The winners of the Eisner Awards were announced at San Diego Comic Con last night. Sadly, no wins for terrific books such as Rob Davis The Motherless Oven or the wonderful anthology To End All Wars, but as well as other deserving winners this year, Taschen’s Winsor McCay’s Complete Little Nemo, edited by Alexander Braun won in the Best Archival Collection/Project — Strips category.

Congratulations also to the Comics Alliance web site, edited by Andy Khouri, Caleb Goellner, Andrew Wheeler and Joe Hughes for their win in the “Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism” category, which regularly covers British comics news and recently launched its own crowdfunded comics projects.

Darwyn Cooke, who won Best Cover Artist, is one of the guests at this year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival in October.

Here’s the full list of winners and nominees: most links are to the publisher or creator-related pages for the books or projects

Best Short Story

Winner:

• “When the Darkness Presses” by Emily Carroll

Also Nominated:

“Beginning’s End” by Rina Ayuyang, muthamagazine.com
“Corpse on the Imjin!” by Peter Kuper, in Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World (Simon & Schuster)
“Rule Number One” by Lee Bermejo, in Batman Black and White #3 (DC)
“The Sound of One Hand Clapping” by Max Landis & Jock, in Adventures of Superman#41-42 (DC)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

Winner:

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

Also Nominated:

Astro City #16: “Wish I May” by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson (Vertigo/DC)
Madman in Your Face 3D Special, by Mike Allred (Image)
Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration #1 (Marvel)
The Multiversity: Pax Americana #1, by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely (DC)

Best Continuing Series

Winner:

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

Also Nominated:

Astro City by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson (Vertigo)
Bandette by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain)
Hawkeye by Matt Fraction, David Aja, & Annie Wu (Marvel)
Southern Bastards by Jason Aaron & Jason Latour (Image)
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, & Stefano Gaudiano (Image/Skybound)

Best Limited Series

Winner:

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

Also Nominated:

Daredevil: Road Warrior by Mark Waid & Peter Krause (Marvel Infinite Comics)
The Multiversity by Grant Morrison et al. (DC)
The Private Eye by Brian K. Vaughan & Marcos Martin (Panel Syndicate)
The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman & J. H. Williams III (Vertigo/DC)

Best New Series

The Winner:

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

Also Nominated:

The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips (Image)
Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona (Marvel)
Rocket Raccoon by Skottie Young (Marvel)
The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie (Image)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

BirdCatDog by Lee Nordling & Meritxell Bosch (Lerner/Graphic Universe)
A Cat Named Tim And Other Stories by John Martz (Koyama Press)
Hello Kitty, Hello 40: A Celebration in 40 Stories edited by Traci N. Todd & Elizabeth Kawasaki (VIZ)
Mermin, Book 3: Deep Dives by Joey Weiser (Oni)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)

The Winner: 

• El Deafo by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)

Also Nominated:

Batman Li’l Gotham Volume Two by Derek Fridolfs & Dustin Nguyen (DC)
I Was the Cat by Paul Tobin & Benjamin Dewey (Oni)
Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland by Eric Shanower & Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
Tiny Titans: Return to the Treehouse by Art Baltazar & Franco (DC)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

Doomboy by Tony Sandoval (Magnetic Press)
The Dumbest Idea Ever by Jimmy Gownley (Graphix/Scholastic)
Meteor Men by Jeff Parker & Sandy Jarrell (Oni)
The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew (First Second)
The Wrenchies by Farel Dalrymple (First Second)

Best Humour Publication

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:
Dog Butts and Love. And Stuff Like That. And Cats. by Jim Benton (NBM)
Groo vs. Conan, by Sergio Aragonés, Mark Evanier, & Tom Yeates (Dark Horse)
Rocket Raccoon, by Skottie Young (Marvel)
Superior Foes of Spider-Man, by Nick Spencer & Steve Lieber (Marvel)

Best Digital/Web Comic

The Winner: 

• The Private Eye by Brian Vaughan & Marcos Martin 

Also Nominated:

Bandette by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover: Monkeybrain/comiXology.com
Failing Sky by Dax Tran-Caffee: http://failingsky.com
The Last Mechanical Monster: by Brian Fies, http://lastmechanicalmonster.blogspot.com
Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson: http://gingerhaze.com/nimona/comic

Best Anthology

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

In the Dark: A Horror Anthology edited by Rachel Deering (Tiny Behemoth Press/IDW)
Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It edited by Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd, & Graham Kolbeins (Fantagraphics)
Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World edited by Monte Beauchamp (Simon & Schuster)
To End All Wars: The Graphic Anthology of The First World War edited by Jonathan Clode & John Stuart Clark (Soaring Penguin)

Best Reality-Based Work

The Winner: 

• Hip Hop Family Tree Volume Two by Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)

Also Nominated:

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (Bloomsbury)
Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories by MariNaomi (2d Cloud/Uncivilized Books)
El Deafo, by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood by Nathan Hale (Abrams)
To End All Wars: The Graphic Anthology of The First World War edited by Jonathan Clode & John Stuart Clark (Soaring Penguin)

Best Graphic Album — New

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins (Picador)
Here by Richard McGuire (Pantheon)
Kill My Mother by Jules Feiffer (Liveright)
The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis (SelfMadeHero)
Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley (Ballantine Books)

Best Graphic Album — Reprint

The Winner: 

• Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (McElderry Books)

Also Nominated:

Dave Dorman’s Wasted Lands Omnibus (Magnetic Press)
How to Be Happy by Eleanor Davis (Fantagraphics)
Jim by Jim Woodring (Fantagraphics)
Sock Monkey Treasury by Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics)

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

The Winner: 

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

Read our review here

Also Nominated:

Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan: The Sunday Comics, 1933–1935 by Hal Foster, edited by Brendan Wright (Dark Horse)
Moomin: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition by Tove Jansson, edited by Tom Devlin (Drawn & Quarterly)
Pogo, vol. 3: Evidence to the Contrary by Walt Kelly, edited by Carolyn Kelly & Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Volumes 5-6 by Floyd Gottfredson, edited by David Gerstein & Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)

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

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

The Complete ZAP Comix Box Set edited by Gary Groth, with Mike Catron (Fantagraphics)
Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: Trail of the Unicorn by Carl Barks, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Son of the Son by Don Rosa, edited by David Gerstein (Fantagraphics)
Walt Kelly’s Pogo: The Complete Dell Comics Volumes 1–2, edited by Daniel Herman (Hermes)
Witzend, by Wallace Wood et al edited by Gary Groth, with Mike Catron (Fantagraphics)

Best US Edition of International Material

The Winner: 

• Blacksad: Amarillo by Juan Díaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido (Dark Horse, published by Penguin in the UK)

Also Nominated:

Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann & Kerascoët (Drawn & Quarterly)
Corto Maltese: Under the Sign of Capricorn by Hugo Pratt (IDW/Euro Comics)
Jaybird by Lauri & Jaakko Ahonen (Dark Horse/SAF)
The Leaning Girl by Benoît Peeters & François Schuiten (Alaxis Press)

Best US Edition of International Material — Asia

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, Ryosuke Takeuchi, Takeshi Obata & yoshitoshi ABe (VIZ)
In Clothes Called Fat by Moyoco Anno (Vertical)
Master Keaton Volume One by Naoki Urasawa, Hokusei Katsushika, & Takashi Nagasaki (VIZ)
One-Punch Man by One & Yusuke Murata (VIZ)
Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki by Mamoru Hosada & Yu (Yen Press)

Best Writer

The Winner:

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

Also Nominated:

Jason Aaron, Original Sin, Thor, Men of Wrath (Marvel); Southern Bastards (Image)
Kelly Sue DeConnick, Captain Marvel (Marvel); Pretty Deadly (Image)
Grant Morrison, The Multiversity (DC); Annihilator (Legendary Comics)
Brian K. Vaughan, Saga (Image); Private Eye (Panel Syndicate)
G. Willow Wilson, Ms. Marvel (Marvel)

Best Writer/Artist

The Winner: 

Raina Telgemeier, Sisters (Graphix/Scholastic)

Also Nominated:

Sergio Aragonés, Sergio Aragonés Funnies (Bongo); Groo vs. Conan (Dark Horse)
Charles Burns, Sugar Skull (Pantheon)
Stephen Collins, The Giant Beard That Was Evil (Picador)
Richard McGuire, Here (Pantheon)
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo: Senso, Usagi Yojimbo Color Special: The Artist (Dark Horse)

Best Penciller/Inker

The Winner: 

Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)

Also Nominated:

Adrian Alphona, Ms. Marvel (Marvel)
Mike Allred, Silver Surfer (Marvel); Madman in Your Face 3D Special (Image)
Frank Quitely, Multiversity (DC)
François Schuiten, The Leaning Girl (Alaxis Press)
Babs Tarr, Batgirl (DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

Lauri & Jaakko Ahonen, Jaybird (Dark Horse)
Colleen Coover, Bandette (Monkeybrain)
Mike Del Mundo, Elektra (Marvel)
Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad: Amarillo (Dark Horse)

Darwyn Cooke. Photo courtesy the artist

Best Cover Artist

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

Mike Del Mundo, Elektra, X-Men: Legacy, A+X, Dexter, Dexter Down Under (Marvel)
Francesco Francavilla, Afterlife with Archie (Archie); Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight (Dark Horse); The Twilight Zone, Django/Zorro (Dynamite); X-Files (IDW)
Jamie McKelvie/Matthew Wilson, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); Ms. Marvel (Marvel)
Phil Noto, Black Widow (Marvel)
Alex Ross, Astro City (Vertigo/DC); Batman 66: The Lost Episode, Batman 66 Meets Green Hornet (DC/Dynamite)

Best Colouring

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

Laura Allred, Silver Surfer (Marvel); Madman in Your Face 3D Special (Image)
Nelson Daniel, Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, Judge Dredd, Wild Blue Yonder(IDW)
Lovern Kindzierski, The Graveyard Book, vols. 1-2 (Harper)
Matthew Petz, The Leg (Blue Creek Creative/Top Shelf)
Matthew Wilson, Adventures of Superman (DC); The Wicked + The Divine (Image), Daredevil, Thor (Marvel)

Best Lettering

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

Joe Caramagna, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil (Marvel)
Todd Klein, Fables, The Sandman: Overture, The Unwritten (Vertigo/DC); Nemo: The Roses of Berlin (Top Shelf)
Max, Vapor (Fantagraphics)
Jack Morelli, Afterlife with Archie, Archie, Betty and Veronica, etc. (Archie)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

The Winner: 

Comics Alliance, edited by Andy Khouri, Caleb Goellner, Andrew Wheeler, & Joe Hughes, www.comicsalliance.com

Also Nominated:

Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
Comic Book Creator edited by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)
Comic Book Resources edited by Jonah Weiland & Albert Ching
tcj.com edited by Dan Nadel & Timothy Hodler (Fantagraphics)

Best Comics-Related Book

The Winner: 

Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth Volume Three by Dean Mullaney & Bruce Canwell (IDW/LOAC)

Also Nominated:

Comics Through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas (four volumes) edited by M. Keith Booker (ABC-CLIO)
Creeping Death from Neptune: The Life and Comics of Basil Wolverton by Greg Sadowski (Fantagraphics)
What Fools These Mortals Be: The Story of Puck by Michael Alexander Kahn & Richard Samuel West (IDW/LOAC)
75 Years of Marvel Comics: From the Golden Age to the Silver Screen by Roy Thomas & Josh Baker (TASCHEN)

Best Scholarly/Academic Work

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

American Comics, Literary Theory, and Religion: The Superhero Afterlife by A. David Lewis (Palgrave Macmillan)
Considering Watchmen: Poetics, Property, Politics by Andrew Hoberek (Rutgers University Press)
Funnybooks: The Improbable Glories of the Best American Comic Books by Michael Barrier (University of California Press)
The Origins of Comics: From William Hogarth to Winsor McCay, by Thierry Smolderen tr. by Bart Beaty & Nick Nguyen (University Press of Mississippi)
Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy, Mass Culture, and Modernism in the Art of Winsor McCay by Katherine Roeder (University Press of Mississippi)

Best Publication Design

The Winner: 

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

Also Nominated:

Batman: Kelley Jones Gallery Edition designed by Josh Beatman/Brainchild Studios (Graphitti/DC)
The Complete ZAP Comix Box Set designed by Tony Ong (Fantagraphics)
Street View designed by Pascal Rabate (NBM/Comics Lit)
Winsor McCay’s Complete Little Nemo designed by Anna Tina Kessler (TASCHEN)

Also Announced

The Bill Finger Award For Excellence in Comics Writing: John Stanley & Don McGregor

The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Bill and Kayre Morrison

Hall of Fame Awards: Marjorie Henderson Buell and Bill Woggon, and by vote: John Byrne, Chris Claremont, Denis Kitchen, Frank Miller

The Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Packrat Comics, Hilliard, Ohio

The Russ Manning Newcomer Award: Greg Smallwood and Jorge Corona

• More about the Eisner Awards here on the San Diego Comic Con web site

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

Categories: downthetubes Comics News, US Comics

Tags: Alexander Braun, Awards, Comics Alliance, Darwyn Cooke, Eisner Awards, Rob Davis, San Diego Comic Con 2015, Taschen, To End All Wars