Nominees Announced for 2021 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Image and Fantagraphics lead the pack with most nominations

Via Comic-Con.org-

Comic-Con is proud to announce the nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2021. The nominees are for works published between January 1 and December 31, 2020 and were chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges.

Click here for a complete list of the 2021 nominees!

Once again, this year’s nominees in 32 categories reflect the wide range of material being published in the U.S. today in comics and graphic novel media, representing over 190 print and online titles from some 60 publishers and produced by creators from all over the world.

Image and Fantagraphics received the most nominations: Image with 17 (plus 11 shared) and Fantagraphics with 19. Leading the pack for Image is Department of Truth, up for Best Continuing Series, Best New Series, Best Writer (James Tynion IV), and Best Lettering (Aditya Bidikar). Decorum garnered nominations for Best Limited Series, Best Writer (Jonathan Hickman), and Best Cover Artist (Mike Huddleston), while Gideon Falls is nominated for Best Continuing Series, Best Writer (Jeff Lemire), and Best Coloring (Dave Stewart). Image projects with 2 nominations include Bitter Root (Best Continuing Series, Best Penciller/Inker for Sanford Greene), Pulp (Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer for Ed Brubaker), Middlewest (Best Penciller/Inker for Jorge Corona and Best Coloring for Jean-Francois Beaulieu), and Stillwater (Best Continuing Series and Best Cover Artist for Ramôn K. Peréz). Image has 4 out of the 6 nominations for Continuing Series, 3 out of 6 for Limited Series, and 3 out of 5 for New Series, as well as a portion of all 6 Best Writer nominees.

Fantagraphics dominates in the Archival categories, with 3 of the 5 nods for Archival Comic Strip Collections and 3 of 6 for Archival Comic Book Collections. In addition, half of the nominations for Best Graphic Album–Reprint were published by Fantagraphics. Their titles with multiple nominations include Now (Best Anthology, Best Short Story) and Noah Van Sciver’s Fante Bukowski: The Complete Works (Best Reprint and Best Humor Publication).

Other 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). Thirteen companies have 2 nominations each, and another 39 companies or individuals have 1 nomination each.

Projects with more than 2 nominations include Decorum by Jonathan Hickman and Mike Huddleston (Image), The Department of Truth by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmons (Image), Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang (First Second), Far Sector by N. K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist by Adrian Tomine (Drawn & Quarterly), Stillwater by Chip Zdarsky and Ramón K. Peréz (Skybound/Image), Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber (DC), and We Only Find Them When They’re Dead by Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo (BOOM! Studios). Another 15 titles had 2 nominations each.

Gene Luen Yang has 5 nominations: 3 for Dragon Hoops (Best Publication for Teens, Best Reality-Based Work, and Best Writer/Artist) and 2 for Superman Smashes the Klan (Best Publication for Kids and Best Adaptation). Six creators (all writers or writer/artists) have 3 nominations each: Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jeff Lemire, Adrian Tomine, James Tynion IV, and Chip Zdarsky. Another 22 creators garnered 2 nominations each.

The judges added one new category this year, Best Graphic Memoir. In previous years, autobiographical works had been included in the Best Reality-Based Work category. But this year’s judges found there to be so many high-quality reality-based works, including numerous memoirs, that the new category was required.

Named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, the awards are celebrating their 33rd year of bringing attention to and highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels. The 2021 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of comics retailer Marco Davanzo (Alakazam Comics, Irvine, CA), Comic-Con Board member Shelley Fruchey, librarian Pamela Jackson (San Diego State University), comics creator/publisher Keithan Jones (The Power Knights, KID Comics), educator Alonso Nuñez (Little Fish Comic Book Studio), and comics scholar Jim Thompson (Comic Book Historians).

Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Public Library

Voting for the awards is being held online using a two-step voting process. The first step is for prospective voters to apply at https://form.jotform.com/211246268258054. After filling out the form, eligible voters will be invited to go to the ballot and cast their votes. Those who were invited to vote for the Hall of Fame will automatically be invited to fill out the new ballot. All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote. The deadline for voting is June 30. The results of the voting will be announced in July in a virtual ceremony as part of Comic-Con@Home.

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are presented by the San Diego Comic Convention (Comic-Con), a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation organized for charitable purposes and dedicated to creating the general public’s awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular artforms, including participation in and support of public presentations, conventions, exhibits, museums, and other public outreach activities which celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture.