Comic-Con International is proud to announce the nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2018. The nominees are for works published between January 1 and December 31, 2017 and were chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges.
Once again, this year’s nominees in 31 categories reflect the wide range of material being published in the U.S. today in comics and graphic novel form, representing over 120 print and online titles from more than 50 publishers and produced by creators from all over the world.
Topping the nominations are two pieces of work by women. My Favourite Thing Is Monsters (Fantagraphics) by first-time graphic novelist Emil Ferris is nominated in 5 categories: Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer/Artist, Best Coloring, Best Lettering, and Best Publication Design. Image’s Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda is nominated for Best Continuing Series and Best Publication for Teens, Liu is nominated for Best Writer, and Takeda is nominated for Best Painter and Best Cover Artist.
Other works with multiple nominations include DC’s Mister Miracle with 3 (Best Limited Series, Best Penciller/Inker and Best Coloring for Mitch Gerads) plus 2 shared (Best Writer for Tom King, Best Cover Artist for Nick Derrington); The Flinstones (another DC title) with 3 (Best Limited Series, Best Humor Publication, and Best Writer for Mark Russell); and Groundwood Books’ Louis Undercover by French creators Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault (Best Publication for Teens, Best Penciller/Inker and Best Lettering for Arsenault). Dark Horse’s Black Hammer, by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and David Rubín has 1 sole nomination (Best Continuing Series) as well as 4 shared (Best Writer, Best Penciller/Inker for Rubín, and Best Coloring for Dave Stewart and Rubín). Another 16 publications have 2 nominations.
Among publishers, Fantagraphics and Image top the list with the most nominations. Fantagraphics’ 16 nominations include the 5 for My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, plus 2 for Cathy Malkasian’s Eartha. Fantagraphics can boast 2 out of the 5 nominees for Best Graphic Album–New, Best U.S. Edition of International Material, Best Writer/Artist, and Best Comics-Related Book. Image has 13 nominations plus 5 shared. In addition to Monstress, nominated Image titles include The Wicked + The Divine (Best Continuing Series), 3 of the 5 nominated Limited Series (Extremity, Maestros, and Royal City), and Beowulf, by Spanish creators Santiago García and David Rubín (Best Adaption from Another Medium, plus shared nominations for Rubín for Penciller/Inker and Coloring).
DC, IDW, Dark Horse, and Marvel have numerous shared nominations each (mostly in the writing, coloring, and lettering categories), making totals difficult to pin down. DC has 9 nominations and 2 shared, Dark Horse has 7 nominations and 6 shared, while IDW and Marvel both have 7 nominations and 1 shared. The majority of DC’s nominations are for The Flintstones and Mister Miracle. Dark Horse nominees besides Black Hammer include 2 in the Adaptation category (H. P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick) and 2 for Will Eisner: The Centennial Celebration 1917–2017 (published in conjunction with Kitchen Sink). IDW has nominees in the Kids, Reality-Based, International, and Archival categories. Its 2 Reality-Based nominees are Calamity Jane: The Calamitous Life of Martha Jane Cannary, 1852–1903 and Lennon: The New York Years, both from European creators. In addition, Flight of the Raven by Jean-Pierre Gibrat (published by EuroComics/IDW) is nominated for Best U.S. Edition of International Material and Best Painter. Marvel has 2 Limited Series nominees: Black Panther: World of Wakanda and Ed Piskor’s X-Men: Grand Design. Other Marvel nominees include Hawkeye for Best Continuing Series and Black Bolt for Best New Series.
Additional publishers with multiple nominations include BOOM! with 6 nominations plus 1 shared, Nobrow with 5, and Andrews McMeel with 4 (2 each for the kids/humor book Wallace the Brave by Will Henry and the archival collection Celebrating Snoopy). Five companies have 3 nominations each: Drawn & Quarterly, First Second, Groundwood Books, Lion Forge/Magnetic, and Short Box. Twelve publishers have 2 nominations each, and another 39 companies or individuals have 1 nomination each.
Along with Emil Ferris and Sana Takeda, Beowulf and Black Hammer artist David Rubín has 4 nominations (Adaptation, Continuing Series, Penciller/Inker, Coloring).
Five creators have 3 nominations each: Marjorie Liu, Mark Russell, Tom King, Mitch Gerads, and Isabelle Arsenault. Eleven individuals are nominated for 2 Eisners, among them the late Jiro Taniguchi (Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia, Best Writer/Artist), Colombia-born Lorena Alvarez for Night Lights (Publication for Kids, Writer/Artist), French artist Chabouté (Adaptation, Writer/Artist), writers Jeff Lemire (Black Hammer, Descender) and Matt Kindt (Grass Kings, Ether, Eternity, X-O Manowar), artist Ramón K. Perez for Jane (Publication for Teens, Penciller/Inker), and writer/artist Tillie Walden for her graphic novel Spinning (Publication for Teens, Reality-Based Work).
Named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, the awards are celebrating their 30th year of bringing attention to and highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels. The 2018 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of librarian Candice Mack (Los Angeles Public Library), comics reviewer/journalist Graeme McMillan (i09, Wired, Hollywood Reporter), comics retailer Tate Ottati (Tate’s Comics, Lauderhill, FL), comics scholar Nhora Serrano (Hamilton College, Clinton, NY), writer/artist/educator Alexander Simmons (Blackjack, Scooby Doo, Archie; Kids Comic Con), and longtime Comic-Con volunteer William Wilson (anime/manga expert).
Voting for the awards is held online, and the ballot is available at www.eisnervote.com.
All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote. The deadline for voting is June 15. The results of the voting will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 20 at Comic-Con in San Diego.
The voting in one Eisner Awards category, the Hall of Fame, is already completed. The judges chose the nominees earlier this year, and voting was conducted online.
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are presented under the auspices of Comic-Con, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular artforms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture. Jackie Estrada has been administrator of the Awards since 1990. She can be reached at jackie@comic-con.org.
2018 Eisner Awards Nominations
Best Short Story
“Ethel Byrne,” by Cecil Castelluci and Scott Chantler, in Mine: A Celebration of Liberty and Freedom for All Benefiting Planned Parenthood (ComicMix)
“Forgotten Princess,” by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Antonio Sandoval, in Adventure Time Comics #13 (kaboom!)
”A Life in Comics: The Graphic Adventures of Karen Green,” by Nick Sousanis, in Columbia Magazine (Summer 2017), http://magazine.columbia.edu/features/summer-2017/life-comics?page=0,0
“Small Mistakes Make Big Problems,” by Sophia Foster-Dimino, in Comics for Choice (Hazel Newlevant)
“Trans Plant,” by Megan Rose Gedris, in Enough Space for Everyone Else (Bedside Press)
Best Single Issue/One-Shot
Barbara, by Nicole Miles (ShortBox)
Hellboy: Krampusnacht, by Mike Mignola and Adam Hughes (Dark Horse)
Pope Hats #5, by Ethan Rilly (AdHouse Books)
The Spotted Stone, by Rick Veitch (Sun Comics)
What Is Left, by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (ShortBox)
Best Continuing Series
Black Hammer, by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and David Rubín (Dark Horse)
Giant Days, by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Liz Fleming (BOOM! Box)
Hawkeye, by Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero, and Mike Walsh (Marvel)
Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)
The Wicked + The Divine, by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie (Image)
Best Limited Series
Black Panther: World of Wakanda, by Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Alitha E. Martinez (Marvel)
Extremity, by Daniel Warren Johnson (Image/Skybound)
The Flintstones, by Mark Russell, Steve Pugh, Rick Leonardi, and Scott Hanna (DC)
Mister Miracle, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)
X-Men: Grand Design, by Ed Piskor (Marvel)
Best New Series
Black Bolt, by Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward (Marvel)
Grass Kings, by Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins (BOOM! Studios)
Maestros, by Steve Skroce (Image)
Redlands, by Jordie Belaire and Vanesa Del Rey (Image)
Royal City, by Jeff Lemire (Image)
Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)
Adele in Sand Land, by Claude Ponti, translated by Skeeter Grant and Françoise Mouly (Toon Books)
Arthur and the Golden Rope, by Joe Todd-Stanton (Flying Eye/Nobrow)
Egg, by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books)
Good Night, Planet, by Liniers (Toon Books)
Little Tails in the Savannah, by Frederic Brrémaud and Federico Bertolucci, translated by Mike Kennedy (Lion Forge/Magnetic)
Best Publication for Kids (ages 9–12)
Bolivar, by Sean Rubin (Archaia)
Home Time (Book One): Under the River, by Campbell Whyte (Top Shelf)
Nightlights, by Lorena Alvarez (Nobrow)
The Tea Dragon Society, by Katie O’Neill (Oni)
Wallace the Brave, by Will Henry (Andrews McMeel)
Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)
The Dam Keeper, by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi (First Second/Tonko House)
Jane, by Aline Brosh McKenna and Ramón K. Pérez (Archaia)
Louis Undercover, by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault, translated by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi)
Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)
Spinning, by Tillie Walden (First Second)
Best Humor Publication
Baking with Kafka, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)
Batman/Elmer Fudd Special #1, by Tom King, Lee Weeks, and Byron Vaughn (DC)
The Flintstones, by Mark Russell, Steve Pugh, Rick Leonardi, and Scott Hanna (DC)
Rock Candy Mountain, by Kyle Starks (Image)
Wallace the Brave, by Will Henry (Andrews McMeel)
Best Anthology
A Bunch of Jews (and Other Stuff): A Minyen Yidn, by Max B. Perlson, Trina Robbins et al. (Bedside Press)
A Castle in England, by Jamie Rhodes et al. (Nobrow)
Elements: Fire, A Comic Anthology by Creators of Color, edited by Taneka Stotts (Beyond Press)
Now #1, edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
The Spirit Anthology, edited by Sean Phillips (Lakes International Comic Art Festival)
Best Reality-Based Work
Audubon: On the Wings of the World, by Fabien Grolleau and Jerémie Royer, translated by Etienne Gilfillan (Nobrow)
The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui (Abrams ComicArts)
Calamity Jane: The Calamitous Life of Martha Jane Cannary, 1852–1903, by Christian Perrissin and Matthieu Blanchin, translated by Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander (IDW)
Lennon: The New York Years, by David Foenkinos, Corbeyran, and Horne, translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger (IDW)
Spinning, by Tillie Walden (First Second)
Best Graphic Album—New
Crawl Space, by Jesse Jacobs (Koyama Press)
Eartha, by Cathy Malkasian (Fantagraphics)
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
Stages of Rot, by Linnea Sterte (Peow)
The Story of Jezebel, by Elijah Brubaker (Uncivilized Books)
Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Boundless, by Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)
Fantagraphics Studio Edition: Black Hole by Charles Burns, edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
Small Favors: The Definitive Girly Porno Collection, by Colleen Coover (Oni/Limerence)
Sticks Angelica, Folk Hero, by Michael DeForge (Drawn & Quarterly)
Unreal City, by D. J. Bryant (Fantagraphics)
Best Adaptation from Another Medium
Beowulf, adapted by Santiago García and David Rubín (Image)
H. P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories, adapted by Gou Tanabe, translated by Zack Davisson (Dark Horse)
Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, adapted by Christophe Chabouté, translated by Laure Dupont (Dark Horse)
Kindred, by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy and John Jennings (Abrams ComicArts)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
Audubon: On the Wings of the World, by Fabien Grolleau and Jerémie Royer, translated by Etienne Gilfillan (Nobrow)
Flight of the Raven, by Jean-Pierre Gibrat, translated by Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander (EuroComics/IDW)
FUN, by Paolo Bacilieri, translated by Jamie Richards (SelfMadeHero)
Ghost of Gaudi, by El Torres and Jesús Alonso Iglesias, translated by Esther Villardón Grande (Lion Forge/Magnetic)
The Ladies-in-Waiting, by Santiago García and Javier Olivares, translated by Erica Mena (Fantagraphics)
Run for It: Stories of Slaves Who Fought for the Freedom, by Marcelo D’Salete, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
Furari, by Jiro Taniguchi, translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Golden Kamuy, by Satoru Noda, translated by Eiji Yasuda (VIZ Media)
My Brother’s Husband, vol. 1, by Gengoroh Tagame, translated by Anne Ishii (Pantheon)
Otherworld Barbara, vol. 2, by Moto Hagio, translated by Matt Thorn (Fantagraphics)
Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories, by Junji Itotranslated by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
Celebrating Snoopy, by Charles M. Shulz, edited by Alexis E. Fajardo and Dorothy O’Brien (Andrews McMeel)
Crazy Quilt: Scraps and Panels on the Way to Gasoline Alley, by Frank King, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press)
Foolish Questions and Other Odd Observations, by Rube Goldberg, edited by Peter Maresca and Paul C. Tumey (Sunday Press Books)
Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Complete Dailies, by Jack Kirby, Wally Wood et al., edited by Daniel Herman (Hermes Press)
Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Strips, vol. 1, by Russ Manning et al., edited by Dean Mullaney (LOAC/IDW)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
Akira 35th Anniversary Edition, by Katsuhiro Otomo, edited by Haruko Hashimoto, Ajani Oloye, and Lauren Scanlan (Kodansha)
Behaving MADly, edited by Craig Yoe (Yoe Books/IDW)
The Collected Neil the Horse, by Arn Saba/Katherine Collins, edited by Andy Brown (Conundrum)
Fantagraphics Studio Edition: Jaime Hernandez, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
Will Eisner: The Centennial Celebration, 1917-2017, by Paul Gravett, Denis Kitchen, and John Lind (Kitchen Sink/Dark Horse)
Best Writer
Tom King, Batman, Batman Annual #2, Batman/Elmer Fudd Special #1, Mister Miracle (DC)
Matt Kindt, Grass Kings (BOOM! Studios); Ether (Dark Horse); Eternity, X-O Manowar (Valiant)
Jeff Lemire, Black Hammer (Dark Horse); Descender (Image)
Marjorie Liu, Monstress (Image)
Mark Russell, The Flintstones (DC)
Best Writer/Artist
Lorena Alvarez, Night Lights (Nobrow)
Chabouté, Moby Dick (Dark Horse); Alone, The Park Bench (Gallery 13/Simon & Schuster)
Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (Fantagraphics)
Cathy Malkasian, Eartha (Fantagraphics)
Jiro Taniguchi, Furari, Louis Vuitton Travel Guide: Venice (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Isabelle Arsenault, Louis Undercover (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi)
Mitch Gerads, Mister Miracle (DC)
Gary Gianni, Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea (Dark Horse)
Ramón K. Perez, Jane (Archaia)
David Rubín, Black Hammer #9 & #12, Ether, Sherlock Frankenstein #1–3 (Dark Horse); Beowulf (Image)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Federico Bertolucci, Love: The Dinosaur, Little Tails (Lion Forge/Magnetic)
EFA, Monet: Itinerant of Light (NBM)
Jean-Pierre Gibrat, Flight of the Raven (EuroComics/IDW)
Cyril Pedrosa, Portugal (NBM)
Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)
Best Cover Artist
Jorge Corona, No. 1 with a Bullet (Image)
Nick Derington, Mister Miracle (DC); Doom Patrol (DC Young Animal)
Brian Stelfreeze, Black Panther (Marvel)
Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)
Julian Totino Tedesco, Hawkeye (Marvel)
Best Coloring
Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (Fantagraphics)
Mitch Gerads, Mister Miracle (DC)
Ed Piskor, X-Men: Grand Design (Marvel)
David Rubín, Ether, Black Hammer, Sherlock Frankenstein (Dark Horse); Beowulf (Image)
Dave Stewart, Black Hammer, BPRD: Devil You Know, Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea, Sherlock Frankenstein, Shaolin Cowboy (Dark Horse); Maestros (Image)
Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, What Is Left (ShortBox)
Best Lettering
Isabelle Arsenault, Louis Undercover (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi)
Clayton Cowles, Bitch Planet: Triple Feature, Redlands, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); Black Bolt, Spider-Gwen, Astonishing X-Men, Star Wars (Marvel)
Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (Fantagraphics)
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo, Groo: Slay of the Gods (Dark Horse)
John Workman, Mother Panic (DC Young Animal); Ragnorak (IDW)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
The Comics Journal, edited by Dan Nadel, Timothy Hodler, and Tucker Stone, tcj.com (Fantagraphics)
Hogan’s Alley, edited by Tom Heintjes
Jack Kirby Collector, edited by John Morrow (TwoMorrows)
PanelXPanel magazine, edited by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, panelxpanel.com
Best Comics-Related Book
Deconstructing the Incal by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius, by Jean Annestay and Christophe Quillien (Humanoids)
How Comics Work, by Dave Gibbons and Tim Pilcher (Wellfleet Press/Quarto Group)
How to Read Nancy: The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels, by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden (Fantagraphics)
Line of Beauty: The Art of Wendy Pini, by Richard Pini (Flesk)
Monograph, by Chris Ware (Rizzoli)
To Laugh That We May Not Weep: The Life and Times of Art Young, by Glenn Bray and Frank M. Young (Fantagraphics)
Best Academic/Scholarly Work
The Comics of Charles Schulz: The Good Grief of Modern Life, edited by Jared Gardner and Ian Gordon (University Press of Mississippi)
Ethics in the Gutter: Empathy and Historical Fiction in Comics, by Kate Polak (Ohio State University Press)
Latinx Superheroes in Mainstream Comics, by Frederick Luis Aldama (University of Arizona Press)
Neon Visions: The Comics of Howard Chaykin, by Brannon Costello (LSU Press)
Picturing Childhood: Youth in Transnational Comics, edited by Mark Heimermann and Brittany Tullis (University of Texas Press)
Best Publication Design
Akira 35th Anniversary Edition, designed by Phil Balsman, Akira Saito (Veia), NORMA Editorial, and MASH•ROOM (Kodansha)
Celebrating Snoopy, designed by Spencer Williams and Julie Phillips (Andrews McMeel)
Monograph, designed by Chris Ware (Rizzoli)
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, designed by Jacob Covey (Fantagraphics)
Will Eisner: The Centennial Celebration, 1917-2017, designed by John Lind (Kitchen Sink/Dark Horse)
Best Digital Comic
Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain/comiXology)
Barrier, by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin (Panel Syndicate)
The Carpet Merchant of Konstaniniyya, by Reimena Yee (reimenayee.com/the-carpet-merchant)
Contact High, by James F. Wright and Josh Eckert (gumroad.com/l/YnxSm)
Harvey Kurtzman’s Marley’s Ghost, by Harvey Kurtzman, Josh O’Neill, Shannon Wheeler, and Gideo Kendall (comiXology Originals/Kitchen, Lind & Associates)
Quince, by Sebastian Kadlecik, Kit Steinkellner, and Emma Steinkellner, translated by Valeria Tranier (Fanbase Press/comiXology)
Best Webcomic
Awaiting a Wave, by Dale Carpenter and Nate Powell, features.weather.com/us-climate-change/arkansas (The Weather Channel Digital)
Brothers Bond, by Kevin Grevioux and Ryan Benjamin, www.webtoons.com/en/action/brothers-bond/list?title_no=1191 (LINE Webtoon)
Dispatch from a Sanctuary City, by Mike Dawson, https://thenib.com/dispatch-from-a-sanctuary-city (The Nib)
The Tea Dragon Society, by Katie O’Neill, teadragonsociety.com
Welcome to the New World, by Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan, www.michaelsloan.net/welcome-to-the-new-world/ (New York Times Sunday Review)
