Nominees announced for the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame class of 2024

Comic-Con International has announced  16 nominees for this year’s Eisner Awards Hall of Fame, from which voters will choose the final four inductees.

The 16 nominees are Gus Arriola, Eddie Campbell, Mike Friedrich, Don Heck, Klaus Janson, Abe Kanegson, Jim Lee, Mike Mignola, Tom Palmer, Bob Powell, Mike Royer, Ira Schnapp, Phil Seuling, Leonard Starr, Jill Thompson and Angelo Torres.

Voting will be conducted online among comic book creators, retailers and other industry personnel. You can find more details on the CCI website.

The four final selections will join the 19 automatic inductees the judges announced back in February — this is very likely the biggest class of inductees yet.

This year’s Hall of Fame judging panel included Dr. William Foster, Michael T. Gilbert, Karen Green, Alonso Nuñez, Jim Thompson and Maggie Thompson. The final inductees will be announced in a special program during the San Diego Comic-Con on the morning of July 26, with the Eisner Award winners being announced in a ceremony later that night.

Here are more details on each of the nominees, as provided by CCI:

GUS ARRIOLA (1917–2008)

Gus Arriola wrote and drew the Mexican-themed comic strip Gordo. The strip, which prominently featured Mexican characters and themes, set a high standard with its impeccable art and design and had a long and successful life in newspapers (1941–1985). R.C. Harvey wrote in Children of the Yellow Kid: “A pioneer in producing ‘ethnic’ comics, Arriola drew upon his own Mexican heritage in creating a strip about a portly south-of-the-border bean farmer. . . . When the strip started, it was rendered in the big-foot style of MGM animated cartoons, upon which Arriola had been working until then. But over the years, Arriola dramatically changed his way of drawing, producing eventually the decorative masterpiece of the comics page, the envy of his colleagues. He frequently made the strip educational, informing his readers about the culture of Mexico.”

EDDIE CAMPBELL (1955– )

Eddie Campbell is a Scottish comics artist and writer now living in Chicago. He is best known for his award-winning graphic novel with Alan Moore From Hell, which was made into a movie in 2001. Campbell is also the creator of the semi-autobiographical Alec stories collected in Alec: The Years Have Pants, and Bacchus, a wry adventure series about some of the Greek gods surviving to the present day. The Fate of the Artist, in which the author investigates his own murder, and The Lovely Horrible Stuff, an investigation of our relationship with money, are also among his graphic novels. He received an Inkpot Award in1998.

MIKE FRIEDRICH (1949– )

Mike Friedrich began his writing career as a teenager, writing letters of comment to comics publishers. By the age of 18, he was writing professionally at first for DC with scripts for Batman, The Flash, The Spectre, Challengers of the Unknown, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, House of Mystery, The Phantom Stranger, and many others, including an extended run as writer of Justice League of America. In 1972 he moved to Marvel, where he served as writer of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Warlock, Ka-Zar, and many more. He then shifted to the business side of comics. He was one of the first alternative press publishers (Star*Reach, 1974–1979), created the Marvel Comics Direct Sales department (1980–1982), and then founded the first business management company for comics artists and writers (Star*Reach, 1982–2002). Along the way, he also co-founded WonderCon, ran retailer trade shows, and became a union representative for research scientists and research technicians at the University of California Berkeley. 

DON HECK (1929–1995)

Don Heck’s professional career began in 1949, when he got a job in the production department of Harvey Comics. In 1954, Heck joined Charlton Comics, where he did Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion. He eventually became a mainstay at Atlas/Marvel, where he started out illustrating “Torpedo Taylor” in Navy Combat and “Cliff Mason” in Jungle Tales and Jann of the Jungle. He worked on Journey into Mystery and Tales of Suspense. His first superhero assignment was on the first Iron Man story, which appeared in Tales of Suspense in 1963. Heck also worked on early stories of Thor and Giant Man but is probably best remembered for his long run on The Avengers, starting in 1964. During his time at Marvel, he also contributed to the art on Spider-Man, X-Men, and more. In 1971, Jack Kirby suggested him to DC as an artist for Batgirl. Heck drew this strip for several years along with work on such other DC titles as Justice League of America, Steel, The Indestructible Man, Wonder Woman, and The Flash.

KLAUS JANSON (1952– )

The penciler, inker, colorist, and educator is known for work for Marvel and DC on such comics as Daredevil, Dark Knight Returns, and Defenders. Janson made his professional debut for Marvel in 1973, inking Rich Buckler’s pencils for the “The Black Panther” in Jungle Action. He inked such diverse Marvel titles as Defenders, Deathlok, Battlestar Galactica, and Howard the Duck, although his main series was Daredevil. He inked for Gene Colan, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, and Frank Miller. Later, Janson focused on penciling and inking, rather than inking alone. With Miller, Janson worked on the The Dark Knight Returns miniseries. He also worked on The Punisher and Spawn. He received an Inkpot Award in 2012.

ABE KANEGSON (1921–1965)

Abe Kanegson was the letterer on Will Eisner’s Spirit newspaper strip from 1947 to 1950. Eisner used lettering to set tone or establish mood, and Kanegson’s range allowed him to use types of lettering not often seen in comics, like blackletter, to great effect. His innovations were highly influential on many comics letterers.

JIM LEE (1964– )

DC’s president, publisher, and chief creative officer entered the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel, drawing such titles as Alpha Flight and The Punisher War Journal and gaining popularity on The Uncanny X-Men—on which, working with Chris Claremont, he co-created the character Gambit. That led to a 1991 Lee-Claremont spinoff—X-Men—with its first issue remaining the bestselling comic book of all time, according to Guinness. In 1992, Lee joined other creators to found Image, for which his WildStorm studio provided releases including WildC.A.T.s and Gen¹³. In 1998, Lee took WildStorm to DC, where he drew comics including Batman and Superman. In 2005, he co-created All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder with Frank Miller. In 2010, Lee and Dan DiDio became DC co-publishers; in 2020, Lee became the sole DC publisher. He was one of the driving forces behind the 2011 DC relaunch and made new costume designs for relaunched series and drew Justice League. In 2018, he became DC Chief Creative Officer. He received an Inkpot Award in 1992.

MIKE MIGNOLA (1960– )

In 1983, Mignola was a Marvel inker on Daredevil and Power Man and Iron Fist, later becoming the penciler on such titles as The Incredible Hulk, Alpha Flight, and the Rocket Raccoon limited series. In 1987, he began working for DC, too, and drew World of Krypton and The Phantom Stranger limited series. With writer Jim Starlin, Mignola produced the 1988 Cosmic Odyssey miniseries. Writer Brian Augustyn and Mignola produced the Gotham by Gaslight one-shot in 1989. Mignola is best known for creating Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics in 1994, kicking off a shared universe of titles including B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien, and Lobster Johnson. His other paranormal-themed titles for Dark Horse include Baltimore, Joe Golem, and The Amazing Screw-On Head. He received an Inkpot Award in 2004.

TOM PALMER (1941–2022)

Palmer’s comics career goes back to the late 1960s. He began his association with Marvel in 1967 and is most recognized for his inking on pencils by Neal Adams (The Avengers, Uncanny X-Men), Gene Colan (Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Tomb of Dracula), John Buscema (The Avengers), and John Byrne (X-Men: The Hidden Years). Palmer penciled “Jungle Jim” stories for Charlton through Wally Wood’s studio in 1969. He also penciled for Skywald’s Nightmare and DC’s House of Secrets (1970s) and Steel (1990s) and provided cover art for Marvel’s Star Trek and Star Wars titles. His inking style influenced later generations of inkers including Klaus Janson, Josef Rubinstein, and Bob McLeod. He received an Inkpot Award in 2010.

BOB POWELL (1916–1967)

Powell went to work for the Eisner-Iger studio in the late 1930s. He worked for many publishers through this studio, including Fiction House (Jumbo Comics), Fox (Wonderworld Comics, Mystery Men Comics), Harvey (Speed Comics), Timely, and Quality (Crack Comics, Hit Comics, Military Comics, Smash Comics, Feature Comics). His most famous series during his Eisner-Iger years was “Sheena,” which appeared in Jumbo Comics. Later, Powell went to work in Will Eisner’s personal studio and co-plotted the first Blackhawk story in Quality’s Military Comics. When the Spirit newspaper comic book section started in 1940, Powell took on the artwork of the “Mr. Mystic” backup feature, which was written by Eisner. After a while, Powell took on the writing as well, and he continued “Mr. Mystic” until he joined the Air Force in 1943. After the war, Powell started working for himself, drawing for such publishers as Street & Smith (Shadow Comics), Magazine Enterprises (Strong Man), Harvey Comics (Man in Black, Adventures in 3-D) and Marvel (Daredevil, Giant-Man, Hulk, and Human Torch). Powell also did the pencil art for the famous Mars Attacks bubble gum trading card series. In 1961 he became art director for Sick magazine, a position which he held until his death in 1967.

MIKE ROYER (1941– )

Royer has worked as penciler, inker, and letterer, notably over Jack Kirby in 1970s. He assisted Russ Manning on his work for Western/Gold Key’s Magnus, Robot Fighter and Tarzan comic books. Royer later also worked with Manning on the Tarzan newspaper strip and on Star Wars in the late 1970s. He continued to work for Western as an inker of Disney stories by such artists as Tony Strobl, Sparky Moore, and Mike Arens and as artist on such titles as Tarzan, Korak, Son of Tarzan, and Space Ghost, as well as coloring books and puzzles. He adapted and drew Speed Buggy and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, while designing covers and inking stories for Hanna-Barbera’s TV Adventure Heroes. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he inked the work of Don Heck, Steve Ditko, and Ramona Fradon for such companies as Marvel and DC and inked most of Jack Kirby’s comics during this period. He also contributed to such alternative publications as Arc and to Warren’s Creepy and Eerie. He also freelanced for such magazines as National Lampoon and Cracked. He received an Inkpot Award in 1978.

IRA SCHNAPP (1894–1969)

Schnapp was a logo designer and letterer who brought his classic and art deco design styles to DC Comics (then National Comics) beginning with the redesign of the Superman logo in 1940. He did a great deal of logo and lettering work for the company in the 1940s. Around 1949, he joined the staff as their in-house logo, cover lettering, and house-ad designer and letterer, and continued in that role until about 1967. He also designed the Comics Code seal.

PHIL SEULING (1934–1984)

Phil Seuling was a comic book retailer, fan convention organizer, and comics distributor primarily active in the 1970s. He was the organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, originally held in New York City every July 4 weekend beginning in 1968. Later, with his Sea Gate Distributors company, Seuling developed the concept of the direct market distribution system for getting comics directly into comic book specialty shops, bypassing the then-established newspaper/magazine distributor method, where no choices of title, quantity, or delivery directions were permitted. He was among the first group of recipients for the Inkpot Award at the 1974 San Diego Comic-Con.

LEONARD STARR (1925–2015)

Starr did his first comic book art through the Chesler shop and Funnies Inc. In 1942, he drew Sub-Mariner and Human Torch stories for Timely and Don Winslow stories for Fawcett. He also worked for a variety of other publishers, including Better Publications, Consolidated Book, Croyden Publications, E. R. Ross Publishing, Hillman Periodicals, and Crestwood. His first work for newspapers was ghosting the Flash Gordon strip for King Features in the mid-1950s. His On Stage newspaper strip began via the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate in 1957; he drew it until 1979, when he was hired by the same syndicate to revive the Little Orphan Annie strip, which he wrote and drew until his retirement in 2000. He received an Inkpot Award in 1982.

JILL THOMPSON (1966­– )

The writer/artist creator of Scary Godmother (1987) became more widely known in 1991 after taking over DC’s Wonder Woman. She subsequently worked on many titles for DC/Vertigo, including contributing to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Her work has included The Invisibles, Black Orchid, and Seekers into the Mystery, and she has worked on several Sandman-related projects including At Death’s Door, The Little Endless Storybook, and The Dead Boys Detectives. She is co-creator with Evan Dorkin of the award-winning Dark Horse paranormal animal series Beasts of Burden. She received an Inkpot Award in 2015.

ANGELO TORRES (1932– )

Torres began his career in the early 1950s, assisting his studio mate Al Williamson on such E.C. titles as Valor together with Frank Frazetta and Roy Krenkel (the team known as the Fleagle Gang). He contributed to Atlas mystery and Western titles in the late 1950s. For Gilberton, he contributed to Classics Illustrated; for Feature Comics, he appeared in Sick during the 1960s. He contributed to Warren titles Eerie, Creepy, and Blazing Combat between 1964 and 1967. Torres was one of MAD’s mainstays, providing caricatures and movie parodies for almost 25 years. He has also worked as an illustrator for such magazines as Esquire. In 1989, he drew Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure Movie Adaptation for DC. He received an Inkpot Award in 2000.