The 2022 Eisner Awards have announced this year's nominees, and DC Comics leads the pack with the most nominations, including several for Nightwing and Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons. Also collecting a large number of nominations is comic creator James Tynion IV, who has worked on several projects for DC, Boom! Studios and Image Comics. However, with more than 150 titles and 65 publishers, the competition for this year’s Eisner Awards is fierce.
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards recognizes comic creators for their work published between January 1 and December 31, 2021. Named after the renowned comic and graphic novel creator Will Eisner, the awards span 32 categories and range from "Best Continuing Series" to "Best Cover Artist." Prospective voters– comic and graphic novel creators, editors, librarians, and store owners– can apply to vote for nominees here. Votes must be cast by June 8, and winners from each category will be announced on the evening of July 22 at Comic-Con International: San Diego.
Of the nominated publishers announced by Comic-Con, DC reigned supreme with over 15 nominations for titles such as Tom Taylor’s Nightwing and Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons. Image Comics received 14 nominations, Fantagraphics and Top Shelf each had 11, VIZ Media received eight nominations, and Marvel and Boom! Studios both received seven. Nightwing received five nominations for "Best Continuing Series," "Best Single Issue," "Best Lettering" for West Abbott’s work on the series, and both "Best Penciller/Inker" and "Cover Artist" for Bruno Redondo’s incredible illustrations. Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons received four nominations for "Best Single Issue," "Best Writer" for Kelly Sue DeConnick’s masterful writing, "Best Penciller/Inker" for Phil Jimenez’s art, and "Best Lettering" for Clayton Cowles’ work. Additionally, James Tynion IV received a total of five nominations, making him the most nominated creator at this year’s Eisner Awards. His nominations include "Best Continuing Series" for Department of Truth and Something Is Killing the Children, "Best New Series" for The Nice House on the Lake, "Best Publication for Teens" for Wynd, and "Best Writer."
Both Nightwing and Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons are up for "Best Single Issue/One-Shot." To qualify for the "Best Single Issue/One-Shot" category, the issue or title must be able to stand alone. Although part of an ongoing series, Nightwing #87: Get Grayson is a stand-alone issue consisting of one continuous image, making it suitable for a well-deserved nomination. Similarly, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, tells a one-off tale of the Amazon's origins. Also nominated for "Best Single Issue/One-Shot" are Marvel’s Voices: Identity #1, Mouse Guard: The Owlhen Caregiver and Other Tales, and Wolven Daughter.
Also up for "Best Continuing Series" is Nightwing, alongside two of Tynion’s works– The Department of Truth and Something Is Killing the Children. Other titles nominated for this category are Bitter Root and Immortal Hulk. The Nice House on the Lake has also been nominated for "Best New Series" against another DC Comics series, The Human Target. Other series nominated for this category include Not All Robots, Radiant Black, and Ultramega.
Beyond DeConnick and Tynion, other nominees for "Best Writer" include Ed Brubaker for Destroy All Monsters and Friend of the Devil; Filipe Melo for Ballad for Sophie' and Ram V for The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, The Swamp Thing, Carnage: Black, White & Blood and Venom. Nominees for "Best Writer/Artist" include Alison Bechdel for The Secret to Superhuman Strength; Junji Ito for Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection, Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection and Sensor; Daniel Warren Johnson for Superman: Red & Blue and Beta Ray Bill; Will McPhail for In: A Graphic Novel; and Barry Windsor-Smith for Monsters. In addition to Redondo and Jimenez, the other nominees for "Best Penciller/Inker" or "Best Penciller/Inker Team" are Filipe Andrade for The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, Esad Ribic for Eternals, and P. Craig Russel for Norse Mythology.
Although hundreds of titles were nominated for awards across the 32 categories, DC Comics has secured an impressive number of nominations for series such as Nightwing and Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons. James Tynion IV’s five nominations are also admirable and prove his undeniable talent. For a more extensive list of Eisner Award nominees, click here!
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Source: Comic-Con