Using Awards Lists As a RA Tool: Einser Awards Edition

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.   

Last week the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees were announced. From the Awards Landing Page:

Comic-Con is proud to announce the nominees for the 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. The nominations are for works published between January 1 and December 31, 2025 and were chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges.

Once again, this year’s nominees in 32 categories reflect the wide range of material being published in the U.S. in comics and graphic novels, representing over 170 print and online titles from some 75 publishers, produced by creators from all over the world.

Among publishers, DC Comics has 16 nominations (plus 10 shared), led by Absolute Martian Manhunter with 6 (3 standalone and 3 shared) and Absolute Batman with 5 (2 standalone and 3 shared). Image Comics has 12 nominations plus 9 shared, including 5 for Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadski’s Assorted Crisis Events (3 standalone and 2 shared) and 4 for James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds’ Department of Truth.

Fantagraphics’ 14 nominations include 3 for graphic memoirs, 3 for U.S. editions of international material, and 3 for archival collections. Abrams imprints account for 9 nominations, spanning eight different categories, while Drawn & Quarterly has 6 nominees, followed by Random House with 5.

Other publishers with multiple nominations include Dark Horse (4 plus 4 shared), Henry Holt (4), First Second (4), VIZ Media (4), Marvel (3 plus 5 shared), and Top Shelf (3 plus 1 shared). Publishers with 3 nominations include Andrews McMeel, New York Review Comics, Pantheon, Peow2, Stacked Deck, and Yen Press. IDW has 2 plus 5 shared, while BOOM! and Oni both have 2 plus 1 shared. Nine companies have 2 nominations each, and another 41 companies or individuals have 1 nomination.

In addition to Absolute Martian Manhunter, Absolute Batman, Assorted Crisis Events, and Department of Truth, works with the most nominations include Jesse Lonergan’s Drome (Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer/Artist, Best Coloring) and Linnea Sterte’s A Garden of Spheres (Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer/Artist, Best Painter.

When it comes to creators, Deniz Camp leads the pack with 5 nominations: Best Limited Series (Absolute Martian Manhunter), Best New Series (Assorted Crisis Events), 2 for Best Single Issue, and Best Writer. James Tynion IV follows with 4 nominations, including Best Writer. Those with 3 nominations include Juni Ba, Javier Rodriguez, Jesse Lonergan, Linnea Sterte, Kelly Thompson, and Eric Zawadski. Another 17 creators have 2 nominations.

Named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, the awards are celebrating their 38th year of bringing attention to and highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels. The 2026 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of writer Regine Sawyer, librarian Jerry Dear, reviewer/journalist Tiffany Babb, comics retailer Katie Pryde, and comics scholar Randy Duncan.

Voting for the awards is being held online. All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote. Those who voted in 2025 or who registered to vote by May 14 will automatically be invited to fill out the new ballot. The deadline for voting is June 5.

The Eisner Award trophies will be presented in a gala awards ceremony to be held at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront Hotel during Comic-Con on the evening of July 24.

Click here to see the nominees for this year. That page also has the links for past nominees, winners,  judges, and the Hall of Fame. Everything for this, the biggest awards in comics and graphic novels, is all available with one click.

Yes you can use the current slate of nominees for your collection development, but also peruse the last few years of backlist nominees because those comics that were honored, they might be in bound volumes now, meaning you need to add them to your collections as well. 

Graphic novels and comics are great reads any time of year, but as we inch toward Comic Con, interest definitely pique's with those who aren't regular readers. Make it easier for all patrons to find them by pulling them out for display.