List of women Eisner Award winners

The 2015 Eisner Award winners. Thirteen women won across 12 categories (out of 29 categories total).

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in honor of the pioneering writer and artist Will Eisner, who was a regular participant in the award ceremony until his death in 2005. The Eisner Awards include the comic industry's Hall of Fame.

As of 2017, the woman who has won the most overall Eisner awards is Jill Thompson with thirteen. Fiona Staples comes in second with nine. Karen Berger has won four and been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Background

The Eisner Awards and Harvey Awards were first conferred in 1988, both created in response to the discontinuation of the Kirby Awards in 1987. Dave Olbrich started the award non-profit organization and served as award administrator until 1990. Jackie Estrada has been the award administrator since Olbrich stepped down.

The nominations in each category are generated by a five-member panel, then voted on by comic book professionals. The Eisner Award ceremony has been held at the San Diego Comic-Con every year since 1991, typically on Friday night.

There was no Eisner Award ceremony or awards distributed in 1990 due to widespread balloting mix-ups. In 2006, it was announced that the archives of the Eisner Awards would be housed at the James Branch Cabell Library of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

Individual Achievement Awards

Best Writer

• 2018: Marjorie Liu, Monstress (Image) (tie with Tom King for Batman and Mister Miracle (DC))

Best Writer/Artist

• 2015: Raina Telgemeier, Sisters (Graphix/Scholastic)
• 2018: Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art)

• 2001: Jill Thompson, Scary Godmother (Sirius)
• 2004: Jill Thompson, "Stray", in The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings (Dark Horse)
• 2007: Jill Thompson, "A Dog and His Boy" in The Dark Horse Book of Monsters; "Love Triangle" in Sexy Chix (Dark Horse); "Fair Division", in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
• 2009: Jill Thompson, Magic Trixie, Magic Trixie Sleeps Over (HarperCollins Children's Books)
• 2010: Jill Thompson, Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse); Magic Trixie and the Dragon (HarperCollins Children's Books)
• 2014: Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
• 2017: Jill Thompson, Wonder Woman: The True Amazon (DC); Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In (Dark Horse)
• 2018: Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Best Artist/Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

• 2008: Pia Guerra (with Jose Marzan, Jr.), Y: The Last Man (Vertigo/DC)
• 2015: Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
• 2017: Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)

Best Colorist/Coloring

• 1999: Lynn Varley, 300 (Dark Horse)
• 2000: Laura DePuy, The Authority; Planetary (DC/Wildstorm)
• 2002: Laura DePuy, Ruse (CrossGen), Ministry of Space (Image)
• 2004: Patricia Mulvihill, Batman, Wonder Woman (DC), 100 Bullets (Vertigo/DC)
• 2012: Laura Allred, iZombie (Vertigo/DC); Madman All-New Giant-Size Super-Ginchy Special (Image)
• 2014: 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)
• 2016: Jordie Bellaire, The Autumnlands, Injection, Plutona, Pretty Deadly, The Surface, They're Not Like Us, Zero (Image), The X-Files (IDW), The Massive (Dark Horse), Magneto, Vision (Marvel)
• 2018: Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (Fantagraphics)

Best Cover Artist

• 2017: Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
• 2018: Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition

• 2007: Hope Larson (Gray Horses, Oni)

Best Editor

• 1992; Karen Berger, The Sandman; Shade: the Changing Man; Kid Eternity; Books of Magic (DC)
• 1994: Karen Berger, The Sandman (DC) (tie)
• 1995: Karen Berger, The Sandman; Sandman Mystery Theatre (DC/Vertigo)
• 1996: Bronwyn Taggart, The Big Book of Weirdos; The Big Book of Conspiracies; Brooklyn Dreams; Stuck Rubber Baby (Paradox Press) (tie)

Publication Awards

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

• 2013: The Mire by Becky Cloonan (self-published)
• 2015: Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
• 2017: Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In by Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)

Best Short Story

• 2003: "The Magician and the Snake" by Katie Mignola and Mike Mignola, in Dark Horse Maverick: Happy Endings (Dark Horse)
• 2005: "Unfamiliar" by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, in The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft (Dark Horse)
• 2015: "When the Darkness Presses" by Emily Carroll (self-published)

Best Continuing Series

• 2008: Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and Jose Marzan, Jr. (DC/Vertigo)
• 2013: Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
• 2014: Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
• 2015: Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
• 2017: Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
• 2018: Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)

Best Finite Series/Limited Series

• 1999: 300 by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley (Dark Horse)
• 2018: Black Panther: World of Wakanda by Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Alitha Martinez (Marvel)

Best New Series

• 1998: Castle Waiting by Linda Medley (Olio)
• 2013: Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)
• 2015: Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)

Was "Best Title for Younger Readers/Best Comics Publication for a Younger Audience" from 1996 to 2007.

• 2001: Scary Godmother: The Boo Flu by Jill Thompson (Sirius)
• 2013: Babymouse for President by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random House)
• 2015: The Zoo Box by Ariel Cohn and Aron Nels Steinke (First Second)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)

• 2013: Adventure Time by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline, and Braden Lamb (kaboom!)
• 2014: The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks (Dark Horse)
• 2015: El Deafo by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)
• 2016: Over the Garden Wall by Pat McHale, Amalia Levari, and Jim Campbell (BOOM! Studios/ KaBOOM!)
• 2017: Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic)
• 2018: The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill (Oni)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

Was "Best Publication for Young Adults" (2012) and "Best Publication for Teens/Tweens (2009)"

• 2010: Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
• 2011: Smile by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic/Graphix)
• 2012: Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol (First Second)
• 2013: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, adapted by Hope Larson (FSG)
• 2015: Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)
• 2016: SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)
• 2017: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North and Erica Henderson (Marvel)
• 2018: Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)

Best Anthology

• 1996: The Big Book of Conspiracies, edited by Bronwyn Taggart (Paradox Press)
• 1999: Grendel: Black, White, and Red by Matt Wagner; edited by Diana Schutz (Dark Horse)
• 2000: Tomorrow Stories by Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Kevin Nowlan, Melinda Gebbie, and Jim Baikie (ABC)
• 2004: The Sandman: Endless Nights, co-edited by Karen Berger and Shelly Bond (Vertigo/DC)
• 2005: Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, edited by Diana Schutz and David Land (Dark Horse)
• 2008: 5 by Gabriel Bá, Becky Cloonan, Fábio Moon, Vasilis Lolos, and Rafael Grampa (self-published)
• 2018: Elements: Fire, edited by Taneka Stotts (Beyond Press)

Best Digital Comic/Webcomic

Split into separate categories in 2017.

• 2009: Finder by Carla Speed McNeil (ShadowlineComics.com)
• 2013: Bandette by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain)
• 2016: Bandette by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain/comiXology)

Best Digital Comic

• 2017: Bandette by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain/comiXology)

Best Webcomic

• 2017: Bird Boy by Anne Szabla
• 2018: The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill (Oni)

Best Reality-Based Work

• 2007: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin)
• 2009: What It Is by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)
• 2018: Spinning by Tillie Walden (First Second)

Best Graphic Album — New

• 1991: Elektra Lives Again by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley (Marvel)
• 2003: One! Hundred! Demons! by Lynda Barry (Sasquatch Books)
• 2008: Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)
• 2011: Return of the Dapper Men by Jim McCann and Janet K. Lee (tie with Wilson by Daniel Clowes)
• 2014: The Property by Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)
• 2015: This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (First Second)
• 2017: Wonder Woman: The True Amazon by Jill Thompson (DC Comics)
• 2018: My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album — Reprint

• 2015: Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (McElderry Books)
• 2016: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (Harper Teen)
• 2018: Boundless by Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Archival Collection/Project — Strips

• 2013: Pogo, vol. 2: Bona Fide Balderdash by Walt Kelly, edited by Carolyn Kelly and Kim Thompson (Fantagraphics)
• 2016: The Eternaut by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano Lòpez, edited by Gary Groth and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• 2018: Celebrating Snoopy by Charles M. Schulz, edited by Alexis E. Fajardo and Dorothy O’Brien (Andrews McMeel)

Best Archival Collection/Project — Comic Books

• 2017: The Complete Wimmen's Comix, edited by Trina Robbins, Gary Groth, and J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)
• 2018: Akira: 35th Anniversary Edition by Katsuhiro Otomo, edited by Haruko Hashimoto, Ajani Oloye, and Lauren Scanlan (Kodansha)

Best Humor Publication

• 2000: Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror by Jill Thompson, Oscar Gonzalez Loyo, Steve Steere Jr., Scott Shaw!, Sergio Aragonés, and Doug TenNapel (Bongo)
• 2016: Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)
• 2017: Jughead by Chip Zdarsky, Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Derek Charm (Archie)

Best Educational/Academic/Scholarly Work

• 2013: Lynda Barry: Girlhood Through the Looking Glass, by Susan E. Kirtley (University Press of Mississippi)
• 2015: Graphic Details: Jewish Women's Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews, edited by Sarah Lightman (McFarland)
• 2016: The Blacker the Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art edited by Frances Gateward and John Jennings (Rutgers)
• 2017: Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation by Carolyn Cocca (Bloomsbury)

Best Comics-Related Book

• 2006: Eisner/Miller, edited by Charles Brownstein and Diana Schutz (Dark Horse Books)

Special Awards

The Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Book Writing Award

• 2018: Joye Murchison Kelly and Dorothy Woolfolk

The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award

• 1988: June Foray
• 1995: Maggie Thompson
• 2004: Mimi Cruz Carroll
• 2010: Jeannie Schulz
• 2015: Bill & Kayre Morrison

The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award

• 1983: Jan Duursema
• 2008: Cathy Malkasian
• 2009: Eleanor Davis
• 2010: Marian Churchland
• 2017: Anne Szabla

The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame

• 2001: Dale Messick (Judges' Choice) and Marie Severin
• 2006: Ramona Fradon
• 2013: Trina Robbins
• 2015: Marjorie Henderson Buell (Judges' Choice)
• 2016: Tove Jansson (Judges' Choice) and Lynda Barry
• 2017: Dori Seda (Judges' Choice)
• 2018: Karen Berger, Carol Kalish (Judges' Choice), Jackie Ormes (Judges' Choice), and Rumiko Takahashi
• 2019: Tarpé Mills (Judges' Choice)