2015 Eisner Award Winners

eisnerawards_logo_2Comic-Con International announced the winners of the 2015 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards on July 10.

Named for comics creator the Will Eisner, the awards, now in their 27th year, highlight the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels.

Best Short Story

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

  • Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers, by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)

Best Continuing Series

  • Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples (Image)

Best Limited Series

  • Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, by Eric Shanower & Garbriel Rodriguez (IDW)

Best New Series

  • Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)

  • The Zoo Box, by Ariel Cohn & Aron Nels Steinke (First Second)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)

  • El Deafo, by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

  • Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)

Best Humor Publication

  • The Complete Cul de Sac, by Richard Thompson (Andrews McMeel)

Best Digital/Web Comic

Best Anthology

  • Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, edited by Josh O’Neill, Andrew Carl, & Chris Stevens (Locust Moon)

Best Reality-Based Work

  • Hip Hop Family Tree, vol. 2, by Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—New

  • This One Summer, by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki (First Second)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

  • Through the Woods, by Emily Carroll (McElderry Books)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)

  • Winsor McCay’s Complete Little Nemo, edited by Alexander Braun (TASCHEN)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)

  • Steranko Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

  • Blacksad: Amarillo, by Juan Díaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido (Dark Horse)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

  • Showa 1939–1955 and Showa 1944–1953: A History of Japan, by Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Writer

  • Gene Luen Yang, Avatar: The Last Airbender (Dark Horse); The Shadow Hero (First Second)

Best Writer/Artist

  • Raina Telgemeier, Sisters (Graphix/Scholastic)

Best Penciller/Inker

  • Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

  • J. H. Williams III, The Sandman: Overture (Vertigo/DC)

Best Cover Artist

  • Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics Darwyn Cooke Month Variant Covers (DC)

Best Coloring

  • Dave Stewart, Hellboy in Hell, BPRD, Abe Sapien, Baltimore, Lobster Johnson, Witchfinder, Shaolin Cowboy, Aliens: Fire and Stone, DHP (Dark Horse)

Best Lettering

  • Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo: Senso, Usagi Yojimbo Color Special: The Artist (Dark Horse)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

Best Comics-Related Book

  • Genius Animated: The Cartoon Art of Alex Toth, vol. 3, by Dean Mullaney & Bruce Canwell (IDW/LOAC)

Best Scholarly/Academic Work

  • Graphic Details: Jewish Women’s Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews, edited by Sarah Lightman (McFarland)

Best Publication Design

  • Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, designed by Jim Rugg (Locust Moon)

Eisner Hall of Fame Inductees

  • Marjorie ”Marge” Henderson Buell (creator of Little Lulu)
  • Bill Woggon (creator of Katy Keene)
  • John Byrne
  • Chris Claremont
  • Denis Kitchen
  • Frank Miller.

(The first two were selected by the Eisner Awards judges, and the last four were voted in by con members.)

Other Awards Presented at Ceremony

Bill Finger Award For Excellence in Comics Writing

  • John Stanley & Don McGregor

The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award

  • Bill and Kayre Morrison

Spirit of Comics Retailer Award

  • Packrat Comics in Hilliard, Ohio

Russ Manning Newcomer Award (tie)

  • Greg Smallwood
  • Jorge Corona

Incidentally — Jonathan Ross was the presenter:

131 thoughts on “2015 Eisner Award Winners

  1. I’ve always thought the proper (British) way of spelling was much prettier, even if it doesn’t make a great deal of sense most of the time. Although my speech is littered with Americanisms.

    Anyway re Ross: I pretty much agree. Ross can be a damn good presenter/host for the right events, but people are just way too familiar with his other persona for that to sit comfortably for an event like Worldcon, without some damage control coming out with it 🙁

  2. @Oneiros

    Apparently English is a particularly difficult language to learn for people whose first language uses things like “logic” and “consistency”. We used to have a lot of Japanese people stay with us when they visited England because of our home education ties to Japan, and they got quite exasperated with some of the quirks.

    Still, when you consider that English is half a dozen languages smushed together and warped over time it starts making perfect sense! 😉

  3. @Meredith: wow that is so cool! Was it some sort of homestay English language programme that your family was part of? Japanese is a pretty logical language with very few grammatical oddities (once you understand the rules), but damn kanji can be really weird…

  4. Zombie Nation is germane to SF/F 

    Huh, I must have missed that part of it. When I looked at the website, I saw 1. Drawings of celebrities as zombies and 2. Hackneyed jokes about mothers-in-law and ex wives being literally monsters. I mean, really hackneyed. Like, the kind that were stale in 1955. 

    Wait, are they all time travelers? Is that why it’s supposed to be SF&F?

    A few of us still think the field’s so-called Most Prestigious Award, should actually go to works which have at least a modicum of recognizable SF/F about them.

    And a few of us think the award should actually go to works that are good. But you probably already knew that. 

    On a happier note, I loved Fiona Staples’ art in Saga, and I’m glad to see her win an Eisner. Did you know that she’s drawing a reboot of Archie — yes, THAT Archie? Apparently they’re getting all creative over there at Archie Comics. 

  5. @Oneiros

    Basically, yes. They stayed with us until they felt more confident about language and getting around, and then either they’d go and stay with someone in a different part of the country (or a different part of Europe) or they’d move into their own place. Some people only came for a holiday, other people stayed in the country for a year or so. I’ve had a lot of experience tourist guiding people around London and explaining the transport system. 😀

  6. @McJulie

    Well, zombies are sf/f. He never claimed it was a good example (except by nominating it, but I’m fairly sure quality wasn’t actually a consideration there), just that it was one.

    I’ve been hearing some very interesting things about Archie lately. I haven’t really got the budget to be a comics fan anymore, but I might try an issue just to see what its like.

  7. Well, zombies are sf/f. He never claimed it was a good example (except by nominating it, but I’m fairly sure quality wasn’t actually a consideration there), just that it was one.

    But he also claimed “The Water That Falls on You From Nowhere” WASN’T SF&F. So what definition is he using?

    Wait, I know that already. “Because I said so.”

    I’ve been kind of out of the comics loop for a while, but there seem to be a lot of cool things going on right now.

  8. “Stevie: I don’t know about VD hiring a lawyer but I think Brad T should hire somebody to do internet-talking for him.”

    With his pretend-doxxing of Aaron, I think he has already hired Kom Tratman to do his internet-talking.

  9. @McJulie

    See, The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere has gay characters, so its SJW affirmative action message fiction and can’t be sf/f, even though people get soaked when they lie by magical water that appears out of nowhere. Isn’t it obvious?? /sarcasm

    At least he didn’t try to claim Wisdom From My Internet was sf/f. That would have been painful. He switched to anti-Scalzi mode instead, even though Scalzi’s fan writing does have sf/f content, so the argument sucked. Business as usual.

  10. @Meredith: I’ve often wondered if a programme like a homestay might fix some of the latent racism in the world. If you go to another country and you see how people’s lives are basically more or less the same, it’s got to put things into some kind of perspective right?

  11. @Oneiros

    I’m not sure I’d say that the lives are the same, but people are people everywhere even if the expression of that is altered by culture. There’s more similarities than differences, and everything else, well, infinite diversity in infinite combination. We should celebrate it. 🙂

  12. Okay, “more or less the same” might have been overselling the similarities, but people are people, doing what it is that people do, no matter where they are, and that definitely shines through 🙂 the main differences where I live seem to be better food, nicer weather (although it’s rainy season right now so there’s now the occasional torrential downpour), and beautiful Buddhist temples absolutely everywhere.

  13. Brian is willing to put the work into being actually infuriating. Brad is just laughable. I can’t even get mad at his arguments because they’re so inept.

  14. Nigel,

    I’ll see your fishnuts, and raise you a SNUGGLEBUNNIES!

    Of course, The Master is back in action. More irreverent than ever, it would seem. Thank God.

    And yes, I do think the author of Flawed Dogs would smile upon Sad Puppies.

  15. Speaking of British-style spellings, ever since I got back from Ireland, my iPhone’s autocorrect has continued to insert U’s into color and neighbor, and replace Z’s with S’s in realize.

    I think my phone got an Anglophile virus.

    (Not on my phone right now 🙂

  16. A few of us still think the field’s so-called Most Prestigious Award, should actually go to works which have at least a modicum of recognizable SF/F about them

    The funniest comment I saw on that was someone pointing out that Brad put The Lego Movie on the Puppies slate.
    A movie where SPOILERS! the only SFnal elements are in the imagination of one of the characters. Making it exactly as SFnal as the Dinosaur of Doom story, and much less SFnal than The Story That Has Gay People Everywhere

  17. I’m trying to think of a less worthy webcomic for Hugo nomination than Zombie Nation, and I’m having trouble. Zombies may be SFnal, but Zombie Nation is a giant pile of steaming crap. The more I read of Zombie Nation, the worse it gets.

    It looks truly awful when compared to the other four nominees on the ballot, and really terrible even when you only compare it to other webcomics.

  18. > “Still, when you consider that English is half a dozen languages smushed together and warped over time it starts making perfect sense!”

    What I’ve always said is that English is pretty much what happens when German and French get together and have a baby who can’t spell. And then they’re always like, why can’t you be more like your nice cousin Dutch, and English says, you two are never proud of me, I’m the official language of more then 60 sovereign states and one of the most commonly spoken second languages in the world, Dutch is spoken in, what, the Netherlands and parts of Belgium and Suriname? And then French says, don’t you brag to me about being a lingua franca, young lady, they named the term lingua franca after me, and English is like, I’m not a lady, for the last time, I’ve dropped grammatical gender, and German says, not in my language family you haven’t, I know you have modern ideas but there are rules. To hell with your rules, English says, what did they ever get me but weak and strong conjugation classes, and French interrupts and says well maybe you’d have a more coherent grammatical system if you weren’t whoring around with every language that flutters its eyelashes at you, don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing with Spanish lately. And English says, oh, because you’re such a pure language? That’s rich. And German says, don’t you talk about your parent language that way, but English keeps going, English goes one step too far and says, French wouldn’t even be around if Latin hadn’t taken Gallic and — Whack! German slaps English across the face! French is crying and can’t stop, and English storms off yelling, and German wants to console French but doesn’t know how, they’ve always been just across a border but worlds apart, back in the Old Franconian days they seemed to have so much in common, but French has changed so much and German can’t speak the language of Romance …

    I’m sorry, what were we talking about?

  19. @Kyra
    I can’t remember what we were talking about because this is much better…

  20. Brad R Torgersen, yes that is the most amazing of news and I high-five all fellow fans.

    I think he would smile upon Puppies, too. Soooo much material.

  21. Was it here or somewhere else I saw discussion of John C Wright’s comments on Batgirl? Because apparently Vol 1 of the new run is No. 4 on the New York Times graphic novel hardback bestseller lists! The Thrilling Adventures of Babbage and Lovelace is at 3! Oh, and The Wicked And The Divine and Nimona are on the paperback GN list!

  22. I think he would smile upon Puppies, too. Soooo much material.

    I don’t think Brad understands that the Puppies are exactly the sort of group that Breathed was lampooning for much of Bloom County. Then again, Brad was only six when it started and fifteen when it ended, so he may have missed the political satire in the strip.

  23. Aaron: Or it could be that people always think the satire in comic strips is about somebody else.

  24. Jamoche on July 13, 2015 at 8:26 am said:
    And mugged other languages for spare vocabulary.

    It did has its grammar beaten up by some Vikings when it was young. I think it learned some bad lessons then about wandering around the world in ships and taking stuff.

    Still it won the coveted top prize for Worst Language To Learn to Read Written in roman alphabet. http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/its-offishal–english-iz-darned-hard-to-lurn-20091116-ii9z.html

  25. OMg, I nearly missed the lovely linguistic discussion–Kyra, I adore your stuff, just adore it!

    Language nerds!

    When I was an irritating child, I was a huge anglophile, and I would spell all my words in gradeschool classes in British spelling, and my teachers would say it was wrong, and I’d say how can it be wrong, look it’s in a published book.

    I finally grudgingly decided to use the much less glamorous American spelling……but I still slip on occasion.

    A linguist joke I tell my students in my classes: “A language is just a dialect with an army and a navy.”

  26. @Mike – if in doubt, you can usually just insist it’s about Donald Trump. Pfft. Thpht.

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