Smith (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

The Complete American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, and Scott Hampton (Dark Horse)

Locke & Key: Keyhouse Compendium, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez (IDW)

Middlewest: The Complete Tale, by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona (Image)

Rick and Morty vs Dungeons and Dragons Deluxe Edition, by Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Zub, and Troy Little (Oni/IDW)

The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: California Deluxe Edition, by Gerard Way, Shaun Simon, and Becky Cloonan (Dark Horse)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

After the Rain, by Nnedi Okorafor, adapted by John Jennings and David Brame (Megascope/Abrams ComicArts)

Bubble by Jordan Morris, Sarah Morgan, and Tony Cliff (First Second/Macmillan)

Disney Cruella: Black, White, and Red, adapted by Hachi Ishie (VIZ Media)

George Orwell’s 1984: The Graphic Novel, adapted by Fido Nesti (Mariner Books)

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, by Robert Tressell, adapted by Sophie and Scarlett Rickard (SelfMadeHero)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Ballad For Sophie, by Filipe Melo and Juan Cavia, translation by Gabriela Soares (Top Shelf)

Between Snow and Wolf, by Agnes Domergue and Helene Canac, translation by Maria Vahrenhorst (Magnetic)

Love: The Mastiff, by Frederic Brrémaud and Federico Bertolucci (Magnetic)

The Parakeet, by Espé, translation by Hannah Chute ((Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press)

The Shadow of a Man, by Benoît Peeters and François Schuiten, translation by Stephen D. Smith (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

Chainsaw Man, by Tatsuki Fujimoto, translation by Amanda Haley (VIZ Media)

Kaiju No. 8, by Naoya Matsumoto, translation by David Evelyn (VIZ Media)

Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection, by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)

Robo Sapiens: Tales of Tomorrow (Omnibus), by Toranosuke Shimada, translation by Adrienne Beck (Seven Seas)

Spy x Family, by Tatsuya Endo, translation by Casey Loe (VIZ Media)

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata, translation by Nova Skipper (VIZ Media)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)

Friday Foster: The Sunday Strips, by Jim Lawrence and Jorge Longarón, edited by Christopher Marlon, Rich Young, and Kevin Ketner (Ablaze)

Popeye: The E.C. Segar Sundays, vol. 1 by E.C. Segar, edited by Gary Groth and Conrad Groth (Fantagraphics)

Trots and Bonnie, by Shary Flenniken, edited by Norman Hathaway (New York Review Comics)

The Way of Zen, adapted and illustrated by C. C. Tsai, translated by Brian Bruya (Princeton University Press)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)

EC Covers Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Farewell, Brindavoine, by Tardi, translation by Jenna Allen, edited by Conrad Groth (Fantagraphics)

Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man vol. 1: 1962–1964, by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, edidted by Steve Korté (TASCHEN)

Spain Rodriguez: My Life and Times, vol. 3, edited by Patrick Rosenkranz (Fantagraphics)

Steranko Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artisan Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Uncle Scrooge: “Island in the Sky,” by Carl Barks, edited by J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)

Best Writer

Ed Brubaker, Destroy All Monsters, Friend of the Devil (Image)

Kelly Sue DeConnick, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons Book One (DC)

Filipe Melo, Ballad for Sophie (Top Shelf)

Ram V, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (BOOM! Studios); The Swamp Thing (DC); Carnage: Black, White & Blood, Venom (Marvel)

James Tynion IV, House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); The Nice House on the Lake, The Joker, Batman, DC Pride 2021 (DC); The Department of Truth (Image); Blue Book, Razorblades (Tiny Onion Studios)

Best Writer/Artist

Alison Bechdel, The Secret to Superhuman Strength (Mariner Books)

Junji Ito, Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection, Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection, Sensor (VIZ Media)

Daniel Warren Johnson, Superman: Red & Blue (DC); Beta Ray Bill (Marvel)

Will McPhail, In: A Graphic Novel (Mariner Books)

Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Filipe Andrade, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (BOOM! Studios)

Phil Jimenez, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons (DC)

Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)

Esad Ribic, Eternals (Marvel)

P. Craig Russell, Norse Mythology (Dark Horse)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

Federico Bertolucci, Brindille, Love: The Mastiff (Magnetic)

John Bolton, Hell’s Flaw (Renegade Arts Entertainment)

Juan Cavia, Ballad for Sophie (Top Shelf)

Frank Pe, Little Nemo (Magnetic)

Ileana Surducan, The Lost Sunday (Pronoia AB)

Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Best Cover Artist

Jen Bartel, Future State Immortal Wonder Woman #1 & 2, Wonder Woman Black & Gold #1, Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary (DC); Women’s History Month variant covers (Marvel)

David Mack, Norse Mythology (Dark Horse)

Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)

Alex Ross, Black Panther, Captain America, Captain America/Iron Man #2, Immortal Hulk, Iron Man, The U.S. of The Marvels (Marvel)

Julian Totino Tedesco, Just Beyond: Monstrosity (BOOM!/KaBoom!); Dune: House Atreides (BOOM! Studios); Action Comics (DC); The Walking Dead Deluxe (Image Skybound)

Yoshi Yoshitani, I Am Not Starfire (DC); The Blue Flame, Giga, Witchblood (Vault)

Best Coloring

Filipe Andrade/Inês Amaro, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (BOOM! Studios)

Terry Dodson, Adventureman (Image Comics)

K. O’Neill, The Tea Dragon Tapestry (Oni)

Jacob Phillips, Destroy All Monsters, Friend of the Devil (Image)

Matt Wilson, Undiscovered Country (Image); Fire Power (Image Skybound); Eternals, Thor, Wolverine (Marvel); Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters (Oni)

Best Lettering

Wes Abbott, Future State, Nightwing, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman Black & Gold (DC)

Clayton Cowles, The Amazons, Batman, Batman/Catwoman, Strange Adventures, Wonder Woman Historia (DC); Adventureman (Image); Daredevil, Eternals, King in Black, Strange Academy, Venom, X-Men Hickman, X-Men Duggan (Marvel)

Crank!, Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters, The Tea Dragon Tapestry (Oni); Money Shot (Vault)

Ed Dukeshire, Once & Future, Seven Secrets (BOOM Studios)

Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)

The Columbus Scribbler, edited by Brian Canini, Jack Wallace, and Steve Steiner, columbusscribbler.com

Fanbase Press, edited by Barbra Dillon, fanbasepress.com

tcj.com, edited by Tucker Stone and Joe McCulloch (Fantagraphics)

WomenWriteAboutComics.com, edited by Wendy Browne and Nola Pfau (WWAC)

Best Comics-Related Book

All of the Marvels, by Douglas Wolk (Penguin Press)

The Art of Thai Comics: A Century of Strips and Stripes, by Nicolas Verstappen (River Books)

Fantastic Four No. 1: Panel by Panel, by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Chip Kidd, and Geoff Spear (Abrams ComicArts)

Old Gods & New: A Companion to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, by John Morrow, with Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)

True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee, by Abraham Riesman (Crown)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History, by Eike Exner (Rutgers University Press)

The Life and Comics of Howard Cruse: Taking Risks in the Service of Truth, by Andrew J. Kunka (Rutgers University Press)

Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity, by Zack Kruse (University Press of Mississippi)

Pulp Empire: The Secret History of Comics Imperialism, by Paul S. Hirsch (University of Chicao Press)

Rebirth of the English Comic Strip: A Kaleidoscope, 1847–1870, by David Kunzle (University Press of Mississippi)

Best Publication Design

The Complete American Gods, designed by Ethan Kimberling (Dark Horse)

The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Deluxe Edition, designed by Justin Allan-Spencer (Fantagraphics)

Crashpad, designed by Gary Panter and Justin Allan-Spencer (Fantagraphics)

Machine Gun Kelly’s Hotel Diablo, designed by Tyler Boss (Z2)

Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man vol. 1: 1962–1964 (TASCHEN)

Popeye Vol. 1 by E.C. Segar, designed by Jacob Covey (Fantagraphics)

Best Webcomic

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, by CRC Payne and StarBite (DC/WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/slice-of-life/batman-wayne-family-adventures/list?title_no=3180&page=

Isle of Elsi, by Alec Longstreth, https://www.isleofelsi.com/comics/ioe6/page-259/

Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe (WEBTOON), https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/list?title_no=1320&page=1

Navillera: Like a Butterfly, by Hun and Jimmy, translation by Kristianna Lee (Tapas Medie/Kakao Entertainment), https://tapas.io/series/navillera-like-a-butterfly

Unmasked, by Breri and Nuitt (WebToon Factory/Europe Comics), https://www.webtoonfactory.com/en/serie/unmasked/

Best Digital Comic
Days of Sand, by Aimée de Jongh, translation by Christopher Bradley (Europe Comics)

Everyone Is Tulip, by Dave Baker and Nicole Goux, everyoneistulip.com

It’s Jeff, by Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru (Marvel)

Love After World Domination 1-3, by Hiroshi Noda and Takahiro Wakamatsu, translation by Steven LeCroy (Kodansha)

Snow Angels, by Jeff Lemire and Jock (Comixology Originals) 

Nominees Announced for 2022 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jackie Estrada

jackie@comic-con.org

DC and Image have the most nominations

SAN DIEGO – Comic-Con is proud to announce the nominees for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2022. The nominations are for works published between January 1 and December 31, 2021 and were chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges.

Once again, this year’s nominees in 32 categories reflect the wide range of material being published in the U.S. today in comics and graphic novel media, representing over 150 print and online titles from some 65 publishers, produced by creators from all over the world.

DC and Image received the most nominations: DC with 15 (plus 7 shared) and Image with 14 (plus 4 shared). Leading the pack for DC with 5 nominations is Nightwing, up for Best Continuing Series, Best Single Issue, Best Lettering (West Abbott), and both Best Penciller/Inker and Cover Artist for Bruno Redondo. Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons garnered 4 nominations: Best Single Issue, Best Writer (Kelly Sue DeConnick), Best Penciller/Inker (Phil Jimenez), and Best Lettering (Clayton Cowles). For Image, Destroy All Monsters (A Reckless Book) garnered nominations for Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer (Ed Brubaker), and Best Coloring (Jacob Phillips). Image has two nominees each for Best Continuing Series (Bitter Root, The Department of Truth), Best Limited Series (The Good Asian, Stray Dogs), and Best New Series (Radiant Black, Ultramega).

Fantagraphics has 11 nominations, dominating the Best Archival Collection–Comic Books category, with 3 of the 6 nods and the Best Publication Design category with 3 of the 5 nominees. In addition, Barry Windsor-Smith’s magnum opus Monsters received nominations for Best Graphic Album–new, Best Writer/Artist, and Best Lettering. IDW with its subsidiary Top Shelf garnered 11 nominations, led by Ballad for Sophie by Filipe Melo and Juan Cavia, up for Best Graphic Album­–New, Best U.S. Edition of International Material, Best Writer, and Best Painter/Multimedia Artist.

With 8 nominations, VIZ Media came through with 5 of the 6 nominations in the Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia category. Marvel Comics received 7 nominations (plus 5 shared), and BOOM! has 7 (with 3 shared). The leading title for BOOM! is The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade, nominated for Best Limited Series, Best Writer, and Best Penciller/Inker and Coloring.

Other publishers with multiple nominations include Abrams (with 5), Dark Horse (5), Mariner Books (5), Magnetic Press (4), and Oni (2 plus 2 shared). Fifteen companies have 2 nominations each, and another 37 companies or individuals have 1 nomination each.

Among projects with 2 nominations are Not All Robots (AWA Upshot), Superman: Red & Blue (DC), Popeye: The EC Seger Sundays (Fantagraphics), Bubble (First Second/Macmillan), You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife (Iron Circus), Alison Bechdel’s The Secret of Superhuman Strength (Mariner Books), Will McPhail’s In (Mariner Books), Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man 1962–1964 (TASCHEN), Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection (VIZ Media), and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (VIZ Media).

When it comes to creators, James Tynion IV has 5 nominations: 2 for Best Continuing Series (Department of Truth, Something Is Killing the Children) plus Best New Series (The Nice House on the Lake), Best Publication for Teens (Wynd), and Best Writer. Creators with 3 nominations each include Redondo, Windsor-Smith, Melo, Cavia, Andrade, and Daniel Warren Johnson (Best Short Story, Best Limited Series for Marvel’s Beta Ray Bill, Best Writer/Artist). Another 16 creators have 2 nominations,

Named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, the awards are celebrating their 34th year of bringing attention to and highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels. The 2022 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of comics writer/editor Barbara Randall Kesel, author/art historian Kim Munson, writer/editor/journalist Rik Offenberger, librarian Jameson Rohrer, comics journalist/historian Jessica Tseang, and retailer Aaron Trites.

Voting for the awards was held online. The deadline for voting was June 8. Questions about the voting process should be sent to the Eisner Awards administrator, Jackie Estrada at jackie@comic-con.org

The Eisner Award trophies will be presented in a gala awards ceremony to be held during Comic-Con on the evening of July 22.

Judges Select Six for 2022 Eisner Hall of Fame

Voters Will Select 4 More Inductees

Comic-Con International (Comic-Con) has announced that the Eisner Awards judges have selected six individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2022. These inductees include two deceased comics artists: EC founder/publisher Max Gaines (who devised the first four-color, saddle-stitched newsprint comic in 1933) and writer Mark Gruenwald (legendary Marvel Comics editor); two pioneers of the comics medium: British illustrator Marie Duval (co-creator in 1867 of the British cartoon character “Alley Sloper,” considered the first recurring cartoon character); cartoonist Rose O’Neill (creator of The Kewpies in 1912) and two living legends: Filipino American artist Alex Niño (DC, Marvel, Warren, Heavy Metal etc.) and artist P. Craig Russell (best known for Elric, his adaptations of opera to graphic novels, and his collaborations with Neil Gaiman, including on The Sandman, Coraline, American Gods, and Norse Mythology).

            The judges have also chosen 17 nominees from whom voters will select 4 to be inducted in the Hall of Fame this summer. These nominees are Howard Chaykin, Gerry Conway, Kevin Eastman, Steve Englehart, Moto Hagio, Larry Hama, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, David Mazzucchelli, Jean-Claude Mézières, Grant Morrison, Gaspar Saladino, Jim Shooter, Garry Trudeau, Ron Turner, George Tuska, Mark Waid, and Cat Yronwode. More information on the nominees can be found here. 

            Voting for the Hall of Fame is being held online. A two-step voting process has been put in place for enhanced security. The first step is for prospective voters to apply at www.comic-con.org/eisnervote . After filling out a form, eligible voters will be invited to go to the ballot and cast their votes. Individuals who were approved to vote in 2021 will be sent an invitation to participate and do not need to reregister. Those who are eligible to vote include comic book/graphic novel/webcomic creators (writers, artists, cartoonists, pencillers, inkers, letterers, colorists); comic book/graphic novel publishers and editors; comics historians and educators; graphic novel librarians; and owners and managers of comic book specialty retail stores. The deadline for voting is May 11. New voters must have registered by May 5 in order to be invited to the ballot. Questions about the voting process should be sent to the Eisner Awards administrator, Jackie Estrada at jackie@comic-con.org

      The 2022 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of comics writer/editor Barbara Randall Kesel, author/art historian Kim Munson, writer/editor/journalist Rik Offenberger, librarian Jameson Rohrer, comics journalist/historian Jessica Tseang, and retailer Aaron Trites.

      The Eisner Hall of Fame trophies will be presented in a gala awards ceremony to be held during Comic-Con on the evening of July 22.

2022 Eisner Nominees

Judges’ Choices

Max Gaines (1894–1947)

In 1933, Max Gaines devised the first four-color, saddle-stitched newsprint pamphlet, a precursor to the color-comics format that became the standard for the American comic book industry. He was co-publisher (with Jack Liebowitz) of All-American Publications, a seminal comic book company that introduced such enduring fictional characters as Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Hawkman. He went on to found Educational Comics, producing the series Picture Stories from the Bible. He authored one of the earliest essays on comic books, a 1942 pamphlet titled Narrative Illustration, The Story of the Comics. After Gaines’ death (in a motorboating accident) in 1947, Educational Comics was taken over by his son Bill Gaines, who transformed the company (now known as EC Comics) into a pioneer of horror, science fiction, and satirical comics.

Mark Gruenwald (1953–1996)

Mark Gruenwald was hired by Marvel Comics in 1978 and stayed there until his death. During his tenure, he worked on a variety of books before becoming their executive editor and keeper of continuity for much of the 1980s. Gruenwald had a knack for remembering every bit of minutia about Marvel Comics. The publisher even opened up a challenge for readers to stump him but had to discontinue it when it became clear nobody could beat him. Gruenwald is most recognized for his work on a new team of heroes known as the Squadron Supreme. The Squadron’s characters had been around, but Gruenwald decided to focus on a new set of the heroes in an alternate reality. The Squadron Supreme received a 12-issue miniseries and is considered a precursor to highly popular deconstructionist superhero parables like Watchmen, Kingdom Come, and The Boys. Sadly, Gruenwald died of heart failure in 1996. He had long told his wife he wanted his ashes to be a part of his work. When Squadron Supreme was collected into a trade paperback, his ashes were mixed into the ink.

Alex Niño

Alex Niño was among the Philippine comics artists recruited for U.S. comic books by DC Comics editor Joe Orlando and publisher Carmine Infantino in 1971. Niño’s earliest DC work was drawing stories for House of Mystery, Weird War Tales, and other supernatural anthologies, as well as the jungle-adventure feature “Korak” in Tarzan. He moved to the U.S. in 1974. Over the next several decades, Niño drew all types of stories for DC, Marvel, Warren (Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella), Heavy Metal, Byron Preiss, Dark Horse Comics, and other publishers. Starting in the 1980s, Niño branched out into movies and video games, doing design work and concept art for Hanna-Barbera, Sega, and Walt Disney Pictures (Mulan and Atlantis). Niño received an Inkpot Award in 1976.

P. Craig Russell

P. Craig Russell has spent 50 years producing graphic novels, comic books, and illustrations. He entered the comics industry in 1972 as an assistant to artist Dan Adkins. After establishing a name for himself at Marvel on Killraven, Dr. Strange, and Elric, Russell began working on more personal projects, such as adaptations of operas by Mozart (The Magic Flute), Strauss (Salome), and Wagner (The Ring of the Nibelung). Russell is also known for his Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde series and his graphic novel adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Coraline, Murder Mysteries, and American Gods. His most recent project has been Gaiman’s Norse Mythology for Dark Horse. Russell received an Inkpot Award in 1993 and has won several Harvey and Eisner awards.

Pioneers

Marie Duval (1847–1890)

“Marie Duval” was born Isabelle Emilie Louisa Tessier in Marleybone, London in 1847. Tessier was one of the first female cartoonists in Europe. Her fame rests on her contributions to the Ally Sloper comic pages created with her husband Charles Henry Ross in the comic periodical Fun, and reprinted in a shilling book, Ally Sloper: A Moral Lesson (full title: Some Playful Episodes in the Career of Ally Sloper late of Fleet Street, Timbuctoo, Wagga Wagga, Millbank, and elsewhere with Casual References to Ikey Mo) in November 1873. This work is often called “the first British comic book.” The idea of a recurring, familiar cartoon character—so basic to comics and cartoons as we know them now—appears to have begun with Ally Sloper. The wildly popular character (a hard-drinking working class shirker) is thought to have inspired both Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp persona and W. C. Fields. Besides Ally Sloper, Marie Duval drew a range of comic fantasies (“caricatures”) for the magazine Judy, a Victorian rival to Punch.

Rose O’Neill (1874–1944)

Rose O’Neill was an American cartoonist and writer who, at a young age, became the best-known and highest-paid female commercial illustrator in the United States. A four-panel comic strip by O’Neill were featured in a September 19, 1896, issue of Truth magazine, making her the first American woman to publish a comic strip. She earned her international fame and fortune by creating the Kewpie, the most widely known cartoon character until Mickey Mouse. Her Kewpie cartoons, which made their debut in a 1909 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal, were made into bisque dolls in 1912 by J. D. Kestner, a German toy company. The dolls became immediately popular and are considered to be one of the first mass-marketed toys in the United States.

2022 Nominees

Howard Chaykin

After working as an assistant for the likes of Gil Kane, Wally Wood, Neal Adams, and Gray Morrow, in the early 1970s Howard Chaykin became a freelancer for such publishers as Marvel, DC, Warren, and Heavy Metal. In 1974, he created “Cody Starbuck” for Star*Reach. Chaykin pioneered the graphic novel with Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination and Samuel R. Delaney’s Empire, among others. In 1977, prior to the movies, he drew the first Star Wars comics with scripts by Roy Thomas. In 1983, he created the hit series American Flagg! at First Comics. His 1980s output included Black Kiss (Vortex), The Shadow and Blackhawk (DC) and his postmodern graphic novel Time² at First. Subsequent projects have included Twilight, Power and Glory, American Century, Mighty Love, The Divided States of Hysteria, and Hey, Kids! Comics!

Gerry Conway

Gerry Conway is best known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante The Punisher (with artist Ross Andru) and Ms. Marvel (with John Buscema), and for scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. He is also known for co-creating DC Comics’ Firestorm, Power Girl, Killer Croc, and Jason Todd. HE wrote  Justice League of America for eight years and for scripted the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.

Kevin Eastman

Writer/artist/publisher Kevin Eastman co-created Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. The duo published the comic themselves starting in 1984, under the imprint Mirage Studios. The Turtles quickly made the leap to other media and went on to star in multiple movies, animated TV series, and toy lines over the years. In 1990 Eastman founded Tundra Publishing, which funded and published creator-owned comics by talent such as Alan Moore, Melinda Gebbie, Eddie Campbell, and Mike Allred, until 1993. Eastman also owned Heavy Metal magazine for more than 20 years, until 2014, and he continued to serve as its publisher until 2020.

Steve Englehart

Steve Englehart began writing for Marvel Comics in 1971, with long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles, co-creating the characters Shang-Chi, Star-Lord, and Mantis along the way. He was finally hired away by DC Comics to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series with art by Walt Simonson and Marshall Rogers (immediately dubbed the “definitive” version) that later became Warner Brothers’ first Batman film. In 1983 he created Coyote, for Marvel’s Epic imprint. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose, The Djinn) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern, Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.

Moto Hagio

Moto Hagio is one of a group of women who broke into the male-dominated manga industry and pioneered the shōjo (girls’ comics) movement in the early 1970s. Hagio’s 1974 work Heart of Thomas, inspired by the 1964 film This Special Friendship, was one of the early entries in the shōnen-ai (boys in love) subgenre. Hagio’s linework and dramatic imagery have influenced many manga artists, and she helped shape the style of emotional and symbolic backgrounds that many manga artists draw today. Her major works include A Drunken Dream, They Were Eleven, and Otherworld Barbara. She’s won the Japanese Medal of Honor with the Purple Ribbon (the first woman comics creator to do so), received Japan’s SF Grand Prize, the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award Grand Prize, and an Inkpot Award, among other accolades.

Larry Hama

Larry Hama is a writer/artist/editor/actor who is best known as the writer of Marvel’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, G.I. Joe: Special Missions, and Wolverine comics in the ’80s and ’90s. He has also written, edited, or drawn for Avengers, Conan, Batman, Wonder Woman, X-Men, Spider-Man, and dozens more. His illustrations and cartoons have appeared in National Lampoon, Esquire, New York and Rolling Stone. His most recent novel is The Death of Captain America. He also scripted Batman Shadow of the Bat and Wonder Woman for DC Comics’ Convergence Event, as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops III for Dark Horse and of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero for IDW.

Jeffrey Catherine Jones

Jones (1944–2011) began creating comics in 1964. While attending Georgia State College, Jones met fellow student Mary Louise Alexander; the two began dating and were married in 1966. After graduation, the couple moved to New York City but split up in the early 1970s. (Writer/editor Louise Jones Simonson was inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame in 2020.) In New York Jones found work drawing for King Comics, Gold Key, Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella, as well as Wally Wood’s Witzend. Jones painted covers for more than 150 books, including the Ace paperback editions of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series and Andre Norton’s Postmarked the Stars, The Zero Stone, Uncharted Stars, and many others. In the early 1970s when National Lampoon began publication, Jones had a strip in it called Idyl. From 1975 to 1979 Jones shared workspace with Bernie Wrightson, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Michael Wm Kaluta, collectively named The Studio. By the early 1980s Jones had a recurring strip in Heavy Metal titled I’m Age. In the late 1990s, Jones started taking female hormones and had sex reassignment surgery. She passed away in May of 2011.

David Mazzucchelli

David Mazzucchelli started working in comics in the early 1980s, first at Marvel Comics where he became the regular artist on Daredevil. He worked with writer Denny O’Neil and culminated his work on this title with the Daredevil: Born Again story arc, written by Frank Miller. He collaborated with Miller again on Batman: Year One, considered one of the best Batman stories ever produced. Mazzucchelli moved on to focus on more personal projects, including his own independent anthology, Rubber Blanket and an adaptation of Paul Auster’s City of Glass. In 2009, Pantheon Books published Mazzucchelli’s graphic novel, Asterios Polyp, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and three Eisner Awards.

Jean-Claude Mézières

Jean-Claude Mézières (1938–2022) was a French comic strip artist and illustrator. Educated at the Institut des Arts Appliqués, upon graduation he worked as an illustrator for books and magazines as well as in advertising. A lifelong interest in the Wild West led him to travel to the United States in 1965 in search of adventure as a cowboy, an experience that would prove influential on his later work. Returning to France, Mézières teamed up with his childhood friend, Pierre Christin, to create Valérian and Laureline, the popular, long-running science fiction comics series for which he is best known and which has proved to be influential on many science fiction and fantasy films, including Star Wars. Mézières has also worked as a conceptual designer on several motion picture projects—most notably the 1997 Luc Besson film, The Fifth Element—as well as continuing to work as an illustrator for newspapers, magazines and in advertising. Mézières has received international recognition through a number of prestigious awards, most notably the 1984 Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême award.

Grant Morrison

Grant Morrison started writing comics in the early 1980s on various titles for British publishers, including Warrior, Dr. Who, and 2000 AD. Morrison’s first U.S. hit was Animal Man for DC, followed by Doom Patrol. In 1989 DC published Morrison and Dave McKean’s highly successful graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. In the 1990s Grant produced several titles for DC’s Vertigo line, including The Invisibles, Sebastian O, Flex Mentallo, The Mystery Play, and Kill Your Boyfriend. Also at DC, they wrote JLA, The Flash, and DC One Million. In 2000–2001 Morrison moved over to Marvel, writing Marvel Boy, Fantastic Four 1234, and New X-Men. Grant’s DC works in recent decades include The Filth, W3, Seaguy, Seven Soldiers, Final Crisis, the award-winning All-Star Superman (with Frank Quitely), The Multiversity, the graphic novel JLA: Earth 2, and the ongoing Batman title. Morrison’s most recent projects have included Happy!, and Nameless for Image, 2015, Klaus and Proctor Valley Road for BOOM!, and Green Lantern, Wonder Woman: Earth One, and Superman and The Authority for DC.

Gaspar Saladino

Gaspar Saladino (1927–2016) worked for more than 60 years in the comics industry as a letterer and logo designer. According to former DC publisher Paul Levitz, “His work on Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson’s Swamp Thing run established a new level for what lettering could do to add to storytelling in periodical American comics, bringing more drama with his innovative style.” Saladino began as a letterer at DC in 1949. Titles he worked on included Justice League of America, The Flash, Strange Adventures, Mystery in Space, G.I. Combat, Hellblazer, and Superman vs. Muhammad Ali. He also designed and lettered the DC house ads and hundreds of covers. Among logos that Saladino designed were Green Lantern, House of Mystery, Batman, Swamp Thing, Teen Titans, Metal Men, Adam Strange, and Phantom Stranger. For Marvel he did the logos for The Avengers and Captain America and the Falcon, among others. He was active until around 2002.

Jim Shooter

At age 14, Shooter began selling stories to DC Comics, writing for both Action Comics and Adventure Comics. In January 1976, he joined the Marvel staff as an assistant editor and writer, and in 1978 he succeeded Archie Goodwin to become Marvel’s ninth editor-in-chief. Marvel enjoyed some of its best successes during Shooter’s nine-year tenure, including Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s run on the Uncanny X-Men, Byrne’s work on the Fantastic Four, Frank Miller’s series of Daredevil stories, and Walt Simonson’s crafting of Norse mythology with the Marvel Universe in Thor. Shooter also institutionalized creator royalties, starting the Epic imprint for creator-owned material in 1982; introduced company-wide crossover events, with Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions and Secret Wars; and launched a new, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, line named New Universe, to commemorate Marvel’s 25th anniversary in 1986. Shooter left Marvel in 1987 and founded Valiant Comics. He and several of his co-workers went on to found short-lived Defiant Comics in early 1993, followed two years later by Broadway Comics.

Garry Trudeau

Trudeau attended Yale University, where he was a cartoonist and writer for The Yale Record. He also created a comic strip called Bull Tales, which moved to the Yale Daily News in 1969. Universal Press Syndicate bought the strip and started selling it nationwide to over 400 newspapers under the title Doonesbury. In his long career, Trudeau has made several political statements within his comics, and has been groundbreaking in dealing with topics like homosexuality in comic strips. He also has been a strong advocate of cartoonists’ rights. In 1975, Trudeau was the first comic strip artist to win the Pulitzer Prize, followed by the Rueben Award in 1996. Doonesbury was made into an animated short film in 1977 and a Broadway musical in 1984.

Ron Turner

Ron Turner founded Last Gasp in 1970: a San Francisco-based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Over the last 52 years Last Gasp has been a publisher, distributor, and wholesaler of underground comix and books of all types. Although the company came onto the scene a bit later than some of the other underground publishers, Last Gasp continued publishing comix far longer most of its competitors. In addition to publishing notable original titles like Slow Death, Wimmen’s Comix, Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, Air Pirates, It Ain’t Me Babe, and Weirdo, it also picked up the publishing reins of important titles such as Zap Comix and Young Lust from rivals that had gone out of business. The company publishes art and photography books, graphic novels, manga translations, fiction, and poetry.

George Tuska

George Tuska (1916–2009) finished his studies at the National Academy School of Art at age 21. In 1939, he became assistant on the Scorchy Smith newspaper strip. At the same time, he joined the Iger-Eisner Studio, whe worked on stories for a variety of comic book titles, including Jungle, Wings, Planet, Wonderworld, and Mystery Men. In the 1940s, as a member of the Harry “A” Chesler Studio, he drew several episodes of Captain Marvel, Golden Arrow, Uncle Sam, and El Carim. After the war, he continued in the comics field with memorable stories for Charles Biro’s Crime Does Not Pay, as well as Black Terror, Crimebuster, and Doc Savage. He also became the main artist on Scorchy Smith from 1954 to 1959, when he took over the daily and Sunday Buck Rogers pages, which he continued until 1967. In the late 1960s, Tuska started working for Marvel, where he contributed to Ghost Rider, Planet of the Apes, X-Men, Daredevil, and Iron Man. He continued drawing superhero comics for DC, including Superman, Superboy, and Challengers of the Unknown. In 1978, along with José Delbo, Paul Kupperberg and Martin Pasko, Tuska started a new version of the daily Superman comic. Tuska worked on this series until 1993.

Mark Waid

Mark Waid got his start in the comics industry writing for Amazing Heroes and Comics Buyers’ Guide. In the mid-1980s he joined the staff of Amazing Heroes as a writer and editor. From there, he jumped to the big time, joining DC Comics as an editor in 1987, then went freelance in 1989. Hebecame the main writer on The Flash from 1992 through 2000, while also writing Captain America. In 1997, Waid teamed with Alex Ross for DC’s award-winning Kingdom Come. In 1999, he joined with several peers to form the short-lived Gorilla Comics, then became part of CrossGen, another start-up publisher. That was followed by a three-year run writing Fantastic Four. In 2003 Waid returned to DC for Superman: Birthright: The Origin of the Man of Steel. From August 2007 to December 2010, Waid served as editor-in-chief and later chief creative officer at BOOM! Studios; he is currently publisher for Humanoids.

Catherine “Cat” Yronwode

In 1980, Cat Yronwode worked as an editor for Ken Pierce Publishing, editing and writing introductions to a line of comic strip reprint books. She also began a long-running column titled “Fit to Print” for the Comics Buyer’s Guide. The column led to freelance editing jobs at Kitchen Sink Press, for which she wrote The Art of Will Eisner in 1981. In 1982 she began a partnership with Dean Mullaney, who with his brother Jan had co-founded Eclipse Enterprises. With Yronwode as editor-in-chief during a period of expanding attention to the artform, Eclipse published many innovative works and championed creators’ rights in a field which at the time barely respected them. During her tenure, Eclipse published such works as Miracleman by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens, Zot! by Scott McCloud, and The Magic Flute by P. Craig Russell.  In 1985, Eclipse published Women and the Comics, a pioneering book on the history of female comic strip and comic book creators, by Yronwode and Trina Robbins.

JUDGES NAMED FOR 2022 EISNER AWARDS

Six Comics Experts Make Up Nominating Committee

Comic-Con International (Comic-Con) is proud to announce that the judging panel has been named for the 2022 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, which will reward excellence for works published in 2021. This year’s judges are Barbara Randall Kesel, Kim Munson, Rik Offenberger, Jameson Rohrer, Aaron Trites, and Jessica Tseang.

The judges are chosen by Comic-Con’s awards subcommittee, made up of individuals from the board of directors, staff, and various departments. The judges are selected to represent all aspects of the comics industry.

The judges will determine the nominees that will be placed on the Eisner Awards ballot in some 30 categories. The nominees will then be voted on by professionals in the comic book industry, and the results will be announced in a gala awards ceremony at the San Diego Comic-Con in July.

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2021 Eisner Award Winners

Best Short Story

“When the Menopausal Carnival Comes to Town” by Mimi Pond, in Menopause: A Comic Treatment (Graphic Medicine/Pennsylvania State University Press)

Best Single Issue

Sports Is Hell, by Ben Passmore (Koyama Press)

Best Continuing Series

Usagi Yojimbo, by Stan Sakai (IDW)

Best Limited Series

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber (DC)

Best New Series

Black Widow, by Kelly Thompson and Elena Casagrande (Marvel)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

Our Little Kitchen, by Jillian Tamaki (Abrams Books for Young Readers)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

Superman Smashes the Klan, by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru (DC)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

Dragon Hoops, by Gene Luen Yang (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Humor Publication

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber (DC)

Best Anthology

Menopause: A Comic Treatment, edited by MK Czerwiec (Graphic Medicine/Pennsylvania State University Press)

Best Reality-Based Work

Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, by Derf Backderf (Abrams)

Best Graphic Memoir

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist, by Adrian Tomine (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—New

Pulp, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

Seeds and Stems, by Simon Hanselmann (Fantagraphics)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

Superman Smashes the Klan, adapted by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru (DC)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Goblin Girl, by Moa Romanova, translation by Melissa Bowers (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

Remina, by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips 

The Flapper Queens: Women Cartoonists of the Jazz Age, edited by Trina Robbins (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

The Complete Hate, by Peter Bagge, edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)

Best Writer

James Tynion IV, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); Batman (DC); The Department of Truth (Image); Razorblades (Tiny Onion)

Best Writer/Artist

Junji Ito, Remina, Venus in the Blind Spot (VIZ Media)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Michael Allred, Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams (Insight Editions)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

Anand RK/John Pearson, Blue in Green (Image)

Best Cover Artist

Peach Momoko, Buffy the Vampire Slayer #19, Mighty Morphin #2, Something Is Killing the Children #12, Power Rangers #1 (BOOM! Studios); DIE!namite, Vampirella (Dynamite); The Crow: Lethe (IDW); Marvel Variants (Marvel)

Best Coloring

Laura Allred, X-Ray Robot (Dark Horse); Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams (Insight Editions)

Best Lettering

Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (IDW)

Best Comics-Related Journalism/Periodical

Women Write About Comics, edited by Nola Pfau and Wendy Browne, www.WomenWriteAboutComics.com

Best Comics-Related Book

Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books, by Ken Quattro (Yoe Books/IDW)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging, by Rebecca Wanzo (New York University Press)

Best Publication Design

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist, designed by Adrian Tomine and Tracy Hurren (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Digital Comic

Friday, by Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martin (Panel Syndicate)

Best Webcomic

Crisis Zone, by Simon Hanselmann, https://www.instagram.com/simon.hanselmann/

Hall of Fame

Pioneers:

Thomas Nast
Rodolphe Töpffer

Judges’ Choices:

Alberto Breccia
Stan Goldberg
Françoise Mouly
Lily Renée Phillips

Voted In:

Ruth Atkinson
Dave Cockrum
Neil Gaiman
Scott McCloud