The Will Eisner Comic Book Industry Awards ended for the first time in a tie, with the Best Graphic Album-New award going to two books: Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee, and Wilson, by Dan Clowes of Ghost World fame.
The awards, presented to recognize the best work in the comic book field, were handed out Friday at the Bayfront Hotel in conjunction with Comic-Con International in San Diego.
Other notable winners included horror novelist Joe Hill for Best Writer (Locke & Key, IDW), Chew (Image) by John Layman and Rob Guillory for Best Continuing Series, Daytripper (Vertigo/DC) by Brazilian brothers Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon for Best Limited Series, and American Vampire (Vertigo/DC) by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque for Best New Series.
Creators who received multiple awards were Hellboy creator Mike Mignola (Best Cover Artist, Best Single Issue for Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, published by Dark Horse), famed French cartoonist Jacques Tardi (Best Reality-Based Work and Best U.S. Edition of International Material for It Was the War of the Trenches, published by Fantagraphics), and artist Skottie Young (Best Adaption from Another Work and Best Penciller/Inker for The Marvelous Land of Oz, published by Marvel).
The publisher taking away the most awards was IDW, with five total, while DC DC Comics had four winners plus two shared. Dark Horse had three winners plus two shared. Marvel Comics received three trophies, while Archaia and Fantagraphics eache received two. Other publishers taking home trophies included BOOM!, Drawn & Quarterly, Image, Scholastic, and VIZ.
Among the other awards given out over the evening were the Comic-Con’s Clampett and Manning awards. The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, presented by Bob’s daughter Ruth, went to Mutts cartoonist Patrick McDonnell, for his efforts for animal welfare. The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award went to Nate Simpson (writer/artist of Nonplayer, published by Image Comics) and was presented by past Manning recipient Chris Bailey.
The full list of winners follows:
Best Short Story
- “Post Mortem,” by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, in I Am an Avenger #2 (Marvel)
Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
- Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)
Best Continuing Series
- Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image)
Best Limited Series
- Daytripper, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Vertigo/DC)
Best New Series
- American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque (Vertigo/DC)
Best Publication for Kids
- Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)
Best Publication for Teens
- Smile, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)
Best Humor Publication
- I Thought You Would Be Funnier, by Shannon Wheeler (BOOM!)
Best Anthology
- Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, edited by Paul Morrissey and David Petersen (Archaia)
Best Digital Comic
- Abominable Charles Christopher, by Karl Kerschl, www.abominable.cc
Best Reality-Based Work
- It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)
Best Graphic Album—New
- Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee (Archaia)
- Wilson, by Daniel Clowes (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Graphic Album—Reprint
- Wednesday Comics, edited by Mark Chiarello (DC)
Best Adaptation from Another Work
- The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young (Marvel)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
- Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Strips, 1946–1948, by Bob Montana, edited by Greg Goldstein (IDW)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
- Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
- It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi (Fantagraphics)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
- Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media)
Best Writer
- Joe Hill, Locke & Key (IDW)
Best Writer/Artist
- Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit (IDW)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
- Skottie Young, The Marvelous Land of Oz (Marvel)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
- Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad (Dark Horse)
Best Cover Artist
- Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Baltimore: The Plague Ships (Dark Horse)
Best Coloring
- Dave Stewart, Hellboy, BPRD, Baltimore, Let Me In (Dark Horse); Detective Comics (DC); Neil Young’s Greendale, Daytripper, Joe the Barbarian (Vertigo/DC)
Best Lettering
- Todd Klein, Fables, The Unwritten, Joe the Barbarian, iZombie (Vertigo/DC); Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom (WildStorm/DC); SHIELD (Marvel); Driver for the Dead (Radical)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
- ComicBookResources, produced by Jonah Weiland (www.comicbookresources.com)
Best Comics-Related Book
- 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, by Paul Levitz (TASCHEN)
Best Publication Design
- Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, designed by Randall Dahlk (IDW)
HALL OF FAME
Judges’ Choices:
- Ernie Bushmiller
- Jack Jackson
- Martin Nodell
- Lynd Ward
Elected:
- Mort Drucker
- Harvey Pekar
- Roy Thomas
- Marv Wolfman
Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award:
- Nate Simpson
Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award:
- Patrick McDonnell
Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award:
- Del Connell
- Bob Haney
Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award:
- Comics & Vegetables, Tel Aviv, Israel – Yuval Sharon, Danny Amitai
