Since the founding of the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (and their previous incarnation, the Kirby Awards), the following individuals have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
One of the unsung heroes of the Golden Age, Bill Finger, along with Bob Kane, co-created Batman. Besides writing the first Batman stories and the first Robin story, he is credited with dreaming up such villains as the Penguin and Catwoman. He also wrote the first Green Lantern story and is the namesake of Comic-Con International’s Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. Inducted 1999
For decades Harold R. Foster produced gorgeous Sunday comic strips of Tarzan and his own creation, Prince Valiant, which he wrote and illustrated for almost 40 years. He is lauded by all as one of the great artists of the comic strip field. Inducted 1998
Gardner Fox was the first “full-time professional” comic book writer, with a career that spanned 34 years, from 1938 to 1972. In all, he churned out more than 4,000 scripts for DC, where he created the Flash, Sandman, Dr. Fate, Hawkman, Adam Strange, the Justice Society, and the Justice League, and he wrote for numerous other titles, from Batman to the Atom. Inducted 1999
Working in what was primarily a men’s industry, Ramona Fradon drew comics for DC in the 1950s and 1960s, with a memorable run on Aquaman. She also co-created Metamorpho. After a hiatus in the late 1960s, she returned to DC to draw such titles as Plastic Man. She left DC in 1980 to bring her distinctive style the Brenda Starr newspaper strip, which she continued to draw until her retirement in 1995. Inducted 2006
Although he worked on both comic books (EC Comics stories and covers) and comic strips (Li’l Abner, Johnny Comet), Frank Frazetta is best known for his book and magazine covers (Tarzan, Creepy, Eerie, and especially Conan) and movie posters. His style has influenced untold numbers of fantasy painters and illustrators. Inducted 1995
Although most people probably think of MAD magazine when they think of Gaines (he was the publisher of the humor magazine from its inception until his death), William Gaines had his greatest influence in founding and publishing the EC Comics line, from Tales From the Crypt to Weird Science. Inducted 1993
Writer Steve Gerber, best known for co-creating Howard the Duck, wrote such titles as The Defenders, Man-Thing, Omega the Unknown, and Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel and was one of the founders of the Malibu Comics Ultraverse. Inducted 2010
As a penciller/inker, Dick Giordano worked for a variety of publishers, including Charlton, DC, Marvel, and Dell. He also served as editor-in-chief at Charlton and as executive editorial director of DC Comics, where he was the guiding force behind Watchmen and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, among other projects. Inducted 2010
Jean Giraud first came to the attention of Americans as the artist on the western graphic novel series Lt. Blueberry. In 1975, he founded Metal Hurlant (which became Heavy Metal in the U.S.). His signature art style on such SF/fantasy series as Airtight Garage and Arzach (which he created under the name Moebius), has been highly influential on a wide variety of artists. Inducted 1998
Archie Goodwin is considered by all to have been the “editor’s editor.” He left his mark first as editor (and chief writer) of Creepy and Eerie for Warren in the 1960s, then went on to edit the Epic line of creator-owned projects at Marvel. He then moved on to DC, where he served as editor of a variety of Batman titles until his death in 1998. Inducted 1998
One of the most famous of all European comics writers, René Goscinny began his career as the scriptwriter for the popular western strip Lucky Luke. In 1959 co-founded the influential comics weekly Pilote, for which he and artist Albert Uderzo created a new series, Asterix the Gaul. This strip became wildly successful in France and achieved popularity around the world. Inducted 2005
If Carl Barks was Disney’s “Duck Man,” Floyd Gottfredson was Disney’s “Mouse Man.” Floyd began writing and drawing the Mickey Mouse newspaper strip in 1930, with his classic period going up through 1955. He continued to work on the strip until 1975. Inducted 2006
Chester Gould is the cartoonist who brought us Dick Tracy, Tess Truehart, Junior, Moon Maid, and the most bizarre set of villains ever to grace a newspaper page, including Flattop, Mumbles, and The Mole. Gould not only produced gritty crime stories on a daily basis, but delighted readers with such scientific innovations as the two-way wrist radio. Inducted 2001
Harold Gray created Little Orphan Annie in 1924 and continued to write and draw the strip for 44 years. In addition to spawning popular songs and catchphrases (“Leaping Lizards!”) and a hit Broadway musical, one of the innovations of the popular strip was that it was told in “real time”: the events in the strip unfolded one day at a time. Inducted 2009
Irwin Hasen started in comic books in 1940, working on such features as The Green Hornet, The Fox, Secret Agent Z-2, Bob Preston, Cat-Man and The Flash, through the Harry "A" Chesler shop. He went on to draw several Green Lantern issues for DC and to co-create the character of Wildcat with Bill Finger. After serving in the military in WWII, Hasen returned to DC, where he drew Johnny Thunder, Justice League of America, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and and Green Lantern, among others. He and writer Gus Edson collaborated on the Dondi newspaper strip from 1955 to 1986. Inducted 2014
