Posted in: Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Fantagraphics, IDW, Image, Oni Press, Rebellion / 2000AD, Titan | Tagged: eisner awards, sdcc

For Your Consideration: Who's Campaigning For The Eisner Awards 2026?

For Your Consideration: Who's campaigning for The Eisner Awards 2026? And who should I be voting for?

The Eisner Awards 2026 Ballot is live, or at least it will be until the 5th of June, but a week away. The list of nominees is here, minus one nomination for an anthology that included an A.I. page and is, as a result, ineligible. All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote, including writers, artists, colourists, letterers, designers, editors, publishers, sales staff, distributors, reporters, comic book store owners and clerks, the lot. By including retailers and retail workers, it expands the vote and tilts it toward the comic book store perspective. Those who voted in 2025 or who registered to vote by the 14th of May have been invited to fill out the new ballot. And it seems that I should do so. But for whom? Maybe the creators and publishers themselves may sway me…

Kelly Thompson in a Substack post, "Five Times You Say?" says "ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN got 5 Eisner Nominations (Best Continuing Series, Best Writer, Best Penciller/Inker, Best Colorist, and Best Cover). It's fantastic. And I am especially over the moon to see Hayden recognized for their exceptional interiors work. But my boy Jeff is a diva and he does NOT like to be ignored and thus I am proud to share that the JEFF THE LAND SHARK: FRIENDS & RIVALS mini-series by me and Tokitokoro and colorist Jim Campbell got nominated in the Best Humor Book category! Guys. Jeff The Land Shark has 3 Eisner Nominations (and 1 win!)…WILD TIMES WE ARE LIVING IN. Anyway, if you're eligible to vote, please consider us when voting. And also, VOTING IS NOW OPEN! :D"

Teddy Kristiansen posts to Instagram "I am not asking you to vote on me for the Eisner, but please do vote in all the categories. For me it's a win in itself to receive the nomination, and the recognition from our peers and colleagues is hugely important for all the artist and writers in our precious little industry.
So vote on the comics that have brought you delight for the eyes and the mind over the past year, as we all are trying to do our best while making these books, and all deserve to be recognized and applauded for working so hard to make some brilliant books. So here is a big cheer to all in the industry, nominated or not, for doing your best for bringing wonderful comics to the world and it's future and present readers. You all deserve it!! Viva La Comics!! These are some of my favorite pages and panels from the book I was nominated for and a book I am hugely proud of, BLACK HAMMER: SPIRAL CITY, written by @jefflemire and illustrated by me, published by @darkhorsecomics, edited by @nottoochabyy assisted by @chuckhowittlease and Foster Kupbens and through the hands a lot of other people, retailers, shop owners, comic readers. Viva La Comics!!"

Mateus Manhanini posts to Instagram "Hey guys, just a quick reminder that voting for the Will Eisner Awards is officially open! If someone had told me years ago that I'd be nominated for Best Cover Artist and Best Continuing Series for my work on STORM, I wouldn't have believed them. It's truly one of those moments where you stop, look back, and realize: "Wow, I actually made it." It is an immense privilege to share these categories with such absurdly talented artists. More than a competition, it's an absolute honor to be listed alongside people who are shaping the comic book industry today. For those eligible to vote, the official ballot website is already available! All your love and support already make this milestone unforgettable. Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!"

Scott Snyder wrote to retailers, "Hey folks – Please forgive the big email, but I just wanted to reach out to say THANK YOU for all the support this past year on Absolute Batman, the Absolute Universe, and the whole DC line, honestly. Nick and I have gotten to visit a lot of stores this past year and we see how hard you work, and how hard this can all be. You guys are on the front lines and the energy and enthusiasm you've thrown behind our book – we don't know how how to thank you enough, truly. Full disclosure, though – this is also an Eisner email – the one I just can't not send this year. And the reason is Nick and the team. The amount of work Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin and put into Absolute Batman this past year – inspiring doesn't do it justice. The designs Nick creates, the panel to panel storytelling, the passion and creativity he brings and then Frank elevates… it's awesome and has made me a better writer just for being around it. And these guys do it under tremendous pressure, way more than any of us ever expected the book to come with. The truth is, when we started, our big hope was that the series (along with the other Absolutes) would maybe do well enough to survive in the midlist – that was the goal. A year and half later, the support Absolute Batman has found is beyond thrilling, and I know the team is incredibly grateful for it, but it can also be a lot to handle – way more pressure on Nick and co than on me – but they meet the moment every issue and surpass it and I'm honored and grateful to make this book with them. So the ask – and I hate asking because there are so many amazing creators nominated this year, many of them good friends AND I know how busy you are, and that voting isn't always something you do, BUT, if you could, I'd really appreciate it if you'd consider voting for Absolute Batman this year – especially for Best Continuing Series. Nick and Frank were not nominated for interior art or coloring, so this is the award that would celebrate all that craft and dedication — all the day in and day out work, and the work everyone on the team puts in alongside them. To get to see that, and share in that with them – it would mean a ton to me personally. Nick is also nominated for Best Cover Artist, and I'd ask you to please consider voting for him here, as his covers have been a force of nature this year, revealing character redesigns, huge moments, all of it. The Annual is up for Best Single Issue also. What Daniel Warren Johnson, James Harren and Meredith McClaren did there was incredible. Clayton Cowles is up for Best Letterer and he has been amazing on the book. And lastly, I'm nominated for Best Writer. The category is packed with friends and people I amdire and I'm really honored just to be included. Again, I apologize for the big email. I want to pretend that these things don't matter but being honest, the book can a lot on the team, and to have their work recognized by the community… it does matter to me and to us and I'd be deeply, deeply grateful."

Stephanie Williams posted on Threads, "The historic news I've been teasing! I had no idea Temporal had been nominated for Best New Series, and it has me levitating! I'm so thankful to our entire creative team, @asiahfulmore, @djcolorscomics , Becca Carey, jamesbemmett,@timdanielcomics !!! Thank you all for making Temporal so magical and special! The Best Writer nomination is deeply humbling. There hasn't been a Black comic writer nominated since Dwayne McDuffie in 1995 for this category. McDuffie is one of the biggest reasons I felt empowered to write comics the way I do. So, to receive this nomination some 31 years later is blowing my mind. I know I've put the work in; however, I won't lie and say I expected to be seen this way for my efforts. I'm standing on the shoulders of the trailblazers before me, and that is a feeling I can't quite articulate yet, but I'm sure I'll find the words in the days to come. Congratulations to all the nominees!!!!" And she did indeed find some more words. Saying "I'm deeply fascinated by how getting Eisner nominations have blown some doors open for things I didn't even know had a damn door" and then "It's actually kinda wild that not one major comic news outlet (not including podcasts like @blerdwithoutfear, @pinkriotcomicshow, @blackcomiclords, @comicsleague2021, @forallnerds , etc) have written any pieces about not only my historic Eisner nominations (first Black Woman and the second Black person since 95 for the Best Writer category) but also the amount of diverse nominations this year in total. Also, let me state that no, it's not surprising; however, I'm not going just to say nothing because it's actually pretty f-cking ridiculous."

Jona Newman posted to Instagram, "Eisner voters: Voting closes June 5!!! Please vote for @queersportsproject for best anthology as well as for @stackeddeckpress's full slate of nominees. Complimentary digital review copies of all the nominated comics are available! Contact @taramavery at tara[at]stackeddeckpress[dot]com for details!"

Chris Samnee adds to his newsletter, "I'm very honored to share that I have been nominated for this year's Eisner award for Best Penciller/Inker for Batman & Robin: Year One!"

Joe Illidge posted to Threads, "Absolutely THRILLED by the Eisner Award nomination in the Best Anthology category for my publisher FairSquare Graphics for the NOIR IS THE NEW BLACK Season 2 anthology, which features THE WINTERFIELDS by yours truly, Chris Williams, Andrew Dalhouse, and David Cal Alonso, LITTLE ROCK FILES by Greg Burnham and Quinn McGowan, and various other stories of the culture! The judges have spoken, and we are honored to be in such incredible company". Fairsquare messaged to say "This is an exciting time to be a Noir Is the New Black fan. This final issue of Noir Is The New Black Season 2 is going to blow your mind and we're going to also offer collected editions of The Winterfields and Little Rock Files. And to add even more excitement to our lives, our series has earned a nomination for Best Anthology at the prestigious Eisner Awards 2026!"

Mark Kaufman posted, "I have an @EisnerAwards conundrum. Two books I designed have been nominated in the same category! I'm going to have to flip a coin to decide which to vote for on my ballot. Both books deserve to win, both are so good, and were a joy to work on. If you have a ballot, please vote for one of these in the Best Comics-Related Book category. Thanks for your support!"

Francesco Francavilla posted, "Once again, I can't express enough how happy and thankful I am to be considered for the Best Cover Artist category this year! The ballot doesn't mention the titles that made the selection possible this year so I thought to put together a little collage: these are (some of) the covers that got me the nomination. Humbly submitting them to you all for consideration."

Ethan M Aldridge said "Eisner ballots are being sent out! If you're voting, please consider my hand-drawn story in the Best Webcomic category!"

Kieron Gillen posted to Buttondown, "The Eisner award nominations are out, and The Power Fantasy are in it. Hurrah! We're delighted by this – very much a surprise, and thanks for the judges for including us. These is a great selection of books to stand beside."

Jazzyln Stone of Tiny Onion posted on Substack, " Late last week we were honored to find out Tiny Onion creators and titles were nominated for NINE Eisner Awards. Incredible! We are so grateful to the judges that took the time to read our comics and celebrate our creators. Thank you! And the nominations are…

• BEST NEW SERIES:
  Exquisite Corpses by James Tynion IV, Michael Walsh, Jordie Bellaire, Becca Carey, Adam Gorham, Che Grayson, Claire Roe, Gavin Fullerton, Marianna Ignazzi, Pornsak Pichetshote, Tyler Boss & Valentine De Landro (published by Image Comics)
• BEST CONTINUING SERIES:
  The Department of Truth by James Tynion IV, Martin Simmonds, Aditya Bidikar, Letizia Cadonici, Jordie Bellaire, Scott Snyder & Joshua Hixson (published by Image Comics)
• BEST ONE-SHOT/SINGLE ISSUE:
  Something is Killing the Children: A Monster Hunter Walks into a Bar #1 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'Edera, Miquel Muerto & AndWorld Design (published by BOOM! Studios)
• BEST LIMITED SERIES:
  Everything Dead & Dying by Tate Brombal, Jacob Phillips, Pip Martin & Aditya Bidikar (published by Image Comics)
• BEST WRITER:
  James Tynion IV: Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd: The Power of the Blood (published by BOOM! Studios); Let This One Be a Devil, Red Book (published by Dark Horse); The City Beneath Her Feet (published by DSTLRY); The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, w0rldtr33 (published by Image Comics); Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man (published by Image Skybound)
• BEST PENCILER/INKER:
  Elsa Charretier: The City Beneath Her Feet (published by DSTLRY)
• BEST COLORING:
  Jordie Bellaire: The Nice House by the Sea (published by DC); The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, w0rldtr33 (published by Image Comics)
• BEST PAINTER/MULTIMEDIA ARTIST:
  Martin Simmonds: The Department of Truth (published by Image Comics)
• BEST LETTERING:
  Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou: You'll Do Bad Things (published by Image Comics)

"Congratulations to all of the nominated creators! We're so proud to work with you! The deadline for registered industry voting is June 5. Registered voters, please consider voting for the above titles when casting your ballot!"

Clover Press posted "nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Publication Design, recognizing the incredible work of Kurtis Findlay. If you're eligible to vote, we'd be grateful if you would consider supporting this beautiful book." And Kurtsi Findlay backed that up too, saying "Hi everyone! If you are an Eisner voter, please consider voting for me and The Marvel Art of Michael Allred in the category Best Publication Design. There is some pretty tough competition so I could use your support!"

Image Comics released the following: "This year, the Eisner Award committee honours Image Comics creators with 21 total Eisner nominations—12 nominations and 9 shared nominations. Voting for the awards is being held online. All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote. Those who voted in 2025 or who registered to vote by May 14 will automatically be invited to fill out the new ballot. The deadline for voting is June 5. The Eisner Award trophies will be presented in a gala awards ceremony to be held at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront Hotel during Comic-Con on the evening of July 24. Below is the list of Image Eisner nominees; the full list of nominees can be found here."

• BEST ONE-SHOT/SINGLE ISSUE
  Assorted Crisis Events #4, by Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadski (Image)
  Ice Cream Man #43: "One Page Horror Stories," by W. Maxwell Prince and others (Image)
• BEST CONTINUING SERIES
  The Department of Truth, by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)
  The Power Fantasy, by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard (Image)
• BEST LIMITED SERIES
  Everything Dead and Dying, by Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips (Image)
• BEST NEW SERIES
  Assorted Crisis Events, by Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadski (Image)
  Exquisite Corpses, by James Tynion IV, Michael Walsh, and others (Image)
  Ghost Pepper, by Ludo Lullabi (Image Skybound)
• BEST PUBLICATION FOR TEENS
  Clementine: Book Three, by Tillie Walden (Image Skybound)
• BEST WRITER
  Deniz Camp, Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC); Assorted Crisis Events (Image); The Ultimates (Marvel)
  James Tynion IV, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd: The Power of the Blood (BOOM! Studios); Let This One Be a Devil, Red Book (Dark Horse); The City Beneath Her Feet (DSTLRY); The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, W0RLDTR33 (Image); Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man (Image Skybound)
• BEST WRITER/ARTIST
  Juni Ba, The Boy Wonder (DC); The Fable of Erkling Woods (Goats Flying Press); Monkey Meat Summer Batch (Image)
• BEST PENCILLER/INKER
  Sean Phillips, Giant Size Criminal #1, The Knives: A Criminal Book (Image)
  Eric Zawadzki, Assorted Crisis Events (Image)
• BEST PAINTER/MULTIMEDIA ARTIST
  Martin Simmonds, The Department of Truth (Image)
• BEST COVER ARTIST
  Juni Ba, The Boy Wonder (DC); The Fable of Erkling Woods (Goats Flying Press); TMNT Nightwatcher, TMNT Godzilla (IDW); Monkey Meat Summer Batch (Image)
• BEST COLORING
  Jordie Bellaire, Assorted Crisis Events, The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, W0RLDTR33 (Image); G.I. Joe (Image/Skybound)
  Matheus Lopes, Batman and Robin Year One (DC); The Seasons (Image)
• BEST LETTERING
  Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Ill Vacation, Stillman (Comixology Originals); Absolute Martian Manhunter, Challengers of the Unknown, DC K.O., The Flash, Green Arrow, Poison Ivy (DC); Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Starship Godzilla, (IDW); Author Immortal (Image); Our-Soot-Stained Heart (Mad Cave)
  Nate Piekos, American Caper #1, Archie Vs. Minor Threats, Black Hammer: Spiral City, The Brood, Minor Threats: The Last Devil Left Alive, Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons, The Umbrella Academy Plan B, Welcome to Twilight (Dark Horse); I Hate Fairyland (Image)

Rebellion Publishing stated, "I'm delighted to announce that Rebellion Publishing have received two nominations for the 2026 Eisner Awards, to be held as part of San Diego Comic-Con this July! The nominations are for The 2000 AD Annual 2026, which is up for Best Anthology, and for Scream! The Specials, which is nominated for Best Archival Collection/Project. Our thanks to the Eisner committee and judges for their consideration – and we look forward to attending the awards this Summer as part of our San Diego Comic-Con 2026 plans!"

• Best Anthology: 2000 AD Annual 2026, edited by Oliver Pickles
• Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: Scream! The Specials 1985–2024, edited by Chiara Mestieri

"With the news of the award nomination, 2000 AD have pulled copies of the 2000 AD Annual from their convention inventory so it can be re-offered to our readers through our webstore. We would also like to congratulate 2000 AD Art Droid PJ Holden on a nomination for Best Webcomic for Terran Omega, and Rebellion's own PR Droid Steve Morris, whose website Shelfdust was nominated in this year's shortlist for Best Comics Journalism/Publication."

Dustn Holland of Superfans Promotions posted for Comixology Originals "thrilled to share that The Lycan by Thomas Jane, David James Kelly, Mike Carey, and Diego Yapur has received a nomination for Best Digital Comic of 2026. In addition, Comixology Originals shares 3 nominations –  By a Thread co-writer Scott Snyder is nominated for Best Writer, GhostBox colourist José Villarrubia is nominated for Best Colourist, and Ill Vacation and Stillman letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is nominated for Best Lettering. Congrats to all the nominees! Be sure to vote if you're registered!"

IDW Entertainment stated "IDW Publishing is proud to announce a total of 11 nominations in the 2026 Eisner Awards, the prestigious event celebrating the very best storytelling and creatives from across the comic book industry over the past year. This tremendous recognition of IDW's stories features five solo nominations and six shared nominations. The solo nominations for IDW are…

Stacked Deck Press tells us they have "been nominated for three 2026 Eisner Awards. Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project, a comics anthology edited by Megan Praz and Meghan Kemp-Gee, has been nominated in the category of Best Anthology. Ooops…I Just Catharted!: Fifty Years of Cathartic Comics, by Rupert Kinnard and edited by William O. Tyler, has been nominated in the category of Best Comics-Related Book. "Football Is Not War", a story from Come Out and Play by R.K. Russell and Wilfred Santiago, has been nominated for Best Short Story. The winners of the 2026 Eisner Awards will be announced at a gala ceremony July 24th at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront Hotel. This ceremony is part of the 2026 San Diego Comic-Con International programming schedule. The nominated Stacked Deck Press titles will be available for purchase at Comic-Con at the Prism Comics table at booth 2144."

Dark Horse Comics posted "San Diego Comic-Con International has announced their official nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2025, Dark Horse Comics is overjoyed to share the Dark Horse titles for the 2026 Eisner Awards nominations. The nominees, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges, reflect the wide range of material published in comics and graphic novels. Named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, the awards are celebrating their 37th year and highlight the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels. Dark Horse's nominations can be found below. Congratulations to all of the nominees!

• Best Continuing Series: FML – by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez
• Best Humor Publication: The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt – by John Allison, Max Sarin, Sammy Borras, and Jim Campbell
• Best U.S. Edition of International Materia–Asia: Purgatory Funeral Cakes – by Sanho, translated by Danny Lim
• Best Writer: James Tynion IV – Something is Killing the Children, Wynd: The Power of Blood (BOOM! Studios); Let This One Be a Devil, Red Book (Dark Horse); The City Beneath Her Feet (DSTLRY); The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, WORLDTR33 (Image); Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man (Image Skybound)
• Best Painter: Teddy Kristiansen – Black Hammer: Spiral City
• Best Cover Artist: Francesco Francavilla – Star Wars: Tales from the Nightlands (Dark Horse); Absolute Batman, Absolute Martian Manhunter, Batman: Full Moon, Nightwing variants (DC); Green Hornet/Miss Fury (Dynamite); Star Trek: The Last Starship, Twilight Zone (IDW); Dick Tracy (Mad Cave)
• Best Colorist: José Villarrubia – This Ink Runs Cold (Alan Spiegel Fine Arts); Ghostbox (Comixology Originals); Dracula Book 2: The Brides, The Witcher: The Bear and the Butterfly (Dark Horse); It Rhymes with Takei (Top Shelf)
• Best Lettering: Nate Piekos – American Caper #1, Archie Vs. Minor Threats, Black Hammer: Spiral City, The Brood, Minor Threats: The Last Devil Left Alive, Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons, The Umbrella Academy Plan B, Welcome to Twilight (Dark Horse); I Hate Fairyland (Image)

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!