The Image Comics series Saga and writer Matt Fraction won the top honors at the 26th Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, presented this weekend at Comic-Con.
Not only did Saga by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples win Best Continuing Series, but Vaughan won best writer and Staples won Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art).
Two series written by Fraction won honors: Best Single Issue went to the story in Hawkeye #11, titled “Pizza is My Business” and drawn by David Aja; and Best New Series for the Image Comics series Sex Criminals, which he created with artist Chip Zdarsky.
The full list of winners follows:
Best Short Story
• “Untitled,” by Gilbert Hernandez, in Love and Rockets: New Stories #6 (Fantagraphics)
Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
• Hawkeye #11: “Pizza Is My Business,” by Matt Fraction and David Aja (Marvel)
Best Continuing Series
• • Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
Best Limited Series
• The Wake, by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy (Vertigo/DC)
Best New Series
• Sex Criminals, by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky (Image)
Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)
• Itty Bitty Hellboy, by Art Baltazar and Franco (Dark Horse)
Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)
• The Adventures of Superhero Girl, by Faith Erin Hicks (Dark Horse)
Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)
• Battling Boy, by Paul Pope (First Second)
Best Humor Publication
• Vader’s Little Princess, by Jeffrey Brown (Chronicle)
Best Anthology
• Dark Horse Presents, edited by Mike Richardson (Dark Horse)
Best Digital/Webcomic
• The Oatmeal by Matthew Inman, theoatmeal.com
Best Reality-Based Work
• The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story, by Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, and Kyle Baker (M Press/Dark Horse)
Best Graphic Album—New
• The Property, by Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Adaptation from Another Medium
• Richard Stark’s Parker: Slayground, by Donald Westlake, adapted by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)
Best Graphic Album—Reprint
• RASL, by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
• Tarzan: The Complete Russ Manning Newspaper Strips, vol. 1, edited by Dean Mullaney (LOAC/IDW)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
• Will Eisner’s The Spirit Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
• Goddam This War!, by Jacques Tardi and Jean-Pierre Verney (Fantagraphics)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
• The Mysterious Underground Men, by Osamu Tezuka (PictureBox)
Best Writer
• Brian K. Vaughan, Saga (Image)
Best Writer/Artist
• Jaime Hernandez, Love and Rockets New Stories #6 (Fantagraphics)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
• Sean Murphy, The Wake (DC/Vertigo)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
• Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
Best Cover Artist
• David Aja, Hawkeye (Marvel)
Best Coloring
• Jordie Bellaire, The Manhattan Projects, Nowhere Men, Pretty Deadly, Zero(Image); The Massive (Dark Horse); Tom Strong (DC); X-Files Season 10 (IDW); Captain Marvel, Journey into Mystery (Marvel); Numbercruncher (Titan); Quantum and Woody (Valiant)
Best Lettering
• Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: Slayground (IDW)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
• Comic Book Resources, produced by Jonah Weiland, www.comicbookresources.com
Best Comics-Related Book
• Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth, by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell (LOAC/IDW)
Best Scholarly/Academic Work
• Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation, edited by Sheena C. Howard and Ronald L. Jackson II (Bloomsbury)
Best Publication Design
• Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth, designed by Dean Mullaney (LOAC/IDW)
