Following a successful experiment in 2023, the Eisner Awards will officially become two ceremonies in 2024 as the Hall of Fame spin off with its own dedicated judging panel. The split comes as the number of eligible inductees continually expands necessitating more time during the individual Eisner Awards ceremony and expertise involved.
The Will Eisner Hall of Fame inducts persons who have made a major contribution to the comics medium, with a candidate’s base eligibility having their first significant work published at least 35 years prior. Currently inductees are selected by a mix of automatic judge selection and online ballot. The automatic judge selection includes those of merit that might be overlooked by voters, have been nominated multiple times, and those from the pioneering years of the medium.
Due to the largest Hall of Fame intake (19 people!) so far – the 2023 Eisner Awards experienced with a separate Hall of Fame ceremony on the Friday morning of San Diego Comic-Con, which was reportedly “well received.” As of next year it will continue to be part of the schedule, with the addition of its own Eisner judging panel comprised of experts in comics history and culture.
According to the press release:
“As more and more creators have become eligible for the Hall of Fame…the judging panels in recent years have felt the need to expand the number of inductees. In 2022 there were 6 judges’ elections and 6 elected inductees. In 2023 there were 15 judges’ elections and 4 elected inductees.
“To accommodate the increase in recipients in 2023, a separate Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday morning of Comic-Con was established. Doing so allowed for each inductee to get greater attention, and it led to a shorter Friday night ceremony for the other 32 categories (45 minutes less than in 2022).
“Holding the separate ceremony was well received, and a similar ceremony is planned for Comic-Con 2024. In addition, to lighten the load on the Eisner judges so they can focus on the other categories, a separate Hall of Fame judging panel has been enlisted. This panel is made up of past Eisner Awards judges whose expertise is in the history of comics.”
The announced 2024 Hall of Fame panel is a group of six veteran Eisner Awards judges: retired professor, comics researcher and author Dr. William Foster; writer, illustrator and columnist Michael T. Gilbert; Columbia University’s Comics and Cartoons Curator Karen Green; comics educator and advocate Alonso Nuñez; independent comics scholar Jim Thompson; and dedicated comics expert Maggie Thompson. Alonso Nuñez and Jim Thompson will serve as co-chairs.
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards have been around since 1988, continuing on from the Jack Kirby Awards that had been run from 1985 to 1987; it comprises over thirty categories celebrating every element of the comics industry. The Hall of Fame began with the final year of the Kirby Awards (1987) honoring Carl Barks, Will Eisner, and Jack Kirby. Under the Eisner moniker, the first Will Eisner Hall of Fame inductee (1988) was Milton Caniff. Judge selections of automatic inductees were introduced in 2015, with Little Lulu creator Marge (Marjorie Henderson Buell) and Katy Keene creator Bill Woggon.
The 2023 inductees included fifteen people selected by judges, eleven of whom died, with an additional four (three living, one deceased) chosen by vote. These included Jerry Bails (1933-2006), Brian Bolland (1951-), Tony DeZuniga (1932-2012), Justin Green (1945-2022), Bill Griffith (1944-), Jay Jackson (1905-1954), Jeffrey Catherine Jones (1944-2011), Jack Katz (1927-), Aline Kominsky-Crumb (1948-2022), Win Mortimer (1919-1998), Ann Nocenti (1957-), Diane Noomin (1947-2022), Gaspar Saladino (1927-2016), Kim Thompson (1956-2013), Tim Sale (1956-2022), Diana Schutz (1955-), Gary Trudeau (1948-), Mort Walker (1923-2018), and Tatjana Wood (1926-).
The full press release:
“WILL EISNER COMIC INDUSTRY AWARDS HALL OF FAME TO HAVE SEPARATE JUDGING, CEREMONY
“The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards will turn 36 in 2024. Each year, a panel of judges select the nominees in 30+ categories, and then professionals in the comics industry vote to choose the winners. The trophies are then handed out in an awards ceremony on Friday night of Comic-Con.
“For the Hall of Fame portion of the awards, the judging has evolved to include not only nominees to be voted on via an online ballot but also automatic inductees selected by the judges. These are people that the judges feel have made better contributions to the comic book/graphic storytelling medium but are unlikely to be chosen by voters. These choices have included persons from the pioneering years of comics as well as creators who have been nominated multiple times but not yet been inducted.
“As more and more creators have become eligible for the Hall of Fame (the person’s first significant professional work must have appeared at least 35 years before the year of the awards), the judging panels in recent years have felt the need to expand the number of inductees. In 2022 there were 6 judges’ elections and 6 elected inductees. In 2023 there were 15 judges’ elections and 4 elected inductees.
“To accommodate the increase in recipients in 2023, a separate Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday morning of Comic-Con was established. Doing so allowed for each inductee to get greater attention, and it led to a shorter Friday night ceremony for the other 32 categories (45 minutes less than in 2022).
“Holding the separate ceremony was well received, and a similar ceremony is planned for Comic-Con 2024. In addition, to lighten the load on the Eisner judges so they can focus on the other categories, a separate Hall of Fame judging panel has been enlisted. This panel is made up of past Eisner Awards judges whose expertise is in the history of comics. Their task is to arrive at the judges’ election inductees and the nominees to be voted on, with the goal of reaching these decisions by early February. (The 2024 Eisner Awards Call for Entries will be issued in early January, and the judges for 2024 will be announced at that time.)
“The Hall of Fame judges are Dr. William Foster, Michael T. Gilbert, Karen Green, Alonso Nuñez, Jim Thompson, and (no relation) Maggie Thompson. The co-chairs of the judging panel are Jim and Alonso. The Eisner Awards Administrator is Jackie Estrada.
“The Eisner Awards, part of the San Diego Comic Convention organization, are held each summer during Comic-Con.”
