Comic-Con International has announced 18 inductees for the Will Eisner Hall of Fame for this year.
The list ranges from legendary pros like Don Heck (who, like me, may have you wondering “Is he not already in the Hall of Fame?) to longtime pros who are still producing new work, like Denys Cowan, Carol Tyler and Rick Veitch. One that no doubt will prove controversial is Cerebus the Aardvark creator Dave Sim, a longtime lightning rod for controversy in the comics field.
The news comes from Facebook, which links to a page that doesn’t include the announcement:
Here’s the list in full:
- Edwina Dumm
- Oliver Harrington
- Don Heck
- Abe Kanegson
- Paul S. Newman
- Hector German Osterheld
- Tom Palmer Sr.
- Jimmy Swinnerton
- Bob Bolling
- Gerry Conway
- Denys Cowan
- Mike Friedrich
- Lee Marrs
- Go Nagai
- Bud Plant
- Dave Sim
- Carol Tyler
- Rick Veitch
While it’s not called out in the announcement, these appear to be the judge’s choices, which means we’ll likely see another round of candidates who Eisner voters will choose from when voting opens. Inductions will occur at Comic-Con International in San Diego in July.