April
14 2008 Eisner Awards nominees announced

The nominees for the Will Eisner Comic Book Industry Awards were announced this morning, with a very diverse group of books and creators being honored.

It's fascinating to see how the Eisner nominations reflect the changes in comics. Take a look back at the 1998 nominees, and you have a list that reflects the times by being very focused on the direct market and the genres most popular in it. The 2008 edition casts a much wider net and puts the focus on graphic novels from a wide number of publishers. While I wish — as always — that the number of categories could be whittled down, this is a fascinating list as much for what I haven't read as what I have.

Congratulations to all the nominees and to the judges, who do a lot of very hard work to arrive at this list. The winners will be announced in a gala ceremony July 25 at Comic-Con Intl. in San Diego.

2008 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees

Best Short Story

• “Book,” by Yuichi Yokoyama, in New Engineering (PictureBox)
• “At Loose Ends,” by Lewis Trondheim, in Mome #8 (Fantagraphics)
• “Mr. Wonderful,” by Dan Clowes, in New York Times Sunday Magazine (accessible online at www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/magazine/funnypagesClowes.html)
• “Town of Evening Calm,” by Fumiyo Kouno, in Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (Last Gasp)
• “Whatever Happened to Fletcher Hanks?” by Paul Karasik, in I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! (Fantagraphics)
• “Young Americans,” by Emile Bravo, in Mome #8 (Fantagraphics)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

• Amelia Rules! #18: “Things I Cannot Change,” by Jimmy Gownley (Renaissance)
• Delilah Dirk and the Treasure of Constantinople, by Tony Cliff (self-published)
• Johnny Hiro #1, by Fred Chao (AdHouse)
• Justice League of America #11: “Walls,” by Brad Meltzer and Gene Ha (DC)
• Sensational Spider-Man Annual: “To Have or to Hold,” by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca (Marvel)

Best Continuing Series

• The Boys, by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson (Dynamite)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Georges Jeanty, and Andy Owens (Dark Horse)
• Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, by Naoki Urasawa (Viz)
• The Spirit, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)
• Y: The Last Man, by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and Jose Marzan, Jr. (Vertigo/DC)

Best Limited Series

• Atomic Robo, by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegender (Red 5 Comics)
• Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, by Peter David, Robin Furth, and Jae Lee (Marvel)
• Nightly News, by Jonathan Hickman (Image)
• Parade (with Fireworks), by Michael Cavallaro (Shadowline/Image)
• The Umbrella Academy, by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá (Dark Horse)

Best New Series

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Georges Jeanty, and Andy Owens (Dark Horse)
• Immortal Iron Fist, by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, David Aja, and others (Marvel)
• Johnny Hiro, by Fred Chao (AdHouse)
• The Infinite Horizon, by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto (Image)
• Scalped, by Jason Aaron and R. M. Guéra (Vertigo/DC)

Best Publication for Kids

• Amelia Rules! and Amelia Rules! Funny Stories, by Jimmy Gownley (Renaissance)
• Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, edited by Jeremy Barlow (Dark Horse)
• Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, by David Petersen (Archaia)
• The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, by Peter Sis (Frank Foster Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• Yotsuba&!, by Kiyohiko Azuma (ADV)

Best Publication for Teens

• Laika, by Nick Abadzis (First Second)
• The Mighty Skullboy Army, by Jacob Chabot (Dark Horse)
• The Annotated Northwest Passage, by Scott Chantler (Oni)
• PX! Book One: A Girl and Her Panda, by Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson (Shadowline/Image)
• Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso (Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion)

Best Humor Publication

• Dwight T. Albatross’s The Goon Noir, edited by Matt Dryer (Dark Horse)
• Johnny Hiro, by Fred Chao (AdHouse)
• Lucha Libre, by Jerry Frissen, Bill, Gobi, Fabien M., Nikola Witko, Hervé Tanquelle et al. (Image)
• Perry Bible Fellowship: The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories, by Nicholas Gurewitch (Dark Horse)
• Wonton Soup, by James Stokoe (Oni)

Best Anthology

• Best American Comics 2007, edited by Anne Elizabeth Moore and Chris Ware (Houghton Mifflin)
• 5, by Gabriel Bá, Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon, Vasilis Lolos, and Rafael Grampa (self-published)
• Mome, edited by Gary Groth and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
• Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened, edited by Jason Rodriguez (Villard)
• 24Seven, vol. 2, edited by Ivan Brandon (Image)

Best Digital Comic

• The Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, www.abominable.transmission-x.com
• Billy Dogma, Immortal, by Dean Haspiel, www.deanhaspiel.com/immortal.html
• The Process, by Joe Infurnari, www.theprocesscomic.com
• PX! By Manny Trembley and Eric A. Anderson, www.pandaxpress.com
• Sugarshock!, by Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon, http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents?issuenum=1&storynum=2

Best Reality-Based Work

• Laika, by Nick Abadzis (First Second)
• The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam, by Ann Marie Fleming (Riverhead Books/Penguin Group)
• Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso (Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion)
• Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm, by Percy Carey and Ronald Wimberly (Vertigo/DC)
• White Rapids, by Pascal Blanchet (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—New

• The Arrival, by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)
• Bookhunter, by Jason Shiga (Sparkplug Books)
• Essex County, vols. 1-2: Tales from the Farm/Ghost Stories, by Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
• Exit Wounds, by Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Percy Gloom, by Cathy Malkasian (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

• Agents of Atlas Hardcover, by Jeff Parker, Leonard Kirk, and Kris Justice (Marvel)
• Gødland Celestial Edition, by Joe Casey and Tom Scioli (Image)
• James Sturm’s America: God, Gold, and Golems, by James Sturm (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, by David Petersen (Archaia)
• Super Spy, by Matt Kindt (Top Shelf)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Strips

• (The Complete) Dream of the Rarebit Fiend, by Winsor McCay (Ulrich Merkl)
• Complete Terry and the Pirates, vol. 1, by Milton Caniff (IDW)
• Little Sammy Sneeze, by Winsor McCay (Sunday Press)
• Popeye, vol. 2: Well Blow Me Down, by E. C. Segar (Fantagraphics)
• Sundays with Walt and Skeezix, by Frank King (Sunday Press)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

• Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus, vol. 1, by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (Marvel)
• Apollo’s Song, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)
• The Completely MAD Don Martin, by Don Martin (Running Press)
• Daredevil Omnibus, by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson (Marvel)
• I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! by Fletcher Hanks (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

• The Arrival, by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)
• Aya, by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Obrerie (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Garage Band, by Gipi (First Second)
• I Killed Adolf Hitler, by Jason (Fantagraphics)
• The Killer, by Matz and Luc Jacamon (Archaia)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan

• The Ice Wanderer and Other Stories, by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• MW, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)
• Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, by Naoki Urasawa (Viz)
• New Engineering by Yuichi Yokoyama (PictureBox)
• Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White, by Taiyo Matsumoto (Viz)
• Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, by Fumiyo Kouno (Last Gasp)

Best Writer

• Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Criminal, Daredevil, Immortal Iron Fist  (Marvel)
• James Sturm, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow (Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion)
• Brian K. Vaughan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Dark Horse); Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC), Y: The Last Man (Vertigo/DC),
• Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Dark Horse)
• Brian Wood, DMZ, Northlanders (Vertigo/DC); Local (Oni)

Best Writer/Artist

• Jeff Lemire, Essex County: Tales from the Farm/Ghost Stories (Top Shelf)
• Rutu Modan, Exit Wounds (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Shaun Tan, The Arrival (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)
• Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #18 (Acme Novelty)
• Fumi Yoshinaga, Flower of Life; The Moon and Sandals (Digital Manga)

Best Writer/Artist—Humor

• Kyle Baker, The Bakers: Babies and Kittens (Image)
• Fred Chao, Johnny Hiro (AdHouse)
• Brandon Graham, King City (Tokyopop); Multiple Warheads (Oni)
• Eric Powell, The Goon (Dark Horse)
• James Stokoe, Wonton Soup (Oni)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

• Steve Epting/Butch Guice/Mike Perkins, Captain America (Marvel)
• Pia Guerra/Jose Marzan, Jr., Y: The Last Man (Vertical/DC)
• Jae Lee, Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (Marvel)
• Takeshi Obata, Death Note, Hikaru No Go (Viz)
• Ethan Van Sciver, Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps (DC)

Best Painter or Multimedia Artist (interior art)

• Ann-Marie Fleming, The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam (Riverhead Books/Penguin Group)
• Eric Powell, The Goon: Chinatown (Dark Horse)
• Bryan Talbot, Alice in Sunderland (Dark Horse)
• Ben Templesmith, Fell (Image); 30 Days of Night: Red Snow; Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse (IDW)

Best Cover Artist

• John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); Lone Ranger (Dynamite)
• James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse); Process Recess 2; Superior Showcase 2 (AdHouse)
• J. G. Jones, 52 (DC)
• Jae Lee, Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (Marvel)
• Jim Lee, All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (DC); World of Warcraft (WildStorm/DC)

Best Coloring

• Jimmy Gownley, Amelia Rules! (Renaissance)
• Steve Hamaker, Bone, vols. 5 and 6 (Scholastic); Shazam: Monster Society of Evil (DC)
• Richard Isanove, Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (Marvel)
• Ronda Pattison, Atomic Robo (Red 5 Comics)
• Dave Stewart, BPRD, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cut, Hellboy, Lobster Johnson, The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse); The Spirit (DC)
• Alex Wald, Shaolin Cowboy (Burlyman)

Best Lettering

• Jared K. Fletcher, Catwoman, The Spirit (DC); Sentences: Life of MF Grimm (Vertigo/DC)
• Jimmy Gownley, Amelia Rules! (Renaissance)
• Todd Klein, Justice, Simon Dark (DC); Fables, Jack of Fables, Crossing Midnight  (Vertigo/DC); League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier (WildStorm/DC); Nexus (Rude Dude)
• Lewis Trondheim, “At Loose Ends,” Mome 7 & 8 (Fantagraphics)
• Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #18 (Acme Novelty)

Special Recognition

• Chuck BB, Black Metal (artist, Oni)
• Matt Silady, The Homeless Channel (writer/artist, AiT/PlanetLar)
• Jamie Tanner, The Aviary (writer/artist, AdHouse)
• James Vining, First in Space (writer/artist, Oni)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

• Comic Art #9, edited by Todd Hignite (Buenaventura Press)
• Comic Foundry, edited by Tim Leong (Comic Foundry)
• The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean, and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• The Comics Reporter, produced by Tom Spurgeon and Jordan Raphael (www.comicsreporter.com)
• Newsarama, produced by Matt Brady and Michael Doran (www.newsarama.com)

Best Comics-Related Book

• The Art of P. Craig Russell, edited by Joe Pruett (Desperado)
• The Artist Within, by Greg Preston (Dark Horse)
• Manga: The Complete Guide, by Jason Thompson (Del Rey Manga)
• Meanwhile . . . A Biography of Milton Caniff, by R. C. Harvey (Fantagraphics)
• Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean, by Douglas Wolk (Da Capo Press)
• Understanding Manga and Anime, by Robin Brenner (Libraries Unlimited/Greenwood Publishing)

Best Publication Design

• (The Complete) Dream of the Rarebit Fiend, designed by Ulrich Merkl (Ulrich Merkl)
• Complete Terry and the Pirates, designed by Dean Mullaney (IDW)
• Heroes, vol. 1, designed by John Roshell/Comicraft (WildStorm/DC)
• Little Sammy Sneeze, designed by Philippe Ghielmetti (Sunday Press)
• Process Recess 2, designed by James Jean and Chris Pitzer (AdHouse)
• Sundays with Walt and Skeezix, designed by Chris Ware (Sunday Press)

Hall of Fame

• Judges’ Choices: R. F. Outcault, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson

Nominees (4 will be selected by voters):

• Matt Baker
• John Broome
• Reed Crandall    
• Rudolph Dirks
• Arnold Drake
• George Evans
• Creig Flessel
• Graham Ingels
• Mort Meskin
• Tarpe Mills
• Gilbert Shelton
• George Tuska
• Mort Weisinger
• Len Wein
• Barry Windsor-Smith