The 29th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards took place Friday night during Comic-Con San Diego, honoring the best in the year’s sequential storytelling arts as well as the Will Eisner Centennial — March marked the 100th anniversary of the pioneering comics creator’s birth. Securing the most wins in the 31 categories were Saga with four wins and The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye with three.
This year’s Hall of Fame inductees were brothers and collaborators Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (Love and Rockets), George Pérez (Teen Titans, Wonder Woman), Walt Simonson (Thor, Detective Comics) and Jim Starlin (creator of Gamora and Drax the Destroyer).
Full list of winners below. You can see the list of 2017 nominees here.
Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Winners 2017
Best Short Story – “Good Boy,” by Tom King and David Finch, in Batman Annual #1 (DC)
Best Single Issue/One-Shot – Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In, by Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
Best Continuing Series – Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
Best Limited Series – The Vision, by Tom King and Gabriel Walta (Marvel)
Best New Series – Black Hammer, by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston (Dark Horse)
Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8) – Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, by Ben Clanton (Tundra)
Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12) – Ghosts, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic)
Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17) – The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, by Ryan North and Erica Henderson (Marvel)
Best Humor Publication – Jughead, by Chip Zdarsky, Ryan North, Erica Henderson, and Derek Charm (Archie)
Best Anthology – Love Is Love, edited by Sarah Gaydos and Jamie S. Rich (IDW/DC)
Best Reality-Based Work – March (Book Three), by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf)
Best Graphic Album—New – Wonder Woman: The True Amazon by Jill Thompson (DC Comics) Best Graphic Album—Reprint – Demon, by Jason Shiga (First Second)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Moebius Library: The World of Edena, by Jean “Moebius” Giraud et al. (Dark Horse)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia – The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by Sonny Liew (Pantheon)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old) – Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy, Colorful Cases of the 1930s, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 years old) – The Complete Wimmen’s Comix, edited by Trina Robbins, Gary Groth, and J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)
Best Writer – Brian K. Vaughan, Paper Girls, Saga (Image)
Best Writer/Artist – Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Pantheon)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team – Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art) – Jill Thompson, Wonder Woman: The True Amazon (DC); Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In (Dark Horse)
Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers) – Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
Best Coloring – Matt Wilson, Cry Havoc, Paper Girls, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); Black Widow, The Mighty Thor, Star-Lord (Marvel)
Best Lettering – Todd Klein, Clean Room, Dark Night, Lucifer (Vertigo/DC); Black Hammer (Dark Horse)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism – The A.V. Club comics coverage, including Comics Panel, Back Issues, and Big Issues, by Oliver Sava et al. (www.avclub.com)
Best Comics-Related Book – Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White, by Michael Tisserand (Harper)
Best Academic/Scholarly Work – Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation, by Carolyn Cocca (Bloomsbury)
Best Publication Design – The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, designed by Sonny Liew (Pantheon)
Best Webcomic – Bird Boy, by Anne Szabla (http://bird-boy.com)
Best Digital Comic – Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain/comiXology)
SPECIAL AWARDS
Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Anne Szabla
Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing: Jack Kirby, William Messner-Loebs
Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Mark Andreyko, Joe Ferrara
Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Comicazi: Robert Howard, David Lockwood, Michael Burke; Somerville, MA
HALL OF FAME
Judges’ Choices: Milt Gross, H. G. Peter, Antonio Prohias, Dori Seda
Inductees: Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, George Pérez, Walt Simonson, Jim Starlin
