Manga and global manga creators did well in the Eisner nominations, but when it came to the actual awards, it was pretty scarce. The only manga title to win in its category was Old Boy, and that had to be a manga because the category was “Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Japan.”
Not that the winners weren’t deserving—I’m sure they were. I read Fun Home, American Born Chinese, and Gray Horses, and they were all great. But it would be nice to see manga do better, because there were some really strong books in there.
As a reminder of what could have been, here is a list of the manga that were nominated and the actual winners.
Best Continuing Series
Nominated: Naoki Urasawa’s Monster
Winner: All Star Superman
Best New Series
Nominated: East Coast Rising, by Becky Cloonan
Winner: Criminal, by Ed Brubaker
Best Anthology
Nominated: Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators
Winner: Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
Best Archival Project/Collection—Comic Books
Nominated: Abandon the Old in Tokyo; Ode to Kirihito
Winner: Absolute Sandman, vol. 1
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan
Nominated: After School Nightmare, Antique Bakery, Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, by Naoki Urasawa, Walking Man
Winner: Old Boy
Special Recognition
Nominated: Ross Campbell, Abandoned, Wet Moon 2; Svetlana Chmakova, Dramacon
Winner: Hope Larson, Gray Horses
UPDATE: Ed comments at MangaCast.
I was really disappointed that Japan lost. I mean, how many Eisners does Fables really need? Though maybe nomination for Japan will get more people reading it.
Wow. Even the one Japanese comic that won (in the Japanese comic category, no less) was an adaptation of a Korean property.
Park Chan-wook adapted the Nobuaki Minegishi manga. Minegishi’s original is a clever play on pulp noir. If you enjoyed the movie, I reccomend that manga. It’s very interesting to compare the two.
I’d be surprised if the majority of voters had even read Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators, as it’s a unfortunately obscure Fanfare/Ponent Mon title. I also suspect Old Boy won because of its publisher and their profile in the mainstream comic industry. Doesn’t really matter, as there’s always more factors involved than simply “what’s the best” when it comes to awards.
Well, it was inevitable that ONE Japanese title would win, since there was a category for Best U.S. Edition of Japanese Material! In my opinion the most direct-market-friendly title won, which is probably inevitable given the voting system for the Eisners.
Audry Taylor and I had a “Loser’s Breakfast” the morning after with Svetlana Chmakova, which eased the pain. (Actually, the pain on my end was mild since I never expected After School Nightmare to win.)