A Fanlad's Guide To The Eisner Award Winners

As the San Diego Comic Con rages on, the Eisner winners have been announced at the prestigious awards ceremony. Between all the victors and runners up it's important to remember that comics are the winner on the day. When the nominations were announced some time ago I put up a guide to some of the awards and made a pick for the winner, and sometimes I was even right. So hit the jump to see who won at the comic industry's night of nights

Best Continuing Series

Nominees

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)

The Weekly Crisis' Lock For The Win: The Walking Dead

The Winner: The Walking Dead

I only read this title in trade, and am always up to date, and I am a little shocked that it won but completely think it deserves this honour. This book has been rock solid for years now and the fact that it can continue creating such amazing quality in each issue is something in the comic industry that does need to be applauded. If you haven't checked this series out already then hopefully this will get you to, it's just some of the best stuff on the page from any publisher.

Best Limited Series or Story Arc

Nominess

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)

The Weekly Crisis' Lock For The Win: Incognito

The Winner: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

I really wanted Incognito to win this one but there's no doubting that the Oz team up of Eric Shanower and Skottie Young did earn this award. To take a classic from years gone by and reimagine it with such life and heart is something the comic industry needs more of. This is the ultimate title to buy a kid and yet adults can completely love the writing and the phenomenal art.

Best New Series

Nominees

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)

The Weekly Crisis' Lock For The Win: The Unwritten

The Winner: Chew

I thought The Unwritten would have got across the line because of its erudition, and I also discounted Chew because I hadn't read a lot of it. Between nomination and award time I caught up on Chew and it definitely earns this award. The series might just be on of the top 3 smartest books on the shelves and I'm hoping plenty of people will figure that out now.

Best Writer

Nominees

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)

The Weekly Crisis' Lock For The Win: Ed Brubaker

The Winner: Ed Brubaker

I love Ed Brubaker's writing, I'll make no attempts to hide that, and in a year where he wrapped up Daredevil pretty damn well, continued the Captain America saga rocketing along and also found time to do the heavy lifting in The Marvels Project and get in an arc of Criminal and Incognito I'd say he pretty fairly deserves this award.
 

Best Writer/Artist

Nominees

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)

The Weekly Crisis' Lock For The Win: Naoki Urasawa

The Winner: David Mazzuchelli

This category had some of the stiffest competition where it felt anyone could have won and deserved it but someone had to be chosen and when you read Asterios Polyp you can see why Mazzuchelli stood out above the crowd. He ties his art and writing together so well in this tale that it almost feels like a textbook for comics, or a statement on why comics are the medium that they are, or at least should be. He created something of complete importance and genius and seeing him get attention for it is just perfect.

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Nominees

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)

The Weekly Crisis' Lock For The Win: J.H. Williams III

The Winner: J.H. Williams III

Williams seemed like the pretty safe lock for this award. Each month his Batwoman story, with Greg Rucka in Detective Comics, continued to astound and draw in more fans because he was approaching the page in different ways and really doing his best to engage in the story. He did a masterful job and it's well worthy of this award.

Best Cover Artist

Nominees

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)

The Weekly Crisis' Lock For The Win: Sean Phillips

The Winner: J.H. Williams III

It was always going to be a race between Phillips and Williams for this nod and either way I knew I'd be happy with the result. Both artists look to create something different to sit on the stands and catch the eye of passing buyers and hopefully both are consistently successful with that aim. Williams did create covers that are rarely seen on a Bat-title book so it is cool to see him get the award and sit it down next to his other award this year because if there's ever going to be an award winning run for an artist it might as well be Williams' work on Batwoman: Elegy.

There were plenty of winners that we didn't showcase last time in the nominations so here's a list of them now:

• The Award for Best Publication for Kids goes to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young from Marvel Comics.
• The Award for Best Publication for Teens/Tweens goes to Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson from Dark Horse.
• The Award for Best Humor Publication goes to Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley from Oni.
• The Award for Best Lettering goes to David Mazzucchelli for Asterios Polyp by Pantheon.
• The Award for Best Digital Comic goes to Sin Titulo by Cameron Stewart - www.sintitulocomic.com
• The Award for Best Coloring goes to Dave Stewart for his work on Abe Sapien, BPRD, The Goon, Hellboy, Solomon Kane, Umbrella Academy, Zero Killer (Dark Horse); Detective Comics (DC); Luna Park (Vertigo)
• The Award for Best Painter/ Multimedia Artist (Interior Art) goes to Jill Thompson for Beasts of Burden and Magic Trixie and the Dragon for Dark Horse and HarperCollins Children's Books.
• The Award for Best Comics-Related Periodical/ Journalism goes to The Comics Reporter produced by Tom Spurgeon. (www.comicsreporter.com)
• The Award for Best Comics-Related Book goes to The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle from Abrams ComicArts.
• The Award for Best Publication Design goes to Absolute Justice designed by Curtis King and Josh Beatman for DC Comics.
• The Award for Best Anthology goes to Popgun Volume 3 edited by Mark Andrew Smith, DJ Kirkbride and Joe Keatinge for Image Comics.
• The Award for Best Archival Collection Project - Comic Strips goes to Bloom County:The Complete Library Vol. 1 by Berkeley Breathed and edited by Scott Dunbier for IDW.
• The Award for Best Archival Collection/ Project - Comic Books goes to The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures Deluxe Edition by Dave Stevens edited by Scott Dunbier for IDW.
• The Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material goes to The Photographer by Emmanuel Gilbert, Didier Lefevre and Frederic Lemerier for First Second.
• The Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia goes to A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi for Drawn and Quarterly.
• The Award for Best Writer/ Artist - Non-Fiction goes to Joe Sacco for Footnotes in Gaza from Metropolitan/ Holt.
• The Award for Best Short Story goes to Urgent Request by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim in The Eternal Smile from First Second.
• The Award for Best Single Issue or One-Shot goes to Captain America "Red White and Blue Blood" by Ed Brubaker and Gene Colan for Marvel Comics.
• The Award for Best Adaptation From Another Work goes to Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter adapted by Darwyn Cooke from IDW.
• The 2010 Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award goes to Marian Churchland for her work on Beast for Image.
• The Award for Best Reality-Based work goes to A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi for Drawn and Quarterly.
• The Award for Best Graphic Album - Reprint goes to Absolute Justice by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and Doug Braithwaite for DC Comics.
• The Award for Best Graphic Album - New goes to Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli from Pantheon.

The Comic Book Hall of Fame inductees were:

• Burne Hogarth
• Bob Montana
• Steve Gerber
• Dick Giordano
• Michael Kaluta
• Mort Weisinger

Conclusion

Those were the awards and I think it's great to see a bunch of spectacular comics getting the due respect for the hard work put into them over the previous year. What thoughts did you have about the awards? Let us know in comments.

Related Posts