The 17th annual Eisner Awards ceremony held on July 15th at the San Diego Comic-Con was the first ceremony held since the passing of their namesake, comics grandmaster Will Eisner, last January.  All the presenters paid tribute to Eisner, and a film by Mark Askwith, with Eisner tributes by creators including Frank Miller, Mike Mignola and Dave Sim, was shown.

DC Comics earned the most Eisners with seven outright and five shared winners, while Dark Horse managed five winners plus two shared awards.  Among other publishers Fantagraphics won three Eisners outright while Marvel shared in three. 

A number of projects managed to win two awards, including Kyle Baker and Plastic Man (Best Writer/Artist Humor; Best Publication for a Younger Audience); Eric Powell and The Goon (Best Humor Publication, Best Continuing Series); Brian K. Vaughan and Ex Machina (Best Writer, Best New Series); Fables (Best Serialized Story, Best Cover Artist); and The Complete Peanuts (Best Archival Project and Best Publication Design).

Dave Gibbons' The Originals (Vertigo/DC) was voted the Best New Graphic Novel, and Dan Clowes' Eightball #23 was judged Best Single Issue.  Comic Book Artist won the Best Comics-Related Periodical and Gerard Jones' excellent history of the early days of comics, Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book took home the Best Comic-Related Book award.  

Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist won the Best Anthology award, while Paul Chadwick took home the coveted Best Writer/Artist trophy for Concrete: The Human Dilemma.  Chris Bailey, writer/artist of the all ages title, Major Damage, won The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award.

George Perez received The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award for his donation of artwork to raise money for charity, while Denis Kitchen was given the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Defender of Freedom Award.

The Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award went to Night Flight Comics of Salt Lake City, owned by Mimi Cruz and Alan Carroll.  Runners up for the retailer award included Austin Books and Comics owned by Brad Bankston, Heroes Comics (Dave Allread), Krypton Comics (Dean Phillips) and Olympic Cards & Games (Gabrielle Shepard).  Here's a complete list of the winners:

Best Short Story:
'Unfamiliar,' by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, in The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft (Dark Horse Books)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot):
Eightball #23: 'The Death Ray,' by Dan Clowes (Fantagraphics)

Best Serialized Story:
Fables #19-27: 'March of the Wooden Soldiers,' by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha (Vertigo/DC)

Best Continuing Series:
The Goon, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

Best Limited Series:
DC: The New Frontier, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)

Best New Series:
Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Fesiter (WildStorm/DC)

Best Publication for a Younger Audience:
Plastic Man, by Kyle Baker and Scott Morse (DC)

Best Humor Publication:
The Goon, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

Best Anthology:
Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, edited by Diana Schutz and David Land (Dark Horse)

Best Digital Comic:
Mom's Cancer, by Brian Fies

Best Graphic Album-New:
The Originals, by Dave Gibbons (Vertigo/DC)

Best Graphic Album-Reprint:
Bone One Volume Edition, by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)

Best Archival Collection/Project:
The Complete Peanuts, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material:
Buddha, vols. 3-4 by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)

Best Writer:
Brian K. Vaughan, Y: The Last Man (Vertigo/DC); Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC); Runaways (Marvel)

Best Writer/Artist:
Paul Chadwick, Concrete: The Human Dilemma (Dark Horse)

Best Writer/Artist-Humor:
Kyle Baker, Plastic Man (DC); Kyle Baker, Cartoonist (Kyle Baker Publishing)

Best Penciller/Inker (tie):
John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); Planetary (WildStorm/DC); I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun (Humanoids/DC); Frank Quitely, WE3 (Vertigo/DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art):
Teddy Kristiansen, It's a Bird... (Vertigo/DC)

Best Coloring:
Dave Stewart, Daredevil, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Six, Captain America (Marvel); Conan, BPRD (Dark Horse); DC: The New Frontier (DC)

Best Lettering:
Todd Klein, Promethea; Tom Strong; Tom Strong's Terrific Tales (ABC); Wonder Woman (DC); Books of Magick: Life During Wartime; Fables; WE3 (Vertigo/DC); Creatures of the Night (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist:
James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); Green Arrow, Batgirl (DC)

Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition:
Sean McKeever (A Waiting Place; Mary Jane; Inhumans; Sentinels)

Best Comics-Related Periodical:
Comic Book Artist, edited by Jon B. Cooke (Top Shelf)

Best Comics-Related Book:
Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, by Gerard Jones (Basic Books)

Best Publication Design:
The Complete Peanuts, designed by Seth (Fantagraphics)

Hall of Fame

Judges' choices:
Lou Fine; Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

Voters' choices:
Nick Cardy, Gene Colan, Johnny Craig, Hugo Pratt

Other Awards