Eisner Awards 2021 Nominations Announced

Comic-Con International has announced the 2021 nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. The nominees were chosen from works published in the year 2020. Nominees cover 32 categories of comics and graphic novels published in the US. More than 190 print and online titles from over 60 publishers are represented.

Image and Fantagraphics received the most nominations with Image getting 17 (plus 11 shared) and Fantagraphics with 18. Image’s Department of Truth achieved 4 nominations, while Decorum and Gideon Falls each grabbed 3. Fantagraphics dominated the archival categories with 3 of the 5 in Archival Comic Strip Collections and 3 of 6 in Archival Comic Book Collections.

Publishers with multiple nominations include IDW (with Top Shelf, 10 plus 1 shared), DC (9 plus 6 shared), Drawn & Quarterly (9), First Second (8 plus 1 shared), Europe Comics (7), BOOM! (5 plus 4 shared), Abrams (5), Marvel (4 plus 6 shared), VIZ Media (4 plus 1 shared), Magnetic Press (4), Dark Horse (3 plus 4 shared), RH Graphic (3), and Insight Editions (2 plus 1 shared). Another 13 received 2 nominations with 39 more of individuals getting one nomination.

Among the creators, Gene Luen Yang leads with 5 nominations. Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jeff Lemire, Adrian Tomine, James Tynion IV, and Chip Zdarsky each received 3 nominations, then another 22 were each nominated twice.

Voting is a two-step process that starts with prospective voters applying online, then eligible voters will be invited to cast their votes. All professionals in the comic industry are eligible to vote. The deadline is June 30 and the results will be announced during the virtual ceremony as part of Comic-Con@Home.

Best Short Story

• “Garden Boys” by Henry McCausland in Now #8 (Fantagraphics)
• “I Needed the Discounts” by Connor Willumsen in The New York Times(January 3, 2020)
• “Parts of Us” by Chan Chau in Elements: Earth, A Comic Anthology by Creators of Color (Ascend Press)
• “Rookie” by Greg Rucka and Eduardo Risso in Detective Comics #1027 (DC)
• “Soft Lead” by Chan Chau on chanchauart.com/comics#/soft-lead
• “When the Menopausal Carnival Comes to Town” by Mimi Pond in Menopause: A Comic Treatment (Graphic Medicine/Pennsylvania State University Press)

Best Single Issue

• The Burning Hotels by Thomas Lampion (Birdcage Bottom Books)
• Hedra by Jesse Lonergan (Image)
• The Other History of the DC Universe #1 by John Ridley and Giuseppe Camuncoli (DC)
• Sports Is Hell by Ben Passmore (Koyama Press)
• Stanley’s Ghost: A Halloween Adventure by Jeff Balke, Paul Storrie, and Dave Alvarez (Storm Kids)

Best Continuing Series

• Bitter Root by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Image)
• Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto (Marvel)
• The Department of Truth by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)
• Gideon Falls by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino (Image)
• Stillwater by Chip Zdarsky and Ramón K Pérez (Image/Skybound)
• Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai (IDW)

Best Limited Series

• Barbalien: Red Planet by Jeff Lemire, Tate Brombal, and Gabriel Hernandez Walta (Dark Horse)
• Decorum by Jonathan Hickman and Mike Huddleston (Image)
• Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell (DC)
• Strange Adventures by Tom King, Mitch Gerads, and Evan “Doc” Shaner (DC Black Label)
• Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber (DC)
• We Live by Inaki Miranda and Roy Miranda (AfterShock)

Best New Series

• Black Widow by Kelly Thompson and Elena Casagrande (Marvel)
• Crossover by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw (Image)
• The Department of Truth by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)
• Killadelphia by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander (Image)
• We Only Find Them When They’re Dead by Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo (BOOM! Studios)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

• Bear by Ben Queen and Joe Todd-Stanton (Archaia/BOOM!)
• Cat Kid Comic Club by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic Graphix)
• Donut Feed the Squirrels by Mika Song (RH Graphic/RH Children’s Books)
• Kodi by Jared Cullum (Top Shelf)
• Lift by Minh Lê and Dan Santat (Little, Brown Young Readers)
• Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki (Abrams Books for Young Readers)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

• Doodleville by Chad Sell (Knopf/BFYR/RH Children’s Books)
• Go with the Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann (First Second/Macmillan)
• Mister Invincible: Local Hero by Pascal Jousselin (Magnetic Press)
• Snapdragon by Kat Leyh (First Second/Macmillan)
• Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru (DC)
• Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright (Scholastic Graphix)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

• Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones by Ngozi Ukazu (First Second/Macmillan)
• Displacement by Kiku Hughes (First Second/Macmillan)
• Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang (First Second/Macmillan)
• Fights: One Boy’s Triumph Over Violence by Joel Christian Gill (Oni Press)
• A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong (First Second/Macmillan)
• When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed (Dial Books)

Best Humor Publication

• The Complete Fante Bukowski by Noah Van Sciver (Fantagraphics)
• Department of Mind-Blowing Theories by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)
• FANGS bySarah Andersen (Andrews McMeel)
• Wendy, Master of Art by Walter Scott (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber (DC)
• What If We Were . . . by Axelle Lenoir (Top Shelf)

Best Anthology

• Ex Mag vols. 1-2 edited by Wren McDonald (PEOW)
• Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison edited by Sarah Mirk (Abrams)
• Hey, Amateur! Go From Novice to Nailing It in 9 Panels edited and curated by Shelly Bond (IDW Black Crown)
• Los Angeles Times edited by Sammy Harkham (NTWRK)
• Menopause: A Comic Treatment edited by MK Czerwiec (Graphic Medicine/Pennsylvania State University Press)
• Now edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)

Best Reality-Based Work

• Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank “Big Black” Smith, Jared Reinmuth, and Améziane (Archaia/BOOM!)
• Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang (First Second/Macmillan)
• Invisible Differences: A Story of Asperger’s, Adulting, and Living a Life in Full Color by Mme Caroline and Julie Dachez, translation by Edward Gauvin (Oni Press)
• Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf (Abrams)
• Paying the Land by Joe Sacco (Metropolitan/Henry Holt)
• Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna, translation by Helge Dascher (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Memoir

• Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook, Ryan Estrada, and Ko Hyung-Ju (Iron Circus)
• Dancing After TEN: A Graphic Memoir by Vivian Chong and Georgia Webber (Fantagraphics)
• Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson (Uncivilized)
• I Don’t Know How to Give Birth! by Ayami Kazama, translated by Julie Goniwich (Yen Press)
• The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist by Adrian Tomine (Drawn & Quarterly)
• When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed (Dial Books)

Best Graphic Album—New

• The Book Tour by Andi Watson (Top Shelf)
• Dragman by Steven Appleby (Metropolitan)
• Flake by Matthew Dooley (Jonathan Cape)
• Labyrinth by Ben Argon (Abrams)
• Paul at Home by Michel Rabagliati, translation by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Pulp by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

• Black Hammer Library Edition vol. 2 by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormstom, Emi Lenox, and Rich Tommaso (Dark Horse)
• Criminal Deluxe Edition vol. 3 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
• Eight-Lane Runaways by Henry McCausland (Fantagraphics)
• Fante Bukowski: The Complete Works by Noah Van Sciver (Fantagraphics)
• Herobear and the Kid: The Heritage by Mike Kunkel (Astonish Factory)
• Seeds and Stems by Simon Hanselmann (Fantagraphics)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

• Constitution Illustrated by R. Sikoryak (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Parable of the Sower: The Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy and John Jennings (Abrams)
• Sapiens: A Graphic History: The Birth of Mankind vol. 1 by Yuval Noah Harari, adapted by David Vandermeulen and Daniel Casanave (Harper Perennial)
• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut adapted by Ryan North and Albert Monteys (Archaia/BOOM!)
• Superman Smashes the Klan adapted by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru (DC)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

• Altitude by Olivier Bocquet and Jean-Marc Rochette, translation by Edward Gauvin (SelfMadeHero)
• Gamayun Tales I: An Anthology of Modern Russian Folk Tales by Alexander Utkin, translation by Lada Morozova (Nobrow)
• Goblin Girl by Moa Romanova, translation by Melissa Bowers (Fantagraphics)
• Irena Books 2-3 by Jean-David Morvan, Severine Tréfouël, and David Evrard, translation by Dan Christensen (Magnetic Press)
• When You Look Up by Decur, translation by Chloe Garcia Roberts (Enchanted Lion Books)
• The Winter of the Cartoonist by Paco Roca, translation by Erica Mena (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

• I Had That Same Dream Again by Yoru Sumino and Idumi Kirihara, translation by Beni Axia Conrad (Seven Seas)
• I Wish I Could Say “Thank You” by Yukari Takinami, translation by Yukari Takeuchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• A Journal Of My Father by Jiro Taniguchi, translation by Kumar Sivasubramanian (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• Ping Pong vols. 1-2 by Taiyo Matsumoto, translation by Michael Arias (VIZ Media)
• Remina by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)
• Spy x Family vols. 1-3 by Tatsuya Endo, translation by Casey Loe (VIZ Media)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

• The Flapper Queens: Women Cartoonists of the Jazz Age edited by Trina Robbins (Fantagraphics)
• Gross Exaggerations: The Meshuga Comic Strips of Milt Gross by Milt Gross, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press/IDW)
• Krazy & Ignatz 1919-1921 by George Herriman, edited by RJ Casey(Fantagraphics)
• Little Debbie and the Second Coming of Elmo: Daily Comic Strips, August 1960-September 1961 byCecil Jensen, edited by Frank Young (Labor of Love)
• Pogo The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips: Volume 7: Clean as a Weasel by Walt Kelly, edited by Mark Evanier and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

• Art Young’s Inferno by Art Young, edited by Glenn Bray (Fantagraphics)
• Atlas at War! edited by Michael J. Vassallo (Dead Reckoning)
• The Complete Hate by Peter Bagge, edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
• Corto Maltese: The Ballad of the Salty Sea by Hugo Pratt, translation by Dean Mullaney and Simone Castaldi (EuroComics/IDW)
• Little Lulu: The Fuzzythingus Poopi by John Stanley, edited by Frank Young and Tom Devlin (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Man and Superman and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman, edited by J. Michael Catron(Fantagraphics)

Best Writer

• Ed Brubaker Pulp, Reckless (Image); Friday (Panel Syndicate)
• Matt Fraction, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen (DC); Adventureman, November vols. 2-3, Sex Criminals (Image)
• Jonathan Hickman, Decorum (Image); Giant-Size X-Men, X-Men (Marvel)
• Jeff Lemire, Barbalien, Black Hammer, Colonel Weird: Cosmagog (Dark Horse); The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage (DC Black Label);Family Tree, Gideon Falls (Image)
• James Tynion IV, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); Batman (DC); The Department of Truth (Image); Razorblades (Tiny Onion)
• Chip Zdarsky, Stillwater (Image/Skybound), Daredevil, Fantastic Four/X-Men (Marvel)

Best Writer/Artist

• Junji Ito, Remina, Venus in the Blind Spot (VIZ Media)
• Pascal Jousselin, Mister Invincible: Local Hero (Magnetic Press)
• Trung Le Nguyen, The Magic Fish (RH Graphic/RH Children’s Books)
• Craig Thompson, Ginseng Roots (Uncivilized)
• Adrian Tomine, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Gene Luen Yang, Dragon Hoops (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

• Michael Allred, Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams (Insight Editions)
• Marco Chechetto, Daredevil (Marvel)
• Jorge Corona, Middlewest (Image)
• Bertrand Gatignol, Pistouvi (Magnetic Press)
• Mitch Gerads/Evan “Doc” Shaner, Strange Adventures (DC Black Label)
• Sanford Greene, Bitter Root (Image)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

• Benjamin Adam, Soon (Europe Comics)
• Alice Chemama, The Zolas (Europe Comics)
• Jared Cullum, Kodi (Top Shelf)
• Decur, When You Look Up (Enchanted Lion Books)
• Antonio Lapone, Gentlemind (Europe Comics)
• Anand RK/John Pearson, Blue in Green (Image)

Best Cover Artist

• Jamal Campbell, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (BOOM! Studios); Far Sector (DC)
• Simone Di Meo, We Only Find Them When They’re Dead (BOOM! Studio)
• Mike Huddleston, Decorum (Image)
• Dave Johnson, Butcher of Paris (Dark Horse)
• Peach Momoko, Buffy the Vampire Slayer #19, Mighty Morphin #2, Something Is Killing the Children #12, Power Rangers #1 (BOOM! Studios); DIE!namite, Vampirella (Dynamite); The Crow: Lethe (IDW); Marvel Variants (Marvel)
• Ramón K. Pérez, Stillwater (Image/Skybound)

Best Coloring

• Laura Allred, X-Ray Robot (Dark Horse); Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams (Insight Editions)
• Jean-Francois Beaulieu, Middlewest (Image)
• Gipi, One Story (Fantagraphics)
• Marte Gracia, Empyre, X of Swords (Marvel)
• Dave Stewart, Promethee 13:13 (comiXology); Black Hammer (Dark Horse); Gideon Falls (Image); Spider-Man #4-5 (Marvel)
• Matt Wilson, Undiscovered Country (Image); Fire Power (Image/Skybound); Thor (Marvel)

Best Lettering

• Mike Allred, Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams (Insight Editions)
• Deron Bennett, Bear, The Sacrifice of Darkness (Archaia); King of Nowhere, Something Is Killing the Children, We Only Find Them When They’re Dead (BOOM! Studios); Far Sector, Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red, Martian Manhunter (DC); Excellence (Image/Skybound); A Dark Interlude, Dark One, Relics of Youth, Resonant, Shadow Service, Vampire: The Masquerade: Winter’s Teeth (Vault); Ping Pong (VIZ Media)
• Aditya Bidikar, Barbalien: Red Planet, Grafity’s Wall Expanded Edition (Dark Horse); John Constantine, Hellblazer (DC); A Map to the Sun (First Second); The Department of Truth, Lost Soldiers (Image); Giga, The Picture of Everything Else (Vault)
• Clayton Cowles, Aquaman, Batman, Batman and the Outsiders, Strange Adventures, Superman: Man of Tomorrow, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen (DC); Adventureman, Bitter Root, Bog Bodies, Die (Image); Reaver (Image/Skybound); Morbius, X of Swords (Marvel)
• Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (IDW)
• Rus Wooton, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth (DC); Decorum, Monstress (Image); Die!Die!Die!, Fire Power, Oblivion Song, Outcast, Stillwater (Image/Skybound)

Best Comics-Related Journalism/Periodical

• Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
• Back Issuem edited by Michael Eury (TwoMorrows)
• The Comics Blog by Michael Cavna and David Betancourt, www.washingtonpost.com
• The Comics Journal edited by R.J. Casey, Kristy Valenti, and Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
• PanelxPanel magazine, edited by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, PanelxPanel.com
• Women Write About Comics, edited by Nola Pfau and Wendy Browne, www.WomenWriteAboutComics.com

Best Comics-Related Book

• American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and the Battles of Lev Gleason by Brett Dakin (Comic House/Lev Gleason)
• Ditko Shrugged: The Uncompromising Life of the Artist Behind Spider-Man and the Rise of Marvel Comics by David Currie (Hermes Press)
• Drawing Fire: The Editorial Cartoons of Bill Mauldin, edited by Todd DePastino (Pritzker Military Museum & Library)
• The History of EC Comics by Grant Geissman (TASCHEN)
• Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books by Ken Quattro (Yoe Books/IDW)
• Masters of British Comic Art by David Roach (2000AD)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

• Comic Art in Museums,edited by Kim A. Munson (University Press of Mississippi)
• Comic Studies: A Guidebook, edited by Charles Hatfield and Bart Beaty (Rutgers University Press)
• The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belongingby Rebecca Wanzo (New York University Press)
• Webcomics by Sean Kleefeld (Bloomsbury)
• Who Understands Comics: Questioning the Universality of Visual Language Comprehension by Neil Cohn (Bloomsbury)

Best Publication Design

• Chasin’ the Bird: Charlie Parker in California deluxe edition, designed by David Chisholm and Tyler Boss (Z2 Comics)
• Dbury@50: The Complete Digital Doonesbury by G.B. Trudeau, designed by George Corsillo and Susan McCaslin(Andrews McMeel)
• J & K, designed by John Pham (Fantagraphics)
• The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist,designed by Adrian Tomine and Tracy Huron (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Original Art: The Dan Clowes Studio Edition,designed by Daniel Clowes (Fantagraphics)

Best Digital Comic

• Friday by Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martin (Panel Syndicate)
• Genius Animals? by Vali Chandrasekaran and Jun-Pierre Shiozawa, geniusanimals.net
• Gentlemind by Juan Díaz Canales, Teresa Valero, and Antonio Lapone, translation by Jeremy Melloul (Europe Comics)
• Promethee 13:13 by Andy Diggle and Shawn Martinbrough (comiXology Originals/Delcourt)
• Olive by Véro Cazot and Lucy Mazel, translation by Jessie Aufiery (Europe Comics)
• Soon, by Thomas Cadène and Benjamin Adam, translation by Margaret Besser (Europe Comics)

Best Webcomic

• BFF by Clément C. Fabre, Joseph Saffiedine, and Thomas Cadène, translation by Emma Wilson, www.webtoonfactory.com
• Crisis Zone by Simon Hanselmann, www.instagram.com
• DPS! Only by Vel, tapas.io/series/dpsonly/info
• Isle of Elsi by Alec Longstreth, www.isleofelsi.com
• The Kiss Bet by Ingrid Ochoa, www.webtoons.com
• The Middle Age by Steve Conley, middleagecomic.com