Eisner Awards Current Info

2016 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominees Announced

Record Number of Nominations for Women in Comics

Comic-Con International proudly announces the 2016 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards nominees, celebrating excellence in comics and graphic novels. A blue-ribbon panel of judges made the selections, recognizing outstanding work across 30 award categories.

This year marks a significant milestone for women in comics, with 49 women receiving 61 nominations, up from 44 the previous year. Female creators are represented in 27 of the 30 categories and make up the majority of nominees in seven, including Best New Series, Best Coloring, and Best Academic/Scholarly Work. Colleen Coover (Bandette) and Joëlle Jones (Lady Killer, Brides of Helheim) earned three nominations, while Erica Henderson, Lucy Knisley, Marjorie Liu, and Sydney Padua received two each.

The diversity and range of this year’s nominated work are notable, with over 160 titles from about 60 publishers worldwide. Four titles lead the pack with three nominations each:

• Bandette (Monkeybrain)
• March: Book Two (Top Shelf)
• Hip-Hop Family Tree (Fantagraphics)
• The Eternaut (Fantagraphics)

Bandette, an online series by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover, has been nominated for Best Continuing Series, Best Digital/Webcomic, and Best Painter. March: Book Two, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, earned nominations for Best Reality-Based Work, Best Publication for Teens, and Best Penciller/Inker. Hip-Hop Family Tree Volume 3 is up for Best Reality-Based Work, Best Writer/Artist, and Best Cover Artist (Ed Piskor). The Argentinian classic The Eternaut is recognized in Best Archival Collection, Best U.S. Edition of International Material, and Best Publication Design.

Several other titles received multiple nominations, including:

• Marvel’s Silver Surfer: Best Continuing Series and Best Short Story
• Dark Horse’s Lady Killer: Best New Series; Joëlle Jones also nominated for Best Penciller/Inker and Best Cover Artist
• Image’s The Fade Out: Best Limited Series, Best Writer (Ed Brubaker), and Best Coloring (Elizabeth Breitwiser)

Among publishers, Fantagraphics leads with 17 nominations, followed by Image Comics with 14 plus 4 shared. Fantagraphics stands out in the Reality-Based and Archival categories, while Image dominates the major comics categories with titles like Bitch Planet, Monstress, and Paper Girls.

Other top publishers include:

• BOOM! Studios: 10 nominations, including 2 for Giant Days
• IDW Publishing: 9 nominations plus one shared, including 3 for March: Book Two
• Abrams: 8 nominations, with standout titles like Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales and Only What’s Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts

Dark Horse, Marvel, and DC Comics also earned multiple shared nominations, particularly in the coloring and design categories. Stand-alone titles from these publishers include Harrow County (Dark Horse), The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (Marvel), and Karnak (Marvel).

Additionally, Nate Powell and Ed Piskor have three nominations, the most of any creator. Seventeen others received two nominations each.

2016 Eisner Hall of Fame Inductees

Comic-Con has announced that Carl Burgos, creator of the Golden Age Human Torch, and Tove Jansson, beloved creator of the Moomins, will be automatically inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame. Four additional inductees will be selected from 14 nominees, including Lynda Barry, Edward Gorey, Matt Groening, Rumiko Takahashi, and others. Voting for the Hall of Fame has closed, with results to be revealed at the ceremony.

About the Awards

Now in its 28th year, the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards honor the best in comics and graphic novels. Named after the pioneering creator Will Eisner, the awards are presented by Comic-Con International, a nonprofit educational organization promoting comics and related art forms.

The 2016 panel of judges includes:

• Brian Doherty (journalist/reviewer)
• Danny Fingeroth (comics writer/editor)
• Jason Grazulis (retailer, BSI Comics)
• Jason M. Poole (librarian, Webster Public Library)
• Natalie Powell (Comic-Con board member)
• Carol Tilley (scholar, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

Voting is open to all professionals working in the comics industry, including creators, publishers, retailers, librarians, and educators.

The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel on July 22, during Comic-Con International.

Judging Panel Announced for the 2016 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards

Comic-Con International is pleased to introduce the distinguished judging panel for the 2016 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. This esteemed group of professionals will select the nominees appearing on this year’s Eisner Awards ballot.

Brian Doherty

Brian Doherty, a senior editor at Reason magazine, has authorized several books, including This Is Burning Man. His writing has been featured in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and many others. A lifelong comics fan, Doherty’s commentary on comics has appeared in Spin, New York Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, and the Fantagraphics anthology Best American Comics Criticism, edited by Ben Schwartz.

Danny Fingeroth

Best known for his longtime work as a group editor at Marvel on the Spider-Man line, Danny Fingeroth has written for Iron Man, The Avengers, Superman, and more. His career includes leadership roles at Byron Preiss’s Virtual Comics and Visionary Media. Fingeroth is also the author of Superman on the Couch, Disguised as Clark Kent, and The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels, and co-editor of The Stan Lee Universe. He serves as chair of Will Eisner Week and teaches comics-related courses at institutions such as NYU, The New School, and the MiMaster Art Institute in Milan.

Jason Grazulis

Jason Grazulis owns BSI Comics in Metairie, Louisiana – one of the oldest comic shops in the region – and took over the business after Hurricane Katrina. A former juggler, photographer, and systems engineer, Grazulis now focuses on bringing comics to the community. He hosts various events, from Free Comic Book Day and graphic novel discussions to creative workshops like drawing, DIY crafts, and more.

Jason M. Poole

Jason Poole has served as a children’s librarian at Webster Public Library in New York for over a decade. In 2009, he founded the Kids’ Comics Committee (KCC) to support local librarians using comics for education. He has organized multiple professional workshops and conferences and served as chair of YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens committee in 2015. Poole is also a contributor to School Library Journal.

Natalie Powell

A longtime Comic-Con International board member and assistant secretary, Natalie Powell has volunteered for nearly two decades. She is heavily involved with both SDCC registration and WonderCon’s gaming events. Beyond comics, she has dedicated over 30 years to charitable work on homelessness and veterans’ advocacy. Powell is an avid reader of comics and graphic novels and enjoys collecting Disney memorabilia.

Carol Tilley

Carol Tilley is an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She is widely recognized for her 2012 research debunking anti-comics crusader Fredric Wertham, a study featured in The New York Times and elsewhere. Tilley’s work focuses on comics history and youth readership. At Illinois, she teaches a highly regarded course on comics reader’s advisory and is a frequent speaker on comics, literacy, and censorship.

The judges will meet in San Diego in early April to select the official 2016 Eisner nominees. Once announced, voting will open to professionals within the comics industry. Winners will be revealed during the Eisner Awards Ceremony on Friday, July 22, at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Submission guidelines for publishers and creators will be posted on the Comic-Con website in January. The nomination deadline is March 18.

The Eisner Awards are presented by Comic-Con International: San Diego, a nonprofit organization that promotes awareness and appreciation of comics and popular art forms through conventions and events celebrating the medium’s past, present, and future.