2003 Eisner Award Nominations Announced
Titles from small press, alternative, and non-direct market publishers had
their strongest showing ever alongside their larger, more established
counterparts in this year's nominations for the 2003 Will Eisner Comic
Industry Awards.
The judges - who selected this year's nominees from over 40 different publishers in 26 categories - included Time.com comics reviewer Andrew D. Arnold, Comicon.com journalist Jen Contino, Diamond Comic Distributors Purchasing Brand Manager Steve Leaf, retailer Jeremy Shorr (Titan Comics, Dallas TX), and Eisner Award-winning artist Charles Vess.
"What struck me most about this year's submissions is the wide range of publication formats and the attention to design and bookcraft we're seeing from publishers of every size and type," said Awards Administrator Jackie Estrada.
Among the larger comics publishers, DC and its various imprints led the pack with 23 nominations (and four partial nominations), followed by Fantagraphics Books with 18 nominations, Marvel Comics with seven nominations (and three partial nominations), NBM with six nominations, Dark Horse Comics with four (+ 1/2) nominations, and Image Comics with four nominations.
Absence of Ink and Oni Press each captured three nominations, while Alternative Comics, Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf Comics, and SLG each took two nominations.
This year's ballot also sees the emergence of many smaller publishers, including Absence of Ink, Sasquatch Books, Sparkplug, Too Hip Gotta Go, Shoto Press, Adhouse Books, Hotel Fred Press, or Origin. Self-publishers are also well represented, including Terry Moore, Carla Speed McNeil, Roger Langridge, Jeff Smith, Mike Kunkel, Gary Gianni, and many others. Plus, this year's nominees include the first appearance by a web comic: Justine Shaw's Nowhere Girl.
In addition, several mainstream bookstore publishers are represented in the list, including Knopf, Harcourt, and Pantheon.
Bill Willingham scored the most nominations for a creator, with four for Fables. Creators with three nominations include Lynda Barry, Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Mignola, and Kim Deitch. More than a dozen other creators received two nominations.
For the Hall of Fame, the judges chose Herge (Tintin) and EC Comics innovator Bernard Krigstein as automatic inductees. Voters will choose four more from a list of 12 nominees.
Ballots will be going out in early May to some 4,000 comics publishers, creators, and retailers. The results will be announced in a gala awards ceremony at Comic-Con International: San Diego on the night of Friday, July 18 at the San Diego Convention Center's new ballroom.
For a complete list of this year's Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees, click here!
n c l u d i n g T e r r y M o o r e , C a r l a S p e e d M c N e i l , R o g e r L a n g r i d g e , J e f f S m i t h , M i k e K u n k e l , G a r y G i a n n i , a n d m a n y o t h e r s . P l u s , t h i s y e a r ' s n o m i n e e s i n c l u d e t h e f i r s t a p p e a r a n c e b y a w e b c o m i c : J u s t i n e S h a w ' s N o w h e r e G i r l .
\ p a r
\ p a r I n a d d i t i o n , s e v e r a l m a i n s t r e a m b o o k s t o r e p u b l i s h e r s a r e r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e l i s t , i n c l u d i n g K n o p f , H a r c o u r t , a n d P a n t h e o n .
\ p a r
\ p a r B i l l W i l l i n g h a m s c o r e d t h e m o s t n o m i n a t i o n s f o r a c r e a t o r , w i t h f o u r f o r \ i F a b l e s \ i 0 . C r e a t o r s w i t h t h r e e n o m i n a t i o n s i n c l u d e L y n d a B a r r y , B r i a n M i c h a e l B e n d i s , M i k e M i g n o l a , a n d K i m D e i t c h . M o r e t h a n a d o z e n o t h e r c r e a t o r s r e c e i v e d t w o n o m i n a t i o n s .
\ p a r
\ p a r F o r t h e H a l l o f F a m e , t h e j u d g e s c h o s e H e r g e ( \ i T i n t i n \ i 0 ) a n d E C C o m i c s i n n o v a t o r B e r n a r d K r i g s t e i n a s a u t o m a t i c i n d u c t e e s . V o t e r s w i l l c h o o s e f o u r m o r e f r o m a l i s t o f 1 2 n o m i n e e s .
\ p a r
\ p a r B a l l o t s w i l l b e g o i n g o u t i n e a r l y M a y t o s o m e 4 , 0 0 0 c o m i c s p u b l i s h e r s , c r e a t o r s , a n d r e t a i l e r s . T h e r e s u l t s w i l l b e a n n o u n c e d i n a g a l a a w a r d s c e r e m o n y a t < A H R E F = " h t t p : / / w w w . c o m i c - c o n . o r g " T A R G E T = " _ B L A N K " > C o m i c - C o n I n t e r n a t i o n a l : S a n D i e g o < / A > o n t h e n i g h t o f F r i d a y , J u l y 1 8 a t t h e S a n D i e g o C o n v e n t i o n C e n t e r ' s n e w b a l l r o o m .
\ p a r
\ p a r \ b F o r a c o m p l e t e l i s t o f t h i s y e a r ' s W i l l E i s n e r C o m i c I n d u s t r y A w a r d N o m i n e e s , c l i c k < A H R E F = " h t t p : / / w w w . c o m i c - c o n . o r g / P a g e s / C C I E i s n e r s 0 3 L i s t . h t m l " T A R G E T = " _ B L A N K " > h e r e < / A > !
\ p a r \ b 0
\ p a r }
b l i s h e r s , c r e a t o r s , a n d r e t a i l e r s . T h e r e s u l t s
w i l l b e a n n o u n c e d i n a g a l a a w a r d s c e r e m o n y a t C o m i c - C o n : I n t e r n a t i o n a l : S a n
D i e g o o n t h e n i g h t o f F r i d a y , J u l y 1 8 a t t h e S a n D i e g o C o n v e n t i o n C e n t e r ' s n e w
b a l l r o o m . < b r > < b r > F o r a c o m p l e t e l i s t o f t h i s y e a r ' s W i l l E i s n e r C o m i c I n d u s t r y
A w a r d N o m i n e e s , c l i c k < b > & l t ; A H R E F = "
h t t p : / / w w w . c o m i c - c o n . o r g / P a g e s / C C I E i s n e r s 0 3 L i s t . h t m l "
T A R G E T = " _ B L A N K " & g t ; h e r e & l t ; / A & g t ; ! < / b > < b r > < / d i v >
< / b o d y >
< / h t m l >
s ) , f o l l o w e d b y F a n t a g r a p h i c s B o o k s
The judges - who selected this year's nominees from over 40 different publishers in 26 categories - included Time.com comics reviewer Andrew D. Arnold, Comicon.com journalist Jen Contino, Diamond Comic Distributors Purchasing Brand Manager Steve Leaf, retailer Jeremy Shorr (Titan Comics, Dallas TX), and Eisner Award-winning artist Charles Vess.
"What struck me most about this year's submissions is the wide range of publication formats and the attention to design and bookcraft we're seeing from publishers of every size and type," said Awards Administrator Jackie Estrada.
Among the larger comics publishers, DC and its various imprints led the pack with 23 nominations (and four partial nominations), followed by Fantagraphics Books with 18 nominations, Marvel Comics with seven nominations (and three partial nominations), NBM with six nominations, Dark Horse Comics with four (+ 1/2) nominations, and Image Comics with four nominations.
Absence of Ink and Oni Press each captured three nominations, while Alternative Comics, Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf Comics, and SLG each took two nominations.
This year's ballot also sees the emergence of many smaller publishers, including Absence of Ink, Sasquatch Books, Sparkplug, Too Hip Gotta Go, Shoto Press, Adhouse Books, Hotel Fred Press, or Origin. Self-publishers are also well represented, including Terry Moore, Carla Speed McNeil, Roger Langridge, Jeff Smith, Mike Kunkel, Gary Gianni, and many others. Plus, this year's nominees include the first appearance by a web comic: Justine Shaw's Nowhere Girl.
In addition, several mainstream bookstore publishers are represented in the list, including Knopf, Harcourt, and Pantheon.
Bill Willingham scored the most nominations for a creator, with four for Fables. Creators with three nominations include Lynda Barry, Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Mignola, and Kim Deitch. More than a dozen other creators received two nominations.
For the Hall of Fame, the judges chose Herge (Tintin) and EC Comics innovator Bernard Krigstein as automatic inductees. Voters will choose four more from a list of 12 nominees.
Ballots will be going out in early May to some 4,000 comics publishers, creators, and retailers. The results will be announced in a gala awards ceremony at Comic-Con International: San Diego on the night of Friday, July 18 at the San Diego Convention Center's new ballroom.
For a complete list of this year's Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees, click here!
