With the Eisner Awards less than two weeks away, I thought I’d highlight some of this year’s nominees that you can find online.
Let’s start with the “Best Short Story” category, where Joe S. Farrar and Guilherme Grandizolli’s “The Lady of the Lake” is nominated. It originally appeared in BUMP: A Horror Anthology #3, which Farrar funded through Kickstarter and now sells on his ko-fi site. But in celebrating the nomination, Farrar posted the short story in full on Twitter, which I think is always a brilliant move, as it’s hard to vote for something if you haven’t read it.
As the title implies, the story ties into the legend of King Arthur, Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake — but takes a sinister turn.
The Eisner nominations are usually pretty mainstream and easy to find both in print and online — Image and DC received the most nominations, after all — but occasionally they’ll surprise you with something you’ve never heard of. In the “Best Single Issue/One-Shot” category, Horologist, by Jared Lee and Cross falls into that category, for me, anyway.
According to Mashable, it was one of four stories that Lee, a filmmaker, wrote during the COVID lockdown, and he self-published back in 2022 to sell at shows. He then turned it into a short film that premiered at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con and won . But what about the comic? Well, you can find a PDF of it on Art Street. A horologist, by the way, is a person who makes or repairs clocks and watches, but the name really lends itself to a creepy story, doesn’t it?
Jumping now to the “Best Webcomic” category, let’s start with Evan Dahm’s 3rd Voice, which can be read on Webtoon or on Dahm’s website. I’ve mentioned the long-running webcomic here before, but it’s always worth a reminder that it’s out there and still being updated and still awesome.
Also, if you haven’t checked out The Last Delivery, Dahm’s latest graphic novel from Iron Circus, it’s definitely worth a look as well. I saw it referred to as a “Henson-esque horror story,” and that’s very apt; in fact, Dahm’s artwork and storytelling is very Henson-esque all the way around, but more Dark Crystal/Labyrinth than, say, the Muppets. But there are probably some elements there as well.
Haley Newsome’s popular Tapas webcomic, Unfamiliar, is also nominated this year. It’s been running on the site since 2016 and a print collection is available from Andrews McMeel. It’s the story of Planchette, a witch who buys a haunted house and tries to help the ghosts with their problem. Newsome has a fun art style that can be super-cute most of the time, but then she’ll throw in something that creeps me out, like the one-eyed cyclops cat. If you haven’t checked it out before, it’s worth a look.
Matchmaker by Cam Marshall is another webcomic that’s made its way to print, courtesy of Silver Sprocket. It’s about two friends living through the pandemic and a terrible job market, as one attempts to play matchmaker to the other. The webcomic is now complete, so you can read the whole thing on Marshall’s site.
Another one that can be found on Tapas is Daughter of a Thousand Faces by Velinxi, who summed up the comic as: “If you’re into stories about disappointing princesses, her secret evil Demon teacher, and how bad of an idea this found family duo is…this is for you!” This isn’t Velinxi’s first awards rodeo, as DPS Only, a webcomic about competitive gaming, was nominated for an Eisner and a Ringo Award in 2021.
Asturias: The Origin of a Flag is by Javi de Castro, and it runs on his personal site. He is also no stranger to the Eisners, having been nominated for The Eyes in the past both there and in the Harvey Awards. Asturias comes with the label “This webcomic was commissioned by the Government of the Principality of Asturias,” which is an area in Northwest Spain. The comic details some of the region’s history at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, specifically when Napoleon invaded Spain and the locals rose up against the French.
Finally, we have the defending champ, Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe. Lore Olympus has been nominated three times in the “Best Webcomics” category, winning in both 2022 and 2023. It’s also been nominated for and won a bunch of other awards during its lifetime. The series came to an end earlier this year, which means it’s eligible for a nomination next year as well. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves … we’ll see if it can pull off a three-peat later this month.