Better late than never right? About a month ago the Girls Entertainment Network comic book team reviewed the work of Eisner nominees in ten different categories. All in all it ended up being nearly 50 mini-reviews of some of the most respected properties of the year. Many publishers were fantastic and sent us copies of the selected works. The remaining pieces we scrounged up on our own. The whole process was a ridiculous amount of work (especially for our editor Stephanie), but it was well worth it in the end!

I really wanted to post a link to the piece and pimp it out while we were running the feature initially, but it was too tough timing-wise with all the SDCC prep. And while the Eisner winners have already been announced (see the list after the jump), I still think there is merit in reading through it–these are the best books of the year after all! So if you have a second feel free to  browse through the nominees by category. It even functions as a buying guide if you are new to comics!

  • Best Short Story: “Murder He Wrote,” by Ian Boothby, Nina Matsumoto, and Andrew Pepoy, in The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror #14 (Bongo)
  • Best Continuing Series: All Star Superman. by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)
  • Best Limited Series: Hellboy: The Crooked Man, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben (Dark Horse)
  • Best New Series: Invincible Iron Man, by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca (Marvel)
  • Best Publication for Kids: Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC)
  • Best Publication for Teens/Tweens: Coraline, by Neil Gaiman, adapted by P. Craig Russell (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
  • Best Humor Publication: Herbie Archives, by “Shane O’Shea” (Richard E. Hughes) and Ogden Whitney (Dark Horse)
  • Best Anthology: Comic Book Tattoo: Narrative Art Inspired by the Lyrics and Music of Tori Amos, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Image)
  • Best Webcomic: Finder, by Carla Speed McNeil, www.shadowlinecomics.com/webcomics/#/finder/
  • Best Reality-Based Work: What It Is, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • Best Graphic Album—New: Swallow Me Whole, by Nate Powell (Top Shelf)
  • Best Graphic Album—Reprint: Hellboy Library Edition, vols. 1 and 2, by Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)
  • Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips: Little Nemo in Slumberland, Many More Splendid Sundays, by Winsor McCay (Sunday Press Books)
  • Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: Creepy Archives, by various (Dark Horse)
  • Best U.S. Edition of International Material: The Last Musketeer, by Jason (Fantagraphics)
  • Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan: Dororo, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)
  • Best Writer: Bill Willingham, Fables, House of Mystery (Vertigo/DC)
  • Best Writer/Artist: Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library (Acme)
  • Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team: Guy Davis, BPRD (Dark Horse)
  • Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Jill Thompson, Magic Trixie, Magic Trixie Sleeps Over (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
  • Best Cover Artist: James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse)
  • Best Coloring: Dave Stewart, Abe Sapien: The Drowning, BPRD, The Goon, Hellboy, Solomon Kane, The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse); Body Bags (Image); Captain America: White (Marvel)
  • Best Lettering: Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #19 (Acme)
  • Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: Comic Book Resources, produced by Jonah Weiland (www.comicbookresources.com)
  • Best Comics-Related Book: Kirby: King of Comics, by Mark Evanier (Abrams)
  • Best Publication Design: Hellboy Library Editions, designed by Cary Grazzini and Mike Mignola (Dark Horse)
  • Hall of Fame: Judges’ choices: Harold Gray, Graham Ingels; Voters’ choices: Matt Baker, Reed Crandall, Russ Heath, Jerry Iger

If you follow comics, how do the Eisner winners stack up? Anything surprise or upset you?

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