If you’re not well-versed in the comics industry, this might not seem like much – but to those who are, you know, the Eisner wins this year were a *big deal*.
Excerpt:
Marjorie Liu, for instance, became the first woman to win the best-writer honor, which was first awarded to Alan Moore exactly three decades ago. Liu is the co-creator, with artist Sana Takeda, of Image Comics’ fantasy epic “Monstress,” about young female warriors who, according to Liu, “become monsters in their own right.” “Monstress” won five Eisners, including best continuing series and best publication for teens.
Then there was Emil Ferris, a breakthrough star in her 50s for her first graphic novel, “My Favorite Thing Is Monsters”(Fantagraphics). Ferris has been an artistic warrior in her own right, recovering from West Nile virus and fighting to regain the use of her drawing hand. Ferris won three Eisners, including best writer-artist and best colorist.
There was Tillie Walden, receiving the best-reality-based-work honor for her graphic memoir “Spinning” (First Second). Walden became one of the youngest Eisner winners ever at age 22.
And from the other end of comics history rose Joye Murchison Kelly. At 90, Kelly was finally receiving due recognition decades after her contributions to Wonder Woman went uncredited — for comics written by creator William Moulton Marston dating from the World War II era.
Kelly, who was on hand Friday night at the ceremony hosted by San Diego’s Comic-Con International, received the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing — an honor that also went to the late DC Comics/All-American Publications writer-editor of the Golden and Silver ages, Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk. They are the first two women to receive the award in its 13-year history.
Also honored Friday were Rumiko Takahashi, the legendary manga artist who, at 60, was inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame — a quarter-century after she received Comic-Con’s Inkpot Award. Also inducted into the Hall of Fame, among others, were Karen Berger, the celebrated former DC/Vertigo editor; the late comics direct-market pioneer Carol Kalish; and the late Jackie Ormes (“Torchy Brown,” “Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger”), the first African American woman to create a syndicated newspaper comic strip.
Among works by other creators of color, Jillian Tamaki’s collected stories in “Boundless” (Drawn & Quarterly) won the best graphic album/reprint honor; best limited series went to Marvel’s “Black Panther: World of Wakanda,” by Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Alitha E. Martinez; and best anthology went to Beyond Press’s “Elements: Fire, A Comic Anthology” by Creators of Color as edited by Taneka Stotts.
Women make history, and receive overdue recognition, at 2018 Eisner Awards
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