This past Friday, Dark Horse Comics, the number-one independent publisher in the industry, took home an impressive number of awards at this year’s Eisner Awards ceremony.

Below is a list of the company’s wins.

Congratulations to all winners and nominees!

Named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, the Eisner Awards are in their twenty-sixth year of highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels.

BEST PUBLICATION FOR EARLY READERS (UP TO AGE 7): Itty Bitty Hellboy, by Art Baltazar and Franco

BEST PUBLICATION FOR KIDS (AGES 8-12): Adventures of Superhero Girl, by Faith Erin Hicks

BEST ANTHOLOGY: Dark Horse Presents, edited by Mike Richardson

BEST REALITY-BASED WORK: The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story, by Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, and Kyle Baker

BEST COLORING: 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)

Image Comics creators honored with awards, congratulates fellow creator-owned publishers for wins

Click heLast night’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2014 marked a clear victory for creator-owned comics in the industry with creator-owned work—published by Image Comics, as well as Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, Vertigo, First Second, Cartoon Books, and Image Comics creators Scott Snyder, Jeff Smith, Matt Fraction, Paul Pope, and Sean Murphy for their projects with various other publishers—sweeping the awards. 

Image Comics was honored with four Eisner Awards: Best Colorist went to Jordie Bellaire (PRETTY DEADLY, NOWHERE MEN), Best Artist to Fiona Staples (SAGA), Best Writer to Brian K. Vaughan (SAGA), best new series was awarded to SEX CRIMINALS by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, and SAGA by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples took Best Continuing Series. 

Fellow comics publisher Fantagraphics took the Best Short Story (Untitled by Gilbert Hernandez), Best U.S. Edition of International Material (Goddam This War! by Jacques Tardi and Jean-Pierre Verney), Best Writer/Artist (Jaime Hernandez, Love and Rockets New Stories #6). In addition, Dark Horse won Best Publication for Kids, ages 8-12 (The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks). Collectively the wins denote the ever-growing importance and rising appreciation of creator-owned work.

“This year’s Eisner Awards only underscored the power and importance of creator-owned comics, and we couldn’t be prouder to be amongst this year’s winners,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “We work with some amazing men and women, and there’s nothing more gratifying than knowing others value their efforts just as much as we do.”

The Will Eisner Comic Industry awards are voted on by comics industry members and the awards ceremony is held in conjunction with San Diego Comic-Con International every year. This year Image Comics was honored with 17 nominations and four wins. re to edit.

And the nominees are… On sale, 50% off all digital editions for a limited time

Comic-Con International announced the nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2014 this morning, 17 of which were published by Image Comics. An additional three nominations were shared with other publishers, bringing the total nominations for Image Comics to 20.

Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ SAGA, a winner of previous Eisner awards, was nominated in four categories. The hit series was nominated for Best Continuing Series, writer Brian K. Vaughan was nominated for Best Writer, and artist Fiona Staples was nominated in the Best Painter/Multimedia Artist and Best Cover Artist categories.
 
Eric Stephenson and Nate Bellegarde’s NOWHERE MEN held its own with three nominations and an additional shared nomination. The series was nominated in the Best Continuing Series category, writer and Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson was nominated for Best Writer, artist Nate Bellegarde was nominated for Best Penciller/Inker, and Jordie Bellaire was nominated in the Best Coloring category for several projects that included NOWHERE MEN, as well as other Image titles like THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS, PRETTY DEADLY, and ZERO.
 
Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta’s EAST OF WEST also raked in three nominations, including Best Continuing Series. Artist Nick Dragotta was nominated for Best Penciller/Inker and Frank Martin was nominated for Best Coloring for their work on the series.
 
Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s SEX CRIMINALS, which has taken the comics industry by storm and was hailed by TIME Magazine as “comic series of the year,” earned two nominations, one for Best Continuing Series and one for Best New Series. In addition, writer Matt Fraction was nominated for Best Writer for several series, including SEX CRIMINALS.
 
Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Ríos’s PRETTY DEADLY received two nominations, plus another two shared nominations. Emma Ríos was nominated for Best Penciller/Inker and Best Cover Artist. The shared nominations included Kelly Sue DeConnick for Best Writer and Best Coloring for Jordie Bellaire. 
 
Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s critically acclaimed dystopian action series LAZARUS was nominated in the Best New Series category, as was Shadowline/Image’s fantasy series RAT QUEENS by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch. 
 
OUTLAW TERRITORY, VOL. 3, edited by Michael Woods, was nominated for Best Anthology. 
 
“I couldn’t be more proud of all the insanely awesome men and women currently working with us at Image Comics,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “One of the great joys of my life has been watching all of these incredible comics make the transition from an exciting idea to an amazing series, and I think our strong showing on this year’s Eisner ballot only further underscores the strength and vitality of creator-owned comics.”
 
In celebration of the nominated series, Image Comics will offer 50% off all the digital editions of the following nominated titles—available on the Image Comics Website immediately, and on ComiXology, Google Play, Amazon, and Apple iBooks beginning 4/16—through midnight EST on April 21, 2014: EAST OF WEST, NOWHERE MEN, SAGA, SEX CRIMINALS, LAZARUS, RAT QUEENS, PRETTY DEADLY, MANHATTAN PROJECTS, ZERO, and OUTLAW TERRITORY, VOL. 3. 
 
Voting for the awards will open soon at www.eisnervote.com. All professionals in the comic book industry are eligible to vote. The deadline for voting is June 13. The results of the voting will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 25 at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Twelve nominations in ten categories!

DARK HORSE EISNER AWARD NOMINEES 2014

Comic-Con International has announced the nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards 2014!  Dark Horse Comics has twelve category nominations and one shared nomination. The nominees, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges, reflect the wide range of material being published in comics and graphic novel form today, from children’s stories and World War II battles to high school angst and pulp fiction. Named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, the awards are in their twenty-sixth year of highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels.