Seattle based writer G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel) and Seattle publisher Fantagraphics Books are among this year’s nominees for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Oscars of comics.
Ms. Marvel from Marvel, Multiversity from DC Comics, Saga from Image Comics, Bandette from Monkeybrain are the books leading with three or more nominations each. Marvel, DC and Fantagraphics tied for the most nominations overall with 18 each.
Wilson introduced Kamala Khan, the first Muslim superhero to be the lead of her own mainstream comic book title to critical acclaim and huge sales. The teen is one of the new Inhumans of the Marvel Universe who took the former code-name of her hero Carol Danvers when the Avenger was promoted to Captain Marvel. Kamala will be a member of the All-New, All-Different Avengers which will premiere on New Comic Book Day on May 2nd.
Ms. Marvel is nominated for Best New Series, Best Writer (G. Willow Wilson), and Best Penciller/Inker (Adrian Alphona), along with shared nominations for Best Cover Artist and Best Lettering.
Fantagraphics Books is an acclaimed publisher committed to portray comics as an art form with a bookstore and gallery in south Seattle.
Here’s the official announcement with all the nominees:
Comic-Con International is proud to announce the nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for 2015. The nominees, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges, highlight the wide range of material being published in comics and graphic novel form today, from companies big and small, in print and on line.
Four titles lead the list with 3 (or more) nominations each: Marvel’s Ms. Marvel, DC’s Multiversity, Image’s Saga, and Monkeybrain’s webcomic Bandette. Ms. Marvel is nominated for Best New Series, Best Writer (G. Willow Wilson), and Best Penciller/Inker (Adrian Alphona), along with shared nods for Best Cover Artist and Best Lettering. The Multiversity is up for Best Single Issue, Best Limited Series, Best Penciller/Inker (Frank Quitely), and Best Writer (Grant Morrison; shared). Saga is once again nominated in the three categories it won last year: Best Continuing Series, Best Writer (Brian K. Vaughan), and Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Fiona Staples). Bandette is tapped for Best Continuing Series, Best Digital/Webcomic, and Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Colleen Coover). Wilson, Staples, and Coover are among 34 women nominated this year; female writers, artists, and editors earned a total of 39 nominations overall.
Three works received 2 individual nominations plus one shared. They are: Vertigo/DC’s Astro City, nominated in the Single Issue, Continuing Series, and Cover Artist (shared) categories; IDW’s Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, tapped for Limited Series and Publication for Kids along with Coloring (shared); and Vertigo/DC’s The Sandman: Overture (Limited Series, Painter/Multimedia Artist for J. H. Williams III, and shared Lettering). Another 17 titles received 2 nominations.
Brian K. Vaughan tops the individual nominations, with 4: the 2 for Saga plus 2 for The Private Eye (Limited Series and Digital/Webcomic). Individuals with 3 nominations are Multiversity’s Grant Morrison, writer Paul Tobin (for Bandette and for Oni’s I Was the Cat in the Kids category), Noelle Stephenson (for BOOM!’s Lumberjanes in the New Series and Teen categories and for her webcomic, Nimona), and Gary Groth (as editor of Fantagraphics projects nominated in the archival categories). Another 24 people received 2 nominations each.
Among publishers, DC, Marvel, and Fantagraphics top the list with the most nominations. DC and Vertigo/DC have 14 plus 4 shared. In addition to the nods for The Multiversity, Astro City, and The Sandman: Overture, DC has 2 nominees each in the Short Story and Kids categories. Marvel can boast 12 nominations plus 6 shared, including multiple nominees in the New Series, Humor, and Cover Artist categories. Fantagraphics’ 15 nominations include 3 in the Graphic Album–Reprint category and 6 in the two archival categories.
Dark Horse scored 10 nominations (plus 3 shared), including 2 each for the European works Blacksad: Amarillo (by Juan Diaz Canales and Janjo Guarnido) and Jaybird (by Lauri & Jaakko Ahonen), and 2 for Stan Sakai (Writer/Artist, Lettering). Image has 7 full nominations and 7 shared. Besides those for Saga, multiple Image nominees include The Wicked + The Divine (by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie), Southern Bastards (by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour), and Mike Allred’s Madman in Your Face 3D Special.
In addition to Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, IDW’s 9 nominations (plus 2 shared) include 2 in the Comics-Related Book category and 2 for Top Shelf titles. First Second has 4 nominations (plus one shared), including This One Summer (by Mariko and Jilliam Tamaki) for Graphic Album–New.
VIZ landed 4 nominations (3 in the International–Asia category), while six companies have 3: Abrams (2 for Cece Bell’s El Deafo), Drawn & Quarterly, Monkeybrain, Oni, Pantheon (2 for Richard McGuire’s Here), and TASCHEN (2 for The Complete Little Nemo). A dozen companies have 2 nominations.
Speaking of Little Nemo, between the TASCHEN archival collection, the new Return to Slumberland, the anthology Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream (from Locus Moon, 2 nominations), and an academic work, Winsor McCay’s classic series accounts for 7 nominations this year.
Rounding out the coveted Graphic Album–New category, along with Here and This One Summer, are Stephen Collins’ The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil (Picador), Jules Feiffer’s Kill My Mother (Liveright), Rob Davis’ The Motherless Oven (SelfMadeHero), and Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Seconds.
The awards have one less category this year, as the judges opted not to include Best Adaptation from Another Medium.
Named for acclaimed comics creator the Will Eisner, the awards are celebrating their 27th year of highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels. This year the awards will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of Eisner’s classic character, The Spirit. The 2015 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of comics retailer Carr DeAngelo (Earth-2 Comics, Los Angeles, CA), librarian/educator Richard Graham (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), Eisner Award–winning author Sean Howe (Marvel Comics: The Untold Story), educator/author Susan Kirtley (Portland State University), Comic-Con International committee member Ron McFee, and writer/editor Maggie Thompson (Comic-Con’s Toucan blog, Diamond’s Scoop newsletter). Because of a health issue, Howe was actually a “virtual” participant in the onsite portion of the judging held in San Diego, communicating via Skype and email.
Voting for the awards is held online, and the ballot will be available soon at www.eisnervote.com. (link is external)All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote. The deadline for voting is June 1. The results of the voting will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 10 at Comic-Con International.
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 International, 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.”
Here are the nominees:
Best Short Story
“Beginning’s End,” by Rina Ayuyang, muthamagazine.com
“Corpse on the Imjin!” by Peter Kuper, in Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World (Simon & Schuster)
“Rule Number One,” by Lee Bermejo, in Batman Black and White #3 (DC)
“The Sound of One Hand Clapping,” by Max Landis & Jock, in Adventures of Superman #14 (DC)
“When the Darkness Presses,” by Emily Carroll
Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Astro City #16: “Wish I May” by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson (Vertigo/DC)
Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers, by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
Madman in Your Face 3D Special, by Mike Allred (Image)
Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration #1 (Marvel)
The Multiversity: Pax Americana #1, by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely (DC)
Best Continuing Series
Astro City, by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson (Vertigo)
Bandette, by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain)
Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction & David Aja (Marvel)
Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples (Image)
Southern Bastards, by Jason Aaron & Jason Latour (Image)
The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, & Stefano Gaudiano (Image/Skybound)
Best Limited Series
Daredevil: Road Warrior, by Mark Waid & Peter Krause (Marvel Infinite Comics)
Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, by Eric Shanower & Garbriel Rodriguez (IDW)
The Multiversity, by Grant Morrison et al. (DC)
The Private Eye, by Brian K. Vaughan & Marcos Martin (Panel Syndicate)
The Sandman: Overture, by Neil Gaiman & J. H. Williams III (Vertigo/DC)
Best New Series
The Fade Out, by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips (Image)
Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)
Ms. Marvel, by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona (Marvel)
Rocket Raccoon, by Skottie Young (Marvel)
The Wicked + The Divine, by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie (Image)
Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)
BirdCatDog, by Lee Nordling & Meritxell Bosch (Lerner/Graphic Universe)
A Cat Named Tim And Other Stories, by John Martz (Koyama Press)
Hello Kitty, Hello 40: A Celebration in 40 Stories, edited by Traci N. Todd & Elizabeth Kawasaki (VIZ)
Mermin, Book 3: Deep Dives, by Joey Weiser (Oni)
The Zoo Box, by Ariel Cohn & Aron Nels Steinke (First Second)
Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)
Batman Li’l Gotham, vol. 2, by Derek Fridolfs & Dustin Nguyen (DC)
El Deafo, by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)
I Was the Cat, by Paul Tobin & Benjamin Dewey (Oni)
Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, by Eric Shanower & Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
Tiny Titans: Return to the Treehouse, by Art Baltazar & Franco (DC)
Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)
Doomboy, by Tony Sandoval (Magnetic Press)
The Dumbest Idea Ever, by Jimmy Gownley (Graphix/Scholastic)
Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)
Meteor Men, by Jeff Parker & Sandy Jarrell (Oni)
The Shadow Hero, by Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew (First Second)
The Wrenchies, by Farel Dalrymple (First Second)
Best Humor Publication
The Complete Cul de Sac, by Richard Thompson (Andrews McMeel)
Dog Butts and Love. And Stuff Like That. And Cats. by Jim Benton (NBM)
Groo vs. Conan, by Sergio Aragonés, Mark Evanier, & Tom Yeates (Dark Horse)
Rocket Raccoon, by Skottie Young (Marvel)
Superior Foes of Spider-Man, by Nick Spencer & Steve Lieber (Marvel)
Best Digital/Web Comic
Bandette, by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover, Monkeybrain/comiXology.com (link is external)
Failing Sky by Dax Tran-Caffee, http://failingsky.com (link is external)
The Last Mechanical Monster, by Brian Fies, http://lastmechanicalmonster.blogspot.com (link is external)
Nimona, by Noelle Stephenson, http://gingerhaze.com/nimona/comic (link is external)
The Private Eye by Brian Vaughan & Marcos Martin http://panelsyndicate.com/ (link is external)
Best Anthology
In the Dark: A Horror Anthology, edited by Rachel Deering (Tiny Behemoth Press/IDW)
Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, edited by Josh O’Neill, Andrew Carl, & Chris Stevens (Locust Moon)
Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It, edited by Ann Ishii, Chip Kidd, & Graham Kolbeins (Fantagraphics)
Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World, edited by Monte Beauchamp (Simon & Schuster)
To End All Wars: The Graphic Anthology of The First World War, edited by Jonathan Clode & John Stuart Clark (Soaring Penguin)
Best Reality-Based Work
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (Bloomsbury)
Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories, by MariNaomi (2d Cloud/Uncivilized Books)
El Deafo, by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)
Hip Hop Family Tree, vol. 2, by Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, by Nathan Hale (Abrams)
To End All Wars: The Graphic Anthology of The First World War, edited by Jonathan Clode & John Stuart Clark (Soaring Penguin)
Best Graphic Album—New
The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil, by Stephen Collins (Picador)
Here, by Richard McGuire (Pantheon)
Kill My Mother, by Jules Feiffer (Liveright)
The Motherless Oven, by Rob Davis (SelfMadeHero)
Seconds, by Bryan Lee O’Malley (Ballantine Books)
This One Summer, by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki (First Second)
Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Dave Dorman’s Wasted Lands Omnibus (Magnetic Press)
How to Be Happy, by Eleanor Davis (Fantagraphics)
Jim, by Jim Woodring (Fantagraphics)
Sock Monkey Treasury, by Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics)
Through the Woods, by Emily Carroll (McElderry Books)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)
Winsor McCay’s Complete Little Nemo, edited by Alexander Braun (TASCHEN)
Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan: The Sunday Comics, 1933–1935, by Hal Foster, edited by Brendan Wright (Dark Horse)
Moomin: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition, by Tove Jansson, edited by Tom Devlin (Drawn & Quarterly)
Pogo, vol. 3: Evidence to the Contrary, by Walt Kelly, edited by Carolyn Kelly & Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse, vols. 5-6, by Floyd Gottfredson, edited by David Gerstein & Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)
The Complete ZAP Comix Box Set, edited by Gary Groth, with Mike Catron (Fantagraphics)
Steranko Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: Trail of the Unicorn, by Carl Barks, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Son of the Son, by Don Rosa, edited by David Gerstein (Fantagraphics)
Walt Kelly’s Pogo: The Complete Dell Comics, vols. 1–2, edited by Daniel Herman (Hermes)
Witzend, by Wallace Wood et al., edited by Gary Groth, with Mike Catron (Fantagraphics)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
Beautiful Darkness, by Fabien Vehlmann & Kerascoët (Drawn & Quarterly)
Blacksad: Amarillo, by Juan Díaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido (Dark Horse)
Corto Maltese: Under the Sign of Capricorn, by Hugo Pratt (IDW/Euro Comics)
Jaybird, by Lauri & Jaakko Ahonen (Dark Horse/SAF)
The Leaning Girl, by Benoît Peeters & François Schuiten (Alaxis Press)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
All You Need Is Kill, by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, Ryosuke Takeuchi, Takeshi Obata & yoshitoshi ABe (VIZ)
In Clothes Called Fat, by Moyoco Anno (Vertical)
Master Keaton, vol 1, by Naoki Urasawa, Hokusei Katsushika, & Takashi Nagasaki (VIZ)
One-Punch Man, by One & Yusuke Murata (VIZ)
Showa 1939–1955 and Showa 1944–1953: A History of Japan, by Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn & Quarterly)
Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki, by Mamoru Hosada & Yu (Yen Press)
Best Writer
Jason Aaron, Original Sin, Thor, Men of Wrath (Marvel); Southern Bastards (Image)
Kelly Sue DeConnick, Captain Marvel (Marvel); Pretty Deadly (Image)
Grant Morrison, The Multiversity (DC); Annihilator (Legendary Comics)
Brian K. Vaughan, Saga (Image); Private Eye (Panel Syndicate)
G. Willow Wilson, Ms. Marvel (Marvel)
Gene Luen Yang, Avatar: The Last Airbender (Dark Horse); The Shadow Hero (First Second)
Best Writer/Artist
Sergio Aragonés, Sergio Aragonés Funnies (Bongo); Groo vs. Conan (Dark Horse)
Charles Burns, Sugar Skull (Pantheon)
Stephen Collins, The Giant Beard That Was Evil (Picador)
Richard McGuire, Here (Pantheon)
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo: Senso, Usagi Yojimbo Color Special: The Artist (Dark Horse)
Raina Telgemeier, Sisters (Graphix/Scholastic)
Best Penciller/Inker
Adrian Alphona, Ms. Marvel (Marvel)
Mike Allred, Silver Surfer (Marvel); Madman in Your Face 3D Special (Image)
Frank Quitely, Multiversity (DC)
François Schuiten, The Leaning Girl (Alaxis Press)
Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
Babs Tarr, Batgirl (DC)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Lauri & Jaakko Ahonen, Jaybird (Dark Horse)
Colleen Coover, Bandette (Monkeybrain)
Mike Del Mundo, Elektra (Marvel)
Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad: Amarillo (Dark Horse)
J. H. Williams III, The Sandman: Overture (Vertigo/DC)
Best Cover Artist
Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics Darwyn Cooke Month Variant Covers (DC)
Mike Del Mundo, Elektra, X-Men: Legacy, A+X, Dexter, Dexter Down Under (Marvel)
Francesco Francavilla, Afterlife with Archie (Archie); Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight (Dark Horse); The Twilight Zone, Django/Zorro (Dynamite); X-Files (IDW)
Jamie McKelvie/Matthew Wilson, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); Ms. Marvel (Marvel)
Phil Noto, Black Widow (Marvel)
Alex Ross, Astro City (Vertigo/DC); Batman 66: The Lost Episode, Batman 66 Meets Green Hornet (DC/Dynamite)
Best Coloring
Laura Allred, Silver Surfer (Marvel); Madman in Your Face 3D Special (Image)
Nelson Daniel, Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, Judge Dredd, Wild Blue Yonder (IDW)
Lovern Kindzierski, The Graveyard Book, vols. 1-2 (Harper)
Matthew Petz, The Leg (Top Shelf)
Dave Stewart, Hellboy in Hell, BPRD, Abe Sapien, Baltimore, Lobster Johnson, Witchfinder, Shaolin Cowboy, Aliens: Fire and Stone, DHP (Dark Horse)
Matthew Wilson, Adventures of Superman (DC); The Wicked + The Divine (Image), Daredevil, Thor (Marvel)
Best Lettering
Joe Caramagna, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil (Marvel)
Todd Klein, Fables, The Sandman: Overture, The Unwritten (Vertigo/DC); Nemo: The Roses of Berlin (Top Shelf)
Max, Vapor (Fantagraphics)
Jack Morelli, Afterlife with Archie, Archie, Betty and Veronica, etc. (Archie)
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo: Senso, Usagi Yojimbo Color Special: The Artist (Dark Horse)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
Comic Book Creator, edited by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)
Comic Book Resources, edited by Jonah Weiland, www.comicbookresources.com (link is external)
Comics Alliance, edited by Andy Khouri, Caleb Goellner, Andrew Wheeler, & Joe Hughes, www.comicsalliance.com (link is external)
tcj.com, (link is external) edited by Dan Nadel & Timothy Hodler (Fantagraphics)
Best Comics-Related Book
Comics Through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas (4 vols.), edited by M. Keith Booker (ABC-CLIO)
Creeping Death from Neptune: The Life and Comics of Basil Wolverton, by Greg Sadowski (Fantagraphics)
Genius Animated: The Cartoon Art of Alex Toth, vol. 3, by Dean Mullaney & Bruce Canwell (IDW/LOAC)
What Fools These Mortals Be: The Story of Puck, by Michael Alexander Kahn & Richard Samuel West (IDW/LOAC)
75 Years of Marvel Comics: From the Golden Age to the Silver Screen, by Roy Thomas & Josh Baker (TASCHEN)
Best Scholarly/Academic Work
American Comics, Literary Theory, and Religion: The Superhero Afterlife, by A. David Lewis (Palgrave Macmillan)
Considering Watchmen: Poetics, Property, Politics, by Andrew Hoberek (Rutgers University Press)
Funnybooks: The Improbable Glories of the Best American Comic Books, by Michael Barrier (University of California Press)
Graphic Details: Jewish Women’s Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews, edited by Sarah Lightman (McFarland)
The Origins of Comics: From William Hogarth to Winsor McCay, by Thierry Smolderen, tr. by Bart Beaty & Nick Nguyen (University Press of Mississippi)
Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy, Mass Culture, and Modernism in the Art of Winsor McCay, by Katherine Roeder (University Press of Mississippi)
Best Publication Design
Batman: Kelley Jones Gallery Edition, designed by Josh Beatman/Brainchild Studios (Graphitti/DC)
The Complete ZAP Comix Box Set, designed by Tony Ong (Fantagraphics)
Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, designed by Jim Rugg (Locust Moon)
Street View, designed by Pascal Rabate (NBM/Comics Lit)
Winsor McCay’s Complete Little Nemo, designed by Anna Tina Kessler (TASCHEN)
By Editor