Monstress and Monsters rule the 2018 Eisner Awards

Diversity wins as ‘Monstress’ sweeps with 5 awards with Liu is the first woman to win Best Writer, and ‘My Favourite Thing is Monsters’ gets 3.

Last night at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel during Comic-Con International, the 2018 Eisner Awards were presented in a passionate and empowering three-hour ceremony.

It was the night for monsters as Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda won five Eisner Awards including best continuing series, best painter/multimedia artist, best cover artist and best publication for teens. Liu made history by becoming the first woman to ever win the best writer award in the 30-years of the Eisners being handed out. Liu was in attendance to receive all of the awards for Monstress, but used FaceTime so Sana Takeda, in Japan, can “be on stage” with her to receive the best continuing series award.

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris won three including best graphic album, best coloring and best writer/artist. “You did it again. You made an old lady cry, ” declared Ferris as she accepted the best coloring award.

Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill, and the Akira 35th Anniversary Edition each received two of the coveted awards.

The award winners were noticeably diverse as a large number of people of colour, women, and LGBTQ+ creators all received awards.

Surprise celebrity guests graced the stage Nichelle Nichols, Phil Lamar, Cas Anvar, Benedict Wong, and Felicia Day were on hand to present awards.

Check out the complete list of winners and some reactions below.

Best Lettering

Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo, Groo: Slay of the Gods (Dark Horse)

Best Digital Comic

Harvey Kurtzman’s Marley’s Ghost, by Harvey Kurtzman, Josh O’Neill, Shannon Wheeler, and Gideon Kendall (comiXology Originals/Kitchen, Lind & Associates)

Best Webcomic

The Tea Dragon Society, by Katie O’Neill, teadragonsociety.com (Oni Press)

 

Best Writer (tie)

Tom King, Batman, Batman Annual #2, Batman/Elmer Fudd Special #1, Mister Miracle (DC)
Marjorie Liu, Monstress (Image)

Best Writer/Artist

Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Cover Artist

Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

Run for It: Stories of Slaves Who Fought for the Freedom, by Marcelo D’Salete, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

My Brother’s Husband, vol. 1, by Gengoroh Tagame, translated by Anne Ishii (Pantheon)

Best Humor Publication

Baking with Kafka, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

The Comics Journal, edited by Dan Nadel, Timothy Hodler, and Tucker Stone, tcj.com (Fantagraphics)

Best Comics-Related Book

How to Read Nancy: The Elements of Comics in Three Easy Panels, by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden (Fantagraphics)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Latinx Superheroes in Mainstream Comics, by Frederick Luis Aldama (University of Arizona Press)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Mitch Gerads, Mister Miracle (DC)

Best Coloring

Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award

Federick Joseph (#BlackPantherChallenge)
Comics4Kids

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

Good Night, Planet, by Liniers (Toon Books)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9–12)

The Tea Dragon Society, by Katie O’Neill (Oni)

https://twitter.com/strangelykatie/status/989607625267466240

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

Monstress, by  Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)

The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer

Norma Comics in Barcelona, Spain

https://twitter.com/NormaComicsBCN/status/1020629989530664961

We have woken up with a notion that makes us very happy to share: we have been awarded with SPIRIT OF COMICS AWARD to the BEST BOOKSTORE! Thanks to all who trust our store. Without you, nothing would be possible! To celebrate it among comics!

And the Spirit of Comics Award to the best store for !!!

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

Celebrating Snoopy, by Charles M. Shulz, edited by Alexis E. Fajardo and Dorothy O’Brien (Andrews McMeel)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

Akira 35th Anniversary Edition, by Katsuhiro Otomo, edited by Haruko Hashimoto, Ajani Oloye, and Lauren Scanlan (Kodansha)

Best Publication Design

Akira 35th Anniversary Edition, designed by Phil Balsman, Akira Saito (Veia), NORMA Editorial, and MASH•ROOM (Kodansha)

Akira 35th Anniversary Box Set

Best Short Story

A Life in Comics: The Graphic Adventures of Karen Green,” by Nick Sousanis, in Columbia Magazine, Columbia Magazine (Summer 2017)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

Hellboy: Krampusnacht, by Mike Mignola and Adam Hughes (Dark Horse)

Best Anthology

Elements: Fire, A Comic Anthology by Creators of Color, edited by Taneka Stotts (Beyond Press)

https://twitter.com/TanekaStotts/status/1020550576419921920

The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award (tie)

Hamish Steele
Pablo Tunica

I am proud to have received the Russ Manning award at the Eisner, a beautiful surprise. And I want to congratulate@porliniers who took an  Eisner more than deserved! So Happy for the Russ Manning award!

Best New Series

Black Bolt, by Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward (Marvel)

Best Limited Series

Black Panther: World of Wakanda, by Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Alitha E. Martinez (Marvel)

Best Continuing Series

Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image).
Liu received the award in person as Takeda appeared via FaceTime live from Japan.

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

Kindred, by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy and John Jennings (Abrams ComicArts)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

Boundless, by Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)

https://twitter.com/DandQ/status/1020557226367279106

Best Reality-Based Work

Spinning, by Tillie Walden (First Second)

Best Graphic Album—New

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)

In Memoriam:

Jim Baike, Anthony Bourdain, Albert Deschesne, Michael Fleisher, Annie Goetzinger, Basil Gogos, Dave Hawksworth, Margot Kidder, Victor Llamas, Bob Lubbers, Nick Meglin, Mort Walker, Harlan Ellison, June Foray, Len Wein, and Steve Ditko.

Hall of Fame Inductees (six awards):

Jackie Ormes was the first, and for a long time only, black female newspaper cartoonist. From 1937 to 1938 she wrote and drew Dixie in Harlem comics featuring Torchy Brown. After returning to her roots in journalism, she published Candy, a single-panel cartoon about a witty housemaid in 1945. Then she created Patty-Jo ’n’ Ginger, another single-panel cartoon about a pair of sisters, which ran for 11 years through 1956. Finally, from 1950 to 1954, Ormes revamped Torchy Brown into Torchy in Heartbeats, an 8-page color comic insert, including many paper dolls as was popular in the time.

Carol Kalish served as Direct Sales Manager and Vice President of New Product Development at Marvel Comics from 1981 to 1991. She is credited with pioneering the comics direct market when it was in its adolescence, in part through a program in which Marvel helped pay for comic book stores to acquire cash registers. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Kalish spearheaded the expansion of the Marvel’s distribution into previously unexplored retail outlets, including major bookstores such as B. Daltons and Waldenbooks. In 2010 she was posthumously awarded the first ComicsPRO Industry Appreciation Award.

Charles Addams is best known for his macabre Addams Family cartoons, which gave rise to the TV series and films. His cartooning appeared in The New Yorker from the mid-1930s throughout the 1980s.

Karen Berger entered the comics profession in 1979 as an assistant to editor Paul Levitz at DC. She later became Levitz’s editor when he was writing Legion of Super-Heroes. She soon became editor of House of Mystery and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld.  Berger was instrumental in nurturing Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing and later helped bring Neil Gaiman’s work to a mass audience with The Sandman. The success of these titles led to the creation of the mature-reader Vertigo line in 1993. Titles she shepherded under that imprint include Fables, Hellblazer, Hellblazer, 100 Bullets, Preacher, V for Vendetta, and Y: The Last Man. She received the Eisner Award for Best Editor in 1992, 1994, and 1995. In 2013 she stepped down from her post as Executive Editor & Senior Vice President of DC Entertainment’s Vertigo imprint. In 2017 Dark Horse Comics announced that she would be heading the imprint Berger Books, which launches this year.

Dave Gibbons started out in underground comics in the UK in the early 1970s. His work appeared to the first issue of 2000 AD in 1977, and he served as the lead artist Doctor Who Weekly/Monthly for over 60 issues. His best known work appeared in 1986: DC’s Watchmen, with writer Alan Moore. Gibbons both  drew and lettered the landmark miniseries, later collected into a bestselling graphic novel that has been lauded as one of the top works in comics history. Gibbons’ other works include Frank Miller’s Give Me Liberty and Martha Washington Goes to War, the Eisner Award–winning graphic novel The Originals and Green Lantern Corps for DC. In 2014 he was appointed the UK’s first Comics Laureate,

Popular manga creator Rumiko Takahashi is said to be the bestselling female comics artist in history, with hundreds of millions of her books sold around the world. Takahashi’s first published work was the one-shot Katte na Yatsura in 1978. Later that year her first major work began being serialized, Urusei Yatsura. She went on to create such classic works as Maison Ikkoku, Ranma ½, InuYasha, One Pound Gospel, Mermaid Saga, and Rumic Theater. Several of her works have been animated.

2 thoughts on “Monstress and Monsters rule the 2018 Eisner Awards”

  1. Pingback: ‘Monstress’ takes home another Hugo; Takeda named best artist – SMASH PAGES
  2. Pingback: Monstress continues to maul the awards circuit with British Fantasy Award win – SMASH PAGES

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