Kate Beaton, Margaret Atwood and Chip Zdarsky among Canadian finalists for 2023 Eisner Awards
19 Canadians are nominated for the awards, which celebrates comic creators
Kate Beaton, Margaret Atwood and Chip Zdarsky are among the 19 Canadian finalists nominated for the 2023 Eisner Awards.
The U.S. prizes recognize the best in comic books and graphic novels creators, and publications. The books must be published in the U.S., but nominated creators are from around the world. The winners are chosen through voting by professionals in the comic book industry.
Named after the acclaimed American cartoonist Will Eisner, the awards are celebrating their 35th anniversary this year.
Beaton is nominated for two awards: best graphic memoir and best writer/artist for Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands.
Ducks was the first comic to win Canada Reads in 2023.
A cartoonist from Nova Scotia, Beaton is also the author of the historical webcomic strip Hark! A Vagran which launched her career, Step Aside, Pops!, and two children's books, King Baby and The Princess and the Pony.
The story Silent All These Years by Atwood and artist David Mack in the 24-story collection Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes is nominated for the award: best short story.
Atwood has published fiction, nonfiction, poetry and comics. Her acclaimed books include The Handmaid's Tale, Alias Grace, Oryx and Crake and The Edible Woman. She has won several awards for her work including the Governor General's Literary Award, the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Man Booker Prize. She is also a founder of the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Writers' Trust of Canada.
Zdarsky is nominated for three awards. His book Public Domain is nominated for best new series, and Daredevil, which is written by Zdarksy and illustrated by Marco Checchetto and Rafael de Latorre is nominated for best continuing series. He is also nominated for best writer.
Zdarsky is a comic book writer and illustrator born in Edmonton and based in Toronto. He has worked on books such as the award-winning Sex Criminals, Kaptara, Jughead, Howard the Duck and Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man.
Here is the full list of Canadian nominees:
- Best short story: Finding Batman in DC Pride 2022 by J. Bone (created with American voice actor Kevin Conroy)
- Best short story: Silent All These Years in Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes by Margaret Atwood (created with American artist David Mack)
- Best single issue/one-shot: Mary Jane & Black Cat Beyond by Jed Mackay (created with Mexican artist C. F. Villa)
- Best continuing series: Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky (created with Italian artist Marco Checchetto and Brazilian artist Rafael de Latorre)
- Best continuing series: She-Hulk by Takeshi Miyazawa (created with American author Rainbow Rowell, Brazilian artist Rogê Antônio and Italian artist Luca Maresca)
- Best new series: Public Domain by Chip Zdarsky
- Best publication for kids (ages 9-12): Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas
- Best publication for teens (ages 13-17): Chef's Kiss by Danica Brine (created with American writer Jarrett Melendez)
- Best reality-based work: But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust edited by Charlotte Schallié
- Best graphic memoir: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
- Best writer/artist: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
- Best writer: Stillwater and Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky
- Best graphic album—reprint: Geneviève Castrée: Complete Works by Geneviève Castrée (translated by Phil Elverum and Aleshia Jensen
- Best graphic album—reprint: Mazebook Dark Horse Direct Edition by Jeff Lemire
- Best graphic album—reprint: Parker: The Martini Edition—Last Call by Darwyn Cooke (created with American writer Richard Stark, American writer Ed Brubaker and British artist Sean Phillips)
- Best archival collection/project—strips (at least 20 years old): Come Over Come Over, It's So Magic, and My Perfect Life by Lynda Barry, edited by Peggy Burns
- Best academic/scholarly work: The LGBTQ+ Comics Studies Reader: Critical Openings, Future Directions, edited by Alison Halsall and Jonathan Warren
- Best webcomic: Delilah Dirk: Practical Defence Against Piracy by Tony Cliff
- Best webcomic: Spores by Joshua Barkman
- Best coloring: Dave McCaig for The Incal: Psychoverse
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are presented by the San Diego Comic Convention.
The winners will be announced in July 2023.
Last year's winners included Canadian cartoonist and author Jeff Lemire, who won best digital comic for Snow Angels, illustrated by Jock.
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