Forget the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Golden Globes — because it’s officially Eisner season!
Comics Beat has the official listing of this year’s nominees, and they are definitely interesting. The Unwritten and Irredeemable get several noms each, and Chew (I dig this series so much) gets a well-deserved nomination for Best New Series.
Meanwhile, David Mazzuccheilli gets some just praise for Asterios Polyp, ranging from Best Graphic Album to Best Writer/Artist to Best Coloring to Best Lettering… he’s a one-man band. He’s also trailed by Darwyn Cooke for Parker: The Hunter, nominated for Best Adaptation, Best Graphic Album and Best Writer/Artist.
Check out the full list below the cut — and sound off!
Best Short Story
• “Because I Love You So Much,” by Nikoline Werdelin, in From Wonderland with Love: Danish Comics in the 3rd Millennium (Fantagraphics/Aben malen)
• “Gentleman John,” by Nathan Greno, in What Is Torch Tiger? (Torch Tiger)
• “How and Why to Bale Hay,” by Nick Bertozzi, in Syncopated (Villard)
• “Hurricane,” interpreted by Gradimir Smudja, in Bob Dylan Revisited (Norton)
• “Urgent Request,” by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim, in The Eternal Smile (First Second)
Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
• Brave & the Bold #28: “Blackhawk and the Flash: Firing Line,” by J. Michael Straczynski and Jesus Saiz (DC)
• Captain America #601: “Red, White, and Blue-Blood,” by Ed Brubaker and Gene Colan (Marvel)
• Ganges #3, by Kevin Huizenga (Fantagraphics)
• The Unwritten #5: “How the Whale Became,” by Mike Carey and Peter Gross (Vertigo/DC)
• Usagi Yojimbo #123: “The Death of Lord Hikiji” by Stan Sakai (Dark Horse)
Best Continuing Series
• 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)
Best Limited Series or Story Arc
• 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)
Best New Series
• 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)
Best Publication for Kids
• Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute, by Jarrett J. Krosoczeka (Knopf)
• The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook, by Eleanor Davis (Bloomsbury)
• Tiny Tyrant vol. 1: The Ethelbertosaurus, by Lewis Trondheim and Fabrice Parme (First Second)
• The TOON Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics, edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly (Abrams ComicArts/Toon)
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz hc, by L. Frank Baum, Eric Shanower, and Skottie Young (Marvel)
Best Publication for Teens
• Angora Napkin, by Troy Little (IDW)
• Beasts of Burden, by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
• A Family Secret, by Eric Heuvel (Farrar Straus Giroux/Anne Frank House)
• Far Arden, by Kevin Cannon (Top Shelf)
• I Kill Giants tpb, by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura (Image)
Best Humor Publication
• Drinky Crow’s Maakies Treasury, by Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics)
• Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me, And Other Astute Observations, by Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics)
• Little Lulu, vols. 19–21, by John Stanley and Irving Tripp (Dark Horse Books)
• The Muppet Show Comic Book: Meet the Muppets, by Roger Langridge (BOOM Kids!)
• Scott Pilgrim vol. 5: Scott Pilgrm vs. the Universe, by Brian Lee O’Malley (Oni)
Best Anthology
• Abstract Comics, edited by Andrei Molotiu (Fantagraphics)
• Bob Dylan Revisited, edited by Bob Weill (Norton)
• Flight 6, edited by Kazu Kibuishi (Villard)
• Popgun vol. 3, edited by Mark Andrew Smith, D. J. Kirkbride, and Joe Keatinge (Image)
• Syncopated: An Anthology of Nonfiction Picto-Essays, edited by Brendan Burford (Villard)
• What Is Torch Tiger? edited by Paul Briggs (Torch Tiger)
Best Digital Comic
• Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, www.abominable.cc
• Bayou, by Jeremy Love, http://zudacomics.com/bayou
• The Guns of Shadow Valley, by David Wachter and James Andrew Clark, www.gunsofshadowvalley.com
• Power Out, by Nathan Schreiber, www.act-i-vate.com/67.comic
• Sin Titulo, by Cameron Stewart, www.sintitulocomic.com/
Best Reality-Based Work
• A Drifting Life, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Footnotes in Gaza, by Joe Sacco (Metropolitan/Holt)
• The Imposter’s Daughter, by Laurie Sandell (Little, Brown)
• Monsters, by Ken Dahl (Secret Acres)
• The Photographer, by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, and Frédéric Lemerier (First Second)
• Stitches, by David Small (Norton)
Best Adaptation from Another Work
• The Book of Genesis Illustrated, by R. Crumb (Norton)
• Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation, adapted by Michael Keller and Nicolle Rager Fuller (Rodale)
• Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, adapted by Tim Hamilton (Hill & Wang)
• Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
• West Coast Blues, by Jean-Patrick Manchette, adapted by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)
Best Graphic Album—New
• Asterios Polyp, by David Mazzuccheilli (Pantheon)
• A Distant Neighborhood (2 vols.), by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• The Book of Genesis Illustrated, by R. Crumb (Norton)
• My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill, by Jean Regnaud and Émile Bravo (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• The Photographer, by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, and Frédéric Lemerier (First Second)
• Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
Best Graphic Album—Reprint
• Absolute Justice, by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, and Doug Braithewaite (DC)
• A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, by Josh Neufeld (Pantheon)
• Alec: The Years Have Pants, by Eddie Campbell (Top Shelf)
• Essex County Collected, by Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf)
• Map of My Heart: The Best of King-Cat Comics & Stories, 1996–2002, by John Porcellino (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
• Bloom County: The Complete Library, vol. 1, by Berkeley Breathed, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
• Bringing Up Father, vol. 1: From Sea to Shining Sea, by George McManus and Zeke Zekley, edited by Dean Mullaney (IDW)
• The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley’s Cartoons 1913–1940, edited by Trina Robbins (Fantagraphics)
• Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons, by Gahan Wilson, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
• Prince Valiant, vol. 1: 1937–1938, by Hal Foster, edited by Kim Thompson (Fantagraphics)
• Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, Walt McDougall, and W. W. Denslow (Sunday Press)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
• The Best of Simon & Kirby, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, edited by Steve Saffel (Titan Books)
• Blazing Combat, by Archie Goodwin et al., edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
• Humbug, by Harvey Kurtzman et al., edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
• The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures deluxe edition, by Dave Stevens, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
• The TOON Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics, edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly (Abrams ComicArts/Toon)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
• My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill, by Jean Regnaud and Émile Bravo (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• The Photographer, by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, and Frédéric Lemerier (First Second)
• Tiny Tyrant vol. 1: The Ethelbertosaurus, by Lewis Trondheim and Fabrice Parme (First Second)
• West Coast Blues, by Jean-Patrick Manchette, adapted by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)
• Years of the Elephant, by Willy Linthout (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
• The Color Trilogy, by Kim Dong Haw (First Second)
• A Distant Neighborhood (2 vols.), by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• A Drifting Life, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Oishinbo a la Carte, written by Tetsu Kariya and illustrated by Akira Hanasaki (VIZ Media)
• Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka, by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki (VIZ Media)
• Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)
Best Writer
• 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)
Best Writer/Artist
• 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)
Best Writer/Artist–Nonfiction
• Reinhard Kleist, Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness (Abrams ComicArts)
• Willy Linthout, Years of the Elephant (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• Joe Sacco, Footnotes in Gaza (Metropolitan/Holt)
• David Small, Stitches (Norton)
• Carol Tyler, You’ll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man (Fantagraphics)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
• 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)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
• Émile Bravo, My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• Mauro Cascioli, Justice League: Cry for Justice (DC)
• Nicolle Rager Fuller, Charles Darwin on the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation (Rodale Books)
• Jill Thompson, Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse); Magic Trixie and the Dragon (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• Carol Tyler, You’ll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man (Fantagraphics)
Best Cover Artist
• 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)
Best Coloring
• Steve Hamaker, Bone: Crown of Thorns (Scholastic); Little Mouse Gets Ready (Toon)
• Laura Martin, The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures (IDW); Thor, The Stand: American Nightmares (Marvel)
• David Mazzuccheilli, Asterios Polyp (Pantheon)
• Alex Sinclair, Blackest Night, Batman and Robin (DC)
• Dave Stewart, Abe Sapien, BPRD, The Goon, Hellboy, Solomon Kane, Umbrella Academy, Zero Killer (Dark Horse); Detective Comics (DC); Northlanders, Luna Park (Vertigo)
Best Lettering
• Brian Fies, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? (Abrams ComicArts)
• David Mazzuccheilli, Asterios Polyp (Pantheon)
• Tom Orzechowski, Savage Dragon (Image); X-Men Forever (Marvel)
• Richard Sala, Cat Burglar Black (First Second); Delphine (Fantagraphics)
• Adrian Tomine, A Drifting Life (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
• Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
• ComicsAlliance, www.comicsalliance.com
• Comics Comics, edited by Timothy Hodler and Dan Nadel (www.comicscomicsmag.com) (PictureBox)
• The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean, and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• The Comics Reporter, produced by Tom Spurgeon (www.comicsreporter.com)
Best Comics-Related Book
• Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel, by Annalisa Di Liddo (University Press of Mississippi)
• The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics, by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle (Abrams ComicArts)
• The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga, by Helen McCarthy (Abrams ComicArts)
• Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper Theater, by Eric P. Nash (Abrams ComicArts)
• Will Eisner and PS Magazine, by Paul E. Fitzgerald (Fitzworld.US)
Best Publication Design
• Absolute Justice, designed by Curtis King and Josh Beatman (DC)
• The Brinkley Girls, designed by Adam Grano (Fantagraphics)
• Gahan Wilson: 50 Years of Playboy Cartoons, designed by Jacob Covey (Fantagraphics)
• Life and Times of Martha Washington, designed by David Nestelle (Dark Horse Books)
• Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz, designed by Philippe Ghielmetti (Sunday Press)
• Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? designed by Neil Egan and Brian Fies (Abrams ComicArts)
April 8th, 2010 at 11:25 am
Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa is a awesome book. The fact Urasawa has a few nods I’m expecting him to pull out at least one win. I haven’t checked out Pluto or his mega hit Monster yet but I just finished Yawara! Fashionable Judo Girl anime based on one of his earlier mangas and was very entertaineed. This man is great.
April 8th, 2010 at 11:43 am
I wish they had put “Superman, Superman: World of New Krypton” after James Robinson’s name instead of Cry for Justice. Superman (featuring Mon-El) is one of the best superhero books on the stands. Cry for Justice is one of the very, very worst.
April 8th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Yeha “Cry for Justice” made me cry for a refund (that I did not get.) Good luck to Ed Brubaker going up against Geoff Johns, but I think Matt Fraction needed some more love for Iron Man, unless you can’t get it two years in a row (off the record Im sure). Finally, I love Sweet Tooth and I wish more people would try it out. Issue 1 was only a buck and you can get it from http://www.comiccollectorlive.com for less than that even.
April 8th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Now I’m curious.
To all those who were defending robinson from the vociferous critics of JUSTICE!!, was this series Eisner-worthy?
Is it good enough to merit the company of his fellow nominees, cause if it’s solely based on that particular mini, none of his other work is listed, that’s definitely got the song “one of these things don’t belong” playing in my head.
April 8th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
No nods for Wednesday Comics???
April 8th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Ugh.
James Robinson nominated for best writer? Ridiculous.
And Fables getting nominations all over the place despite having quite possibly the worst year it’s ever seen, including that horrific crossover?
Whatever.
April 8th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
What happened to Ivan Reis as best artist? Simply an atrocity.
April 8th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
How is ‘Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ nominated as one of the best LS of the year, but not one of the best adapted works?
April 8th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I hope The Unwritten takes home some Eisners. Also J.H. Williams III for those Detective issues.
April 8th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Why is James Robinson on this list?????????
April 8th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
“Unknown Soldier” is the best series on the shelves. No question. And no nod to it or Joshua Dysart? Guess they had to throw James Robinson up there….
April 8th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Robinson is pretty good but they should give him the nomination for Superman instead. And why isn’t Wednesday Comics on this list?
April 8th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
A couple of quick sins and omissions:
Sin: Robinson being nominated as a wrtier for ‘Cry For Justice’ instead of…
Omission: …his Superman work.
Sin: Mauro Cascioli, for the same mini. While his art was beautiful, it was incomplete– woefully so, inasmuch as he missed out on just how much of the series? With all due respect, the fact that he couldn’t complete the series for which he was nominated doesn’t sit well with me.
Omission: John Cassaday, ‘Planetary #27′. Giving him the cover nod was nice enough (again, for the wrong issues in my personal opinion), but a nod for him as artist would be more than worthy. (If JHW3 can get nods for both– very well deserved for what he did– then so can Cassaday.)
Omission: No Wednesday Comics, the most ambitious project not just from the Big Two, but by any company in a number of years.
Sin: That the set of writers nominated can’t tie for the award. In a year with so many outstanding stories amidst a couple of phenomenal events, the fact that Brubarker’s Cap, Johns’ Adventure, Waid’s Irredeemable, Willingham’s Fables, and Robinson’s Superman can’t all win is a modest tragedy.
Omission: The mothership not getting a nod for best periodical. Call me a homer, but the ‘Rama is the portal site to so many others, many of which we’d not normally read without the links and trackbacks.
April 8th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Why is Ivan Reis not on this list for Best Penciller?!!!
April 8th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
I have some likes and I have some dislikes for this years Eisner lineups.
I am glad to see that Straczynski’s Brave and Bold made the single issue list, however I think they got the wrong one nominated. Brave and Bold #29 was clearly the best issue of his run, but JMS is in the running so I can’t complain.
Captain America #601 was good, but I don’t see it as Eisner worthy. I really think that spot should have gone to Detective Comics #853, how the hell did the judges overlook that masterpiece.
And if you ever needed proof that there is no god, here it is: James Robinson for Best Writer. His Superman stuff was crap, and Cry for Justice was worse than Loeb. How do the judges sleep at night knowing they nominated James Robinson for best writer?
April 8th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
WTF!!! No Marko Djurdjevic for Best Cover Artist? Shame.
Peace.
April 8th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I predict…
Irredeemable will definitely win best new series but not best ongoing which will go to Fables
Geoff Johns will take best writer for sure, this is his year
J.H.Williams will win best cover
i would like JMS B&B to win best single but is most likely to be for The Unwritten
and Best limited will go to either to Blackest Night or Old Man Logan
Robinson definitely should not have been nominated, much less for a piece of garbage like C4J
April 9th, 2010 at 8:00 am
How they can leave Footnotes in Gaza out from Best Graphic Album – New is completely beyond me.
April 9th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Maybe I’m missing something about the way nominations work, but I must say I’m rather surprised Ivan Reis isn’t nominated. Dude rules. The other nominees are quite good, though, and deserving.
April 9th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
great list of nominees. some standards, some nice surprises, a few omissions i think would be well served, but that’s all par for the course. giggling maniacally that Robinson got nominated for Cry for Justice. feel like dancing a jig on the whining fanboys bitching about it all the time. JUSTICE! hehehe…;)
April 9th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Surprised that no one here has mentioned “Chew” as a potential winner for Best New Series. I hope it wins. Irredeemable is nice, but just another spin on Superman. Chew is comparatively new and fresh, and would be rewarding new-ish talent and new-ish ideas instead of the same ol same ol.
April 11th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Omisions: Ivan Reis, Ariel Olivetti, Giusseppe Camuncoli and WEDNESDAY COMICS!!!!
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