Eisner Comic Industry Awards: Comprehensive Overview

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  1. Introduction to the Eisner Awards

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards—often described as the “Oscars” of the comics world—recognize creative excellence in American comics and graphic novels. Named after acclaimed creator Will Eisner, they are presented annually at Comic-Con International (often referred to simply as Comic-Con) in San Diego. Each year, a judging panel selects nominees across a variety of categories. Comics professionals then cast votes online to determine the winners, who are revealed in a formal ceremony at Comic-Con.

  1. Submissions Now Open for 2023 Awards

Comic-Con International recently announced that entries for the 2023 Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards are now being accepted. Judges will evaluate works published in 2022, and the submission deadline is March 31.

Tentative Award Categories

Although judges can add, remove, or merge categories at their discretion, the initial list for the 2023 Eisner Awards is expected to include:

  • Best Short Story
  • Best Single Issue/One-Shot
  • Best Continuing Series (minimum of two issues published in 2022)
  • Best Limited Series (at least half of its run published in 2022)
  • Best New Series
  • Best Publication for Kids/Teens
  • Best Anthology
  • Best Humor Publication
  • Best U.S. Edition of International Material
  • Best Graphic Album—New
  • Best Graphic Album—Reprint
  • Best Reality-Based Work
  • Best Memoir
  • Best Adaptation from Another Medium
  • Best Digital Comic
  • Best Webcomic
  • Best Archival Collection
  • Best Writer
  • Best Writer/Artist
  • Best Penciller/Inker (individual or team)
  • Best Painter (for interior art)
  • Best Lettering
  • Best Coloring
  • Best Cover Artist
  • Best Comics Journalism Periodical or Website
  • Best Comics-Related Book
  • Best Scholarly/Academic Work
  • Best Publication Design

Entry Guidelines

  • Each publisher may submit up to five nominees per category.
  • An item or creator can be submitted in multiple categories.
  • Imprints, lines, or subsidiaries can submit their own entries separately.
  • Creators may self-submit if their publisher has closed down or is unlikely to participate.
  • Only one physical copy of each submitted book is required, even for multiple-category submissions; PDFs are also welcome.
  • A cover letter must specify each item, its category, a mailing address, and email contact.
  • There are no entry fees for submissions.
  • Hard copies should be addressed to:

Jackie Estrada
Eisner Awards Administrator
Comic-Con International
4375 Jutland Drive
San Diego, CA 92117

Note: This is a new address. Please do not send to the old State Street or P.O. Box addresses.

Digital Comics and Webcomics Eligibility

For the Best Digital Comic and Best Webcomic categories, eligible works must be professionally produced and originally posted in 2022.

  • Digital Comics are complete issues/graphic novels available for online viewing or download.
  • Webcomics are serialized online comics (e.g., daily or weekly) and/or use innovative online formats like scrollers or horizontal layouts.
  • URLs and any required access information should be sent by email to Jackie Estrada at: jackie@comic-con.org.

Voting and Results

Once nominees are determined, the ballot will be announced in May. Professionals in the comics industry—writers, artists, editors, publishers, distributors, and retailers—will be able to cast votes online. Winners will be revealed at the Eisner Awards ceremony on Friday, July 21 during Comic-Con in San Diego.

  1. 2023 Judges

Comic-Con International has selected six experts to form the nominating committee for the 2023 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, honoring the best works from 2022. The awards presentation is planned for Friday, July 21, 2023, at Comic-Con.

This year’s judges are:

  1. Moni Barrette – A public librarian for 16 years and Director of Content Management/Publisher Relations at LibraryPass. She is also co-founder of the nonprofit Creators Assemble, President of the ALA’s Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table, and adjunct lecturer at SDSU, focusing on comics in education.
  2. Peter Jones – A retired math teacher and lifelong comics enthusiast. He is Vice President and Treasurer of IPACE League, which organizes San Diego Comic Fest. He has attended San Diego Comic-Con since its first iteration in 1970.
  3. Jen King – With three decades of comics industry experience, King owns Space Cadets Collection Collection in Houston, co-founded the Comic Book Shopping Network and The Experience, and launched the Plan C Distribution group. She is on the board of CBLDF and the finance committee for Binc and is a member of ComicsPRO.
  4. Sean Kleefeld – Researcher and journalist with work for Marvel, Titan Books, Salem Press, and 20th Century Fox. He writes the “Incidental Iconography” column for The Jack Kirby Collector and has contributed to MTV and FreakSugar. Author of Comic Book Fanthropology (2009) and the Eisner-nominated Webcomics (2020).
  5. A. David Lewis – Eisner-nominated author of American Comics, Religion, and Literary Theory and co-editor of Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels and Muslim Superheroes: Comics, Islam, and Representation. Program director at MCPHS University School of Arts and Sciences, focusing on Graphic Medicine and cancer depiction in comics. Author of The Lone and Level Sands and Kismet, Man of Fate.
  6. TJ Shevlin – Former manager at St. Mark’s Comics (NYC) for eight years. Helped run IDW’s Comic Art Gallery alongside Kevin Eastman. Currently a product development coordinator at Upper Deck

These judges, selected by Comic-Con’s awards subcommittee, represent different facets of the comics industry: creation, retail, academia, journalism, and fandom. They will choose the nominees for approximately 30 categories. Afterward, comics industry professionals vote to determine the winners, to be announced during Comic-Con in July. Official guidelines will be posted on the Comic-Con website in January.

  1. Highlights of the 2022 Eisner Awards Ceremony

The 34th Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards took place on July 22 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront during Comic-Con. The top winners were:

  • Barry Windsor-Smith, who received three awards for Monsters (Fantagraphics): Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer/Artist, and Best Lettering.
  • James Tynion IV, who also claimed three trophies, including Best Writer, Best Continuing Series (Something Is Killing the Children, BOOM!), and Best New Series (The Nice House on the Lake, DC).

Multiple-Award Recipients

  • Phil Jimenez: Best Single Issue (for Wonder Woman Historia) and Best Penciller/Inker.
  • P. Craig Russell: Inducted into the Hall of Fame and won Best Graphic Album–Reprint (The Complete American Gods).
  • David F. Walker: Best Continuing Series (Bitter Root) and Best Reality-Based Work (The Black Panther Party).

Publisher Highlights

  • Fantagraphics: Claimed four awards, due largely to Windsor-Smith’s Monsters.
  • DC: Three wins plus a shared category win.
  • Image: Three wins plus two shared.
  • IDW: Three awards, including Best Publication for Early Readers (Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis, by Julie and Stan Sakai).
  • Iron Circus: Two wins for You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife (Best Anthology and Best Short Story).

The remaining accolades were distributed among 17 other publishers.

Presenters and Special Guests

The ceremony welcomed icons such as Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Lee, Phil LaMarr, Tom Lennon, Henry Barajas, Amy Chu, Jock, John Jennings, Skottie Young, Angelique Roché, and Bill & Kayre Morrison. Presentations included:

  • Hall of Fame Inductions, presented by Denis Kitchen. The 2022 inductees and honorees included Marie Duval, Rose O’Neill, Max Gaines, Mark Gruenwald, Alex Niño, P. Craig Russell, Howard Chaykin, Kevin Eastman, Moto Hagio, Larry Hama, David Mazzucchelli, and Grant Morrison.
  • Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award to Annie Koyama.
  • Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award to artist Luana Vecchio.
  • Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing: Bob Bolling and Don Rico.
  • Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Books with Pictures (Portland, OR), accepted by owner Katie Pryde.

HarperAlley served as the 2022 title sponsor. The afterparty was sponsored by Tapas Media, with Gentle Giant Studios as the principal sponsor.

  1. Complete List of 2022 Eisner Award Winners

Major Categories

  • Best Short Story: “Funeral in Foam,” by Casey Gilly and Raina Telgemeier, in You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife (Iron Circus)
  • Best Single Issue/One-Shot: Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jimenez (DC)
  • Best Continuing Series (TIE):
    • Bitter Root, by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Image)
    • Something Is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)
  • Best Limited Series: The Good Asian, by Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgi (Image)
  • Best New Series: The Nice House on the Lake, by James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno (DC Black Label)
  • Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8): Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis, by Julie and Stan Sakai (IDW)
  • Best Publication for Kids (9–12): Salt Magic, by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock (Holiday House)
  • Best Publication for Teens (13–17): The Legend of Auntie Po, by Shing Yin Khor (Kokila/Penguin Random House)
  • Best Humor Publication: Not All Robots, by Mark Russell and Mike Deodato Jr. (AWA Upshot)
  • Best Anthology: You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife, edited by Kel McDonald and Andrea Purcell (Iron Circus)
  • Best Reality-Based Work: The Black Panther Party: A Graphic History, by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson (Ten Speed Press)
  • Best Graphic Memoir: Run: Book One, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, and Nate Powell (Abrams)
  • Best Graphic Album—New: Monsters, by Barry Windsor-Smith (Fantagraphics)
  • Best Graphic Album—Reprint: The Complete American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, and Scott Hampton (Dark Horse)
  • Best Adaptation from Another Medium: George Orwell’s 1984, adapted by Fido Nesti (Mariner Books)
  • Best U.S. Edition of International Material: The Shadow of a Man, by Benoît Peeters and François Schuiten, translated by Stephen D. Smith (IDW)
  • Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia: Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection, by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)
  • Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips: Popeye: The E.C. Segar Sundays, vol. 1, edited by Gary Groth and Conrad Groth (Fantagraphics)
  • Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: EC Covers Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
  • Best Writer: James Tynion IV (House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd, Batman, The Joker, The Department of Truth, Blue Book, Razorblades)
  • Best Writer/Artist: Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)
  • Best Penciller/Inker: Phil Jimenez, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons (DC)
  • Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)
  • Best Cover Artist: Jen Bartel (Future State Immortal Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman Black & Gold, Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary, Marvel’s Women’s History Month variants)
  • Best Coloring: Matt Wilson (Undiscovered Country, Fire Power, Eternals, Thor, Wolverine, Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters)
  • Best Lettering: Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)
  • Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: WomenWriteAboutComics.com, edited by Wendy Browne and Nola Pfau (WWAC)
  • Best Comics-Related Book: All of the Marvels, by Douglas Wolk (Penguin Press)
  • Best Academic/Scholarly Work: Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History, by Eike Exner (Rutgers University Press)
  • Best Publication Design: Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man vol. 1: 1962–1964 (TASCHEN)
  • Best Webcomic: Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe (WEBTOON)
  • Best Digital Comic: Snow Angels, by Jeff Lemire and Jock (Comixology Originals)

Hall of Fame Inductees (2022)

  • Judges’ Choices: Marie Duval, Rose O’Neill, Max Gaines, Mark Gruenwald, Alex Niño, P. Craig Russell
  • Voters’ Selections: Howard Chaykin, Kevin Eastman, Moto Hagio, Larry Hama, David Mazzucchelli, Grant Morrison

Additional 2022 Honors

  • Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Annie Koyama
  • Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Luanna Vecchio
  • Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing: Bob Bolling, Don Rico
  • Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Books with Pictures (Portland, OR), accepted by Katie Pryde
  1. The 2022 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Ceremony

Held on Friday night, July 22, in the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, the event was free for anyone with a Comic-Con badge and a valid COVID wristband. VIP seating opened early, and general seating began at 7:45 p.m., with the ceremony commencing at 8:00 p.m. Attendees received a souvenir program listing the nominees, while an official downloadable Souvenir Book PDF also showcased the list of nominations.

HarperAlley served as title sponsor, Gentle Giant Studios as principal sponsor, and Tapas Media sponsored the afterparty. Additional support was provided by Alternate Reality Comics (Las Vegas), Atlantis Fantasyworld (Santa Cruz, CA), Diamond Comics Distributors, and Golden Apple Comic and Art Foundation (Los Angeles). Eisner Awards Administrator Jackie Estrada delivered opening and closing remarks.

  1. The Eisner Awards and the Comics Community

Named in honor of Will Eisner, a pioneering figure in the comics medium and in graphic storytelling, the Eisner Awards are a celebration of innovation and achievement. They highlight the creativity, diversity, and depth found within the comics art form—across mainstream publishers, independent presses, digital platforms, and more. Whether honoring lifetime contributions or shining a light on emerging talent, the Eisners continue to serve as a testament to the vitality of the comics industry.

Contact Information

For general queries on submissions or voting, contact Jackie Estrada, Eisner Awards Administrator, at
jackie@comic-con.org

For more information, visit the official Comic-Con website:
https://www.comic-con.org/

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