2017 Eisner Award Winners
Saga ran away with the lion’s share of the Eisners this year, nabbing four. This gave Image Comics five awards. The second runner-up was Sonny Liew’s The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, from Pantheon. While Saga took the most awards, thius did not give Image Comics a monopoly on Eisners, since all but one, for Matt Wilson’s coloring work (which also included work for Marvel), was for Saga. Dark Horse took home five Eisners as well, and DC took home four with Jill Thompson’s Wonder Woman: The True Amazon taking two. Marvel and Pantheon took home three, and IDW took home two for Love is Love, and March: Book Three from their Top Shelf imprint. The other publishers to each take home one Eisner were First Second, Archie, Harper, Bloomsbury, Tundra, Scholastic, Sunday Press and Fantagraphics.
Here is a complete list of the winners.
Best New Series: Black Hammer, by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston
Best Limited Series: The Vision, by Tom King and Gabriel Walta
Best Continuing Series: Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Best Graphic Album—Reprint: Demon, by Jason Shiga (First Second)
Best Reality-Based Work: March, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
Best Graphic Album—New: Wonder Woman: The True Amazon, by Jill Thompson
Best Writer: Brian K. Vaughan (Paper Girls, Saga)
Best Writer/Artist: Sonny Liew (The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye)
Best Penciller/Inker—Individual or Team: Fiona Staples (Saga)
Best Coloring: Matt Wilson (Cry Havoc, Paper Girls, The Wicked + The Divine; Black Widow, The Mighty Thor, Star-Lord)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Jill Thompson (Wonder Woman: The True Amazon; Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In)
Best Lettering: Todd Klein (Clean Room, Dark Night, Lucifer; Black Hammer)
Best Digital Comic: Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover
Best Webcomic: Bird Boy, by Anne Szabla
Best Cover Artist: Fiona Staples (Saga)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Moebius Library: The World of Elena, by Jean “Moebius” Giraud et al.
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia: The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by Sonny Liew
Best Humor Publication: Jughead, by Chip Zdarsky, Ryan North, Erica Henderson, and Derek Charm
Bill Finger Award: William Messner-Loebs and Jack Kirby
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: The AV Club
Best Comics-Related Book: Krazy: George Herriman: A Life in Black and White, by Michael Tisserand
Best Academic/Scholarly Work: Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation, by Carolyn Cocoa
Best Publication Design: The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, designed by Sonny Liew
Best Short Story: “Good Boy,” by Tom King and David Finch, in Batman Annual #1
Best Single Issue/One-Shot: Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In, by Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, and Jill Thompson
Best Anthology: Love Is Love, edited by Sarah Gaydos and Jamie S. Rich
Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Anne Szabla, writer/artist of Bird-Boy
Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Joe Ferrara, for work in prostate cancer awareness, and Mark Andreyko, for the Love Is Love anthology.
Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8): Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, by Ben Clinton
Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12): Ghosts, by Raina Telgemeier
Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17): The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, by Ryan North and Erica Henderson
Hall of Fame: Judges’ Choices: Milt Gross, H.G. Peter, Antonio Prohias, Dori Seda Voters’ Choices: Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, George Perez, Walter Simonson, James Starlin
Will Eisner Spirit of Retailer Award: Comicazi, Somerville, MA
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips: Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy, Colorful Cases of the 1930s, edited by Peter Maresca
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: The Complete Wimmin’s Comix, edited by Trina Robbins, Gary Groth, and J. Michael Catron