SDCC 2022: All the Eisner Award Winners!

By Matt Meyer

on July 23, 2022

Last night’s 2022 Eisner Award winners were announced at ComiCon! And the winners are…

Best Short Story

“Funeral in Foam,” by Casey Gilly and Raina Telgemeier, in You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife (Iron Circus)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jimenez (DC)

Best Continuing Series (TIE)

Bitter Root, by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Image)

Something Is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)

Best Limited Series

The Good Asian, by Pornsak Pichetshote and Alexandre Tefenkgi (Image)

Best New Series

The Nice House on the Lake, by James Tynion IV and Álvaro Martínez Bueno (DC Black Label)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

Chibi Usagi: Attack of the Heebie Chibis, by Julie and Stan Sakai (IDW)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

Salt Magic, by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

The Legend of Auntie Po, by Shing Yin Khor (Kokila/Penguin Random House)

Best Humor Publication

Not All Robots, by Mark Russell and Mike Deodato Jr. (AWA Upshot)

Best Anthology

You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife, edited by Kel McDonald and Andrea Purcell (Iron Circus)

Best Reality-Based Work

The Black Panther Party: A Graphic History, by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson (Ten Speed Press)

Best Graphic Memoir

Run: Book One, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, and Nate Powell (Abrams ComicArts)

Best Graphic Album—New

Monsters, by Barry Windsor-Smith (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

The Complete American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, and Scott Hampton (Dark Horse)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

George Orwell’s 1984: The Graphic Novel, adapted by Fido Nesti (Mariner Books)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

The Shadow of a Man, by Benoît Peeters and François Schuiten, translation by Stephen D. Smith (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection, by Junji Ito, translation by Jocelyne Allen (VIZ Media)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

Popeye: The E.C. Segar Sundays, vol. 1 by E.C. Segar, edited by Gary Groth and Conrad Groth (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

EC Covers Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best Writer

James Tynion IV, House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); The Nice House on the Lake, The Joker, Batman, DC Pride 2021 (DC); The Department of Truth (Image); Blue Book, Razorblades (Tiny Onion Studios)

Best Writer/Artist

Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

Phil Jimenez, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons (DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist

Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Best Cover Artist

Jen Bartel, Future State Immortal Wonder Woman #1 & 2, Wonder Woman Black & Gold #1, Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary (DC); Women’s History Month variant covers (Marvel)

Best Coloring

Matt Wilson, Undiscovered Country (Image); Fire Power (Image Skybound); Eternals, Thor, Wolverine (Marvel); Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters (Oni)

Best Lettering

Barry Windsor-Smith, Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

WomenWriteAboutComics.com, edited by Wendy Browne and Nola Pfau (WWAC)

Best Comics-Related Book

All of the Marvels, by Douglas Wolk (Penguin Press)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History, by Eike Exner (Rutgers University Press)

Best Publication Design

Marvel Comics Library: Spider-Man vol. 1: 1962–1964 (TASCHEN)

Best Webcomic

Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe (WEBTOON)

Best Digital Comic

Snow Angels, by Jeff Lemire and Jock (Comixology Originals)

Hall of Fame

Judges’ Choices:

Marie Duval

Rose O’Neill

Max Gaines

Mark Gruenwald

Alex Niño

P. Craig Russell

Voters’ Choices:

Howard Chaykin

Kevin Eastman

Moto Hagio

Larry Hama

David Mazzucchelli

Grant Morrison

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award:

Annie Koyama

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award:

Luanna Vecchio

Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award:

Bob Bolling

Don Rico

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award:

Books & Pictures, Portland, OR

Katie Pryde

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

James Tynion IV had a helluva banner year, and didn’t miss in terms of overall quality of work. However, there’s the ongoing concern of him and so many other creators publishing through SubStack – a platform which has been a haven for white supremacist dogma. That part of the ongoing SubStack story has been downplayed a lot in recent months, but make no mistake: as an organization, they have some housekeeping to do.
Katie Pryde has the coolest name ever for someone working in comics.
Larry Hama unequivocally deserves his induction into the Hall of Fame, and frankly this should have happened years ago.
All of the Marvels is a dense, mind-bogglingly rich deep dive into comics history and Marvel lore. A deeply deserved win for Douglas Wolk.
WWAC wins again, and deservedly so. We hope we’re as cool as they are someday.
Interesting that Bitter Root and Something is Killing the Children tied for best ongoing. This was a stacked category, including Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s character-defining run on Nightwing, Department of Truth, and Immortal Hulk (the legacy of which is unfortunately marred by series artist Joe Bennett’s coming-out party as anti-Semitic). Every series nominated was deserving of recognition, but on the other side of the coin: Were these really the best series of the year, or just the most buzzed-about? That’s the problem with any big-time awards, regardless of medium: this particular question will always be in the back of everyone’s minds.
If you’d told me Barry Windsor-Smith was going to win an Eisner for Monster, I’d have probably said, “Duh.” But for lettering, too? Not sure anybody saw that one coming, especially with solid competition from the likes of Wes Abbott, Clayton Cowles, Crank!, and Ed Dukeshire. But the elephant in the room in this category is undoubtedly the exclusion of Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, whose work is quite simply redefining what a letterer does.
This was a solid year for female winners: Jen Bartel for best cover artist, Kelly Sue DeConnick for Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons, Casey Gilley and Raina Telgemeier for best short story with “Funeral in Foam,” Hope Larsen and Becca Mock, Kel McDonald and Andrea Purcell, Jocelyne Allen, Sana Takeda, Rachel Smythe, and of course, the whole damn Women Write About Comics team. Hell yeah.
Not All Robots was curiously the least-talked about Mark Russell comic this year, in a year that was already stellar for the author. Just goes to show that hype absolutely isn’t everything, because this series was fantastic.
The Good Asian, Run! Volume 1, Monstress, Bitter Root, Chibi Usagi, The Legend of Auntie Po, The Black Panther Party: A Graphic History, and Lovesickness all represent wins for minority creators and are all must-read works.
No Jordie Bellaire nomination for Best Colorist this year?! Snub.
As usual, Marvel fared pretty poorly in terms of wins. Matt Wilson was nominated in part for his work as a colorist at the House of Ideas, and Taschen’s reprint books were stand-out in general, but it’s worth noting that being the 800-pound gorilla in the room doesn’t automatically translate to quality wins. One of the ways DC is able to stay competitive each year is by diversifying their output; Marvel could learn something from this practice. Superheroes are great, but they ain’t everything.