2010 Eisner Award Nominations
The list is out. Pretty straightforward, with a few surprises (No Todd Klein or John Workman for lettering? And was Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader not eligible?)
Our congratulations to all the nominees. We’ll be starting the betting pools in 3… 2…
Best Short Story
• “Because I Love You So Much,” by Nikoline Werdelin, in From
Wonderland with Love: Danish Comics in the 3rd Millennium
(Fantagraphics/Aben malen)
• “Gentleman John,” by Nathan Greno, in What Is Torch Tiger? (Torch
Tiger)
• “How and Why to Bale Hay,” by Nick Bertozzi, in Syncopated (Villard)
• “Hurricane,” interpreted by Gradimir Smudja, in Bob Dylan Revisited
(Norton)
• “Urgent Request,” by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim, in The
Eternal Smile (First Second)
Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
• Brave & the Bold #28: “Blackhawk and the Flash: Firing Line,” by
J. Michael Straczynski and Jesus Saiz (DC)
• Captain America #601: “Red, White, and Blue-Blood,” by Ed Brubaker
and Gene Colan (Marvel)
• Ganges #3, by Kevin Huizenga (Fantagraphics)
• The Unwritten #5: “How the Whale Became,” by Mike Carey and Peter
Gross (Vertigo/DC)
• Usagi Yojimbo #123: “The Death of Lord Hikiji” by Stan Sakai (Dark
Horse)
Best Continuing Series
• Fables, by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Andrew
Pepoy et al. (Vertigo/DC)
• Irredeemable, by Mark Waid and Peter Krause (BOOM!)
• Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)
• The Unwritten, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross (Vertigo/DC)
• The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard (Image)
Best Limited Series or Story Arc
• Blackest Night, by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, and Oclair Albert (DC)
• Incognito, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Marvel Icon)
• Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka, by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki (VIZ
Media)
• Wolverine #66–72 and Wolverine Giant-Size Special: “Old Man Logan,”
by Mark Millar, Steve McNiven, and Dexter Vines (Marvel)
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young
(Marvel)
Best New Series
• Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image)
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick, art by Tony
Parker (BOOM!)
• Ireedeemable, by Mark Waid and Peter Krause (BOOM!)
• Sweet Tooth, by Jeff Lemire (Vertigo/DC)
• The Unwritten, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross (Vertigo/DC)
Best Publication for Kids
• Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute, by Jarrett J. Krosoczeka
(Knopf)
• The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook, by Eleanor Davis
(Bloomsbury)
• Tiny Tyrant vol. 1: The Ethelbertosaurus, by Lewis Trondheim and
Fabrice Parme (First Second)
• The TOON Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics, edited by Art
Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly (Abrams ComicArts/Toon)
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz hc, by L. Frank Baum, Eric Shanower, and
Skottie Young (Marvel)
Best Publication for Teens
• Angora Napkin, by Troy Little (IDW)
• Beasts of Burden, by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
• A Family Secret, by Eric Heuvel (Farrar Straus Giroux/Anne Frank
House)
• Far Arden, by Kevin Cannon (Top Shelf)
• I Kill Giants tpb, by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura (Image)
Best Humor Publication
• Drinky Crow’s Maakies Treasury, by Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics)
• Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me, And Other Astute Observations, by
Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics)
• Little Lulu, vols. 19–21, by John Stanley and Irving Tripp (Dark
Horse Books)
• The Muppet Show Comic Book: Meet the Muppets, by Roger Langridge
(BOOM Kids!)
• Scott Pilgrim vol. 5: Scott Pilgrm vs. the Universe, by Brian Lee
O’Malley (Oni)
Best Anthology
• Abstract Comics, edited by Andrei Molotiu (Fantagraphics)
• Bob Dylan Revisited, edited by Bob Weill (Norton)
• Flight 6, edited by Kazu Kibuishi (Villard)
• Popgun vol. 3, edited by Mark Andrew Smith, D. J. Kirkbride, and Joe
Keatinge (Image)
• Syncopated: An Anthology of Nonfiction Picto-Essays, edited by
Brendan Burford (Villard)
• What Is Torch Tiger? edited by Paul Briggs (Torch Tiger)
Best Digital Comic
• The Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, www.abominable.cc
• Bayou, by Jeremy Love, http://zudacomics.com/bayou
• The Guns of Shadow Valley, by David Wachter and James Andrew Clark,
www.gunsofshadowvalley.com
• Power Out, by Nathan Schreiber, www.act-i-vate.com/67.comic
• Sin Titulo, by Cameron Stewart, www.sintitulocomic.com/
Best Reality-Based Work
• A Drifting Life, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Footnotes in Gaza, by Joe Sacco (Metropolitan/Holt)
• The Imposter’s Daughter, by Laurie Sandell (Little, Brown)
• Monsters, by Ken Dahl (Secret Acres)
• The Photographer, by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, and Frédéric
Lemerier (First Second)
• Stitches, by David Small (Norton)
Best Adaptation from Another Work
• The Book of Genesis Illustrated, by R. Crumb (Norton)
• Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation,
adapted by Michael Keller and Nicolle Rager Fuller (Rodale)
• Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, adapted by Tim Hamilton (Hill &
Wang)
• Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
• West Coast Blues, by Jean-Patrick Manchette, adapted by Jacques Tardi
(Fantagraphics)
Best Graphic Album—New
• Asterios Polyp, by David Mazzuccheilli (Pantheon)
• A Distant Neighborhood (2 vols.), by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent
Mon)
• The Book of Genesis Illustrated, by R. Crumb (Norton)
• My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill, by Jean Regnaud and
Émile Bravo (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• The Photographer, by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, and Frédéric
Lemerier (First Second)
• Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
Best Graphic Album—Reprint
• Absolute Justice, by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, and Doug Braithewaite
(DC)
• A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, by Josh Neufeld (Pantheon)
• Alec: The Years Have Pants, by Eddie Campbell (Top Shelf)
• Essex County Collected, by Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
• Map of My Heart: The Best of King-Cat Comics & Stories,
1996–2002, by John Porcellino (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
• Bloom County: The Complete Library, vol. 1, by Berkeley Breathed,
edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
• Bringing Up Father, vol. 1: From Sea to Shining Sea, by George
McManus and Zeke Zekley, edited by Dean Mullaney (IDW)
• The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley’s Cartoons 1913–1940,
edited by Trina Robbins (Fantagraphics)
• Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons, by Gahan Wilson, edited
by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
• Prince Valiant, vol. 1: 1937–1938, by Hal Foster, edited by Kim
Thompson (Fantagraphics)
• Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, Walt
McDougall, and W. W. Denslow (Sunday Press)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
• The Best of Simon & Kirby, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, edited by
Steve Saffel (Titan Books)
• Blazing Combat, by Archie Goodwin et al., edited by Gary Groth
(Fantagraphics)
• Humbug, by Harvey Kurtzman et al., edited by Gary Groth
(Fantagraphics)
• The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures deluxe edition, by Dave
Stevens, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
• The TOON Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics, edited by Art
Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly (Abrams ComicArts/Toon)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
• My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill, by Jean Regnaud and
Émile Bravo (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• The Photographer, by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, and Frédéric
Lemerier (First Second)
• Tiny Tyrant vol. 1: The Ethelbertosaurus, by Lewis Trondheim and
Fabrice Parme (First Second)
• West Coast Blues, by Jean-Patrick Manchette, adapted by Jacques Tardi
(Fantagraphics)
• Years of the Elephant, by Willy Linthout (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
• The Color Trilogy, by Kim Dong Haw (First Second)
• A Distant Neighborhood (2 vols.), by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent
Mon)
• A Drifting Life, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Oishinbo a la Carte, written by Tetsu Kariya and illustrated by Akira
Hanasaki (VIZ Media)
• Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka, by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki (VIZ
Media)
• Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)
Best Writer
• Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Daredevil, Marvels Project (Marvel)
Criminal, Incognito (Marvel Icon)
• Geoff Johns, Adventure Comics, Blackest Night, The Flash: Rebirth,
Superman: Secret Origin (DC)
• James Robinson, Justice League: Cry for Justice (DC)
• Mark Waid, Irredeemable, The Incredibles (BOOM!)
• Bill Willingham, Fables (Vertigo/DC)
Best Writer/Artist
• Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter (IDW)
• R. Crumb, The Book of Genesis Illustrated (Norton)
• David Mazzuccheilli, Asterios Polyp (Pantheon)
• Terry Moore, Echo (Abstract Books)
• Naoki Urasawa, Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, Pluto: Urasawa X
Tezuka (VIZ Media)
Best Writer/Artist–Nonfiction
• Reinhard Kleist, Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness (Abrams ComicArts)
• Willy Linthout, Years of the Elephant (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• Joe Sacco, Footnotes in Gaza (Metropolitan/Holt)
• David Small, Stitches (Norton)
• Carol Tyler, You’ll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man
(Fantagraphics)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
• Michael Kaluta, Madame Xanadu #11–15: “Exodus Noir” (Vertigo/DC)
• Steve McNiven/Dexter Vines, Wolverine: Old Man Logan (Marvel)
• Fiona Staples, North 40 (WildStorm)
• J. H. Williams III, Detective Comics (DC)
• Danijel Zezelj, Luna Park (Vertigo/DC)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
• Émile Bravo, My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill
(Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• Mauro Cascioli, Justice League: Cry for Justice (DC)
• Nicolle Rager Fuller, Charles Darwin on the Origin of Species: A
Graphic Adaptation (Rodale Books)
• Jill Thompson, Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse); Magic Trixie and the
Dragon (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• Carol Tyler, You’ll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man
(Fantagraphics)
Best Cover Artist
• John Cassaday, Irredeemable (BOOM!); Lone Ranger (Dynamite)
• Salvador Larocca, Invincible Iron Man (Marvel)
• Sean Phillips, Criminal, Incognito (Marvel Icon); 28 Days Later
(BOOM!)
• Alex Ross, Astro City: The Dark Age (WildStorm/DC); Project
Superpowers (Dynamite)
• J. H. Williams III, Detective Comics (DC)
Best Coloring
• Steve Hamaker, Bone: Crown of Thorns (Scholastic); Little Mouse Gets
Ready (Toon)
• Laura Martin, The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures (IDW); Thor, The
Stand: American Nightmares (Marvel)
• David Mazzuccheilli, Asterios Polyp (Pantheon)
• Alex Sinclair, Blackest Night, Batman and Robin (DC)
• Dave Stewart, Abe Sapien, BPRD, The Goon, Hellboy, Solomon Kane,
Umbrella Academy, Zero Killer (Dark Horse); Detective Comics (DC);
Northlanders, Luna Park (Vertigo)
Best Lettering
• Brian Fies, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? (Abrams
ComicArts)
• David Mazzuccheilli, Asterios Polyp (Pantheon)
• Tom Orzechowski, Savage Dragon (Image); X-Men Forever (Marvel)
• Richard Sala, Cat Burglar Black (First Second); Delphine
(Fantagraphics)
• Adrian Tomine, A Drifting Life (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
• Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
• ComicsAlliance, www.comicsalliance.com
• Comics Comics, edited by Timothy Hodler and Dan Nadel
(www.comicscomicsmag.com) (PictureBox)
• The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean, and Kristy
Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• The Comics Reporter, produced by Tom Spurgeon
(www.comicsreporter.com)
Best Comics-Related Book
• Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel, by Annalisa Di
Liddo (University Press of Mississippi)
• The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics, by Denis
Kitchen and Paul Buhle (Abrams ComicArts)
• The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga, by Helen McCarthy (Abrams
ComicArts)
• Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper Theater, by Eric P. Nash
(Abrams ComicArts)
• Will Eisner and PS Magazine, by Paul E. Fitzgerald (Fitzworld.US)
Best Publication Design
• Absolute Justice, designed by Curtis King and Josh Beatman (DC)
• The Brinkley Girls, designed by Adam Grano (Fantagraphics)
• Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons, designed by Jacob Covey
(Fantagraphics)
• Life and Times of Martha Washington, designed by David Nestelle (Dark
Horse Books)
• Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz, designed by Philippe
Ghielmetti (Sunday Press)
• Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? designed by Neil Egan and
Brian Fies (Abrams ComicArts)
Comic-Con International (Comic-Con) is proud to
announce the nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
2010. The nominees, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges, reflect the
wide range of material being published in comics and graphic novel form
today, from multivolume deluxe hardcovers to online stories to
traditional comic book format.
Topping the 2010 nominees with 4 nominations is David
Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyp, a highly acclaimed literary graphic novel
published by Pantheon. Several works have received 3 nominations,
including two French graphic novels, My mommy is in America and she met
Buffalo Bill (by Jean Regnaud and Émile Bravo, published by
Fanfare/Ponent Mon) and The Photographer (by Emmanuel Guibert, published
by First Second). Japanese manga master Naoki Urasawa is represented by
multiple nominations for two of his works, 20th Century Boys and Pluto:
Urasawa X Tezuka (both published by VIZ Media), nominated not only in
the International category but also for Best Continuing Series (20th
Century Boys) and Best Limited Series (Pluto). Another manga title with 3
nominations is Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life (published by Drawn
& Quarterly). Other publications with 3 nominations are Robert
Crumb’s illustrated version of The Book of Genesis (published by
Norton), Mike Carey and Peter Gross’s comic book series The Unwritten
(Vertigo/DC), and Mark Waid and Peter Kraus’s series Irredeemable
(BOOM!), which also has a shared nomination. The big DC event miniseries
of the year, Blackest Night, is also on the ballot, with 2 nominations
and 1 shared.
The creators with the most nominations are Urusawa (5) and Mazzucchelli
(4), followed by several creators with 3: Crumb, Bravo, Guibert, Carey,
Waid, and writer Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Criminal, and Incognito,
published by Marvel).
DC Comics has the most nominations for a publisher, with its
various imprints (DCU, Vertigo, WildStorm, Zuda) garnering 20
nominations (plus 2 shared). The DC Universe has 11 of those
nominations, spread among multiple titles and creators. The Vertigo
imprint’s 7 nominations are led by 3 for The Unwritten. The publisher
emerging with the second most nominations this year is Fantagraphics
Books, with 17 (plus one shared). The company dominates the categories
for Archival Collections, with 5 out of the 11 nominees in those
categories. Two of the archival works also have design nods: The
Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley’s Cartoons and Gahan Wilson:
50 Years of Playboy Cartoons. The rest of Fantagraphics’ nominations are
spread throughout the ballot, with the only other multiple nominations
being for Carol Tyler (Best Writer/Artist and Best Painter/Multimedia
Artist for You’ll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man) and the French
graphic album West Coast Blues.
Abrams CartoonArts has six titles on the ballot (led by The TOON
Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics), toting up 8 nominations in all.
Also with 8 nominees (plus 2 shared), Marvel Comics posseses multiple
nominations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by Eric Shanower and Skottie
Young), Wolverine: Old Man Logan (by Mark Millar, Steve McNiven, and
Dexter Vines), and the Marvel Icon titles Incognito and Criminal (by
Brubaker and Sean Phillips). Three publishers have 7 nominees:
Fanfare/Ponent Man (for 3 titles), IDW (for 5 titles, plus 1 shared
nomination), and W. W. Norton (for 3 titles, including Crumb’s Book of
Genesis and David Small’s Stitches). Close behind are First Second (6
nominations plus 1 shared), VIZ Media (6 nominations), BOOM! (5
nominations plus 2 shared), and Dark Horse (4 nominations plus 2
shared). Drawn & Quarterly and Image each have 4 nominees.
This year’s judges made some significant changes in the
categories, restoring one that last year’s judges omitted (Best Single
Issue/One Shot), changing the names of two ( “U.S. Edition of
International Material–Japan” revised to “U.S. Edition of International
Material–Asia” and “Limited Series” changed to “Limited Series or Story
Arc”), and splitting the Best Writer/Artist category into two, with the
second being Best Writer/Artist–Nonfiction. They also added the category
of Best Adaptation from Another Work. This addition reflects the large
number of comics and graphic novels now being based on other sources.
The nominees here include not only Crumb’s Genesis but also adaptations
of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, Richard
Stark’s The Hunter, and Jean-Patrick Manchette’s West Coast Blues.
Named for acclaimed comics creator the Will Eisner, the awards
are in their 22nd year of highlighting the best publications and
creators in comics and graphic novels. The 2010 judging panel consists
of academic Craig Fischer (associate professor of English, Appalachian
State University), librarian Francisca Goldsmith (staff development
instructor/consultant, Infopeople), reviewer John Hogan
(GraphicNovelReporter.com), writer James Hudnall (Harsh Realm, The
Psycho), and retailer Wayne Winsett (Time Warp Comics, Boulder,
Colorado).
Ballots with this year’s nominees will be going out in mid-April
to comics creators, editors, publishers, and retailers. A downloadable
pdf of the ballot will also be available online, and a special website
has been set up for online voting. The results in all categories will be
announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 23
at Comic-Con International.
Voting in one Eisner Awards category, Hall of Fame, is already
completed. The judges chose the nominees earlier this year, and voting
was conducted solely online, with voting ending on March 31.
The Eisner Awards are presented under the auspices of Comic-Con
International, a nonprofit educational organization 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. Jackie Estrada has been administrator of the Awards since
1990. She can be reached at jackie@comic-con.org.
More information about the Eisner Awards can be found at
http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_main.shtml.