El Deafo, Hello Kitty Make Eisner Shortlist

This year’s nominees for the Eisner Awards, the most prestigious awards in comics, were announced yesterday. The Eisners have three categories for children’s comics and graphic novels, and a number of kid-friendly and YA titles were also nominated in other categories.

Here are the three kids’ categories:

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)
BirdCatDog, by Lee Nordling & Meritxell Bosch (Lerner/Graphic Universe)
A Cat Named Tim And Other Stories, by John Martz (Koyama Press)
Hello Kitty, Hello 40: A Celebration in 40 Stories, edited by Traci N. Todd & Elizabeth Kawasaki (VIZ)
Mermin, Book 3: Deep Dives, by Joey Weiser (Oni)
The Zoo Box, by Ariel Cohn & Aron Nels Steinke (First Second)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)
Batman Li’l Gotham, vol. 2, by Derek Fridolfs & Dustin Nguyen (DC)
El Deafo, by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)
I Was the Cat, by Paul Tobin & Benjamin Dewey (Oni)
Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, by Eric Shanower & Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
Tiny Titans: Return to the Treehouse, by Art Baltazar & Franco (DC)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)
Doomboy, by Tony Sandoval (Magnetic Press)
The Dumbest Idea Ever, by Jimmy Gownley (Graphix/Scholastic)
Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)
Meteor Men, by Jeff Parker & Sandy Jarrell (Oni)
The Shadow Hero, by Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew (First Second)
The Wrenchies, by Farel Dalrymple (First Second)

Children’s and YA books nominated in other categories:

Best Continuing Series
Bandette, by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain)
Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction & David Aja (Marvel)
Both of these series were 2014 YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens picks

Best Limited Series
Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, by Eric Shanower & Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)

Best New Series
Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)
Ms. Marvel, by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona (Marvel)

Best Digital/Web Comic
Bandette, by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover, Monkeybrain/comiXology.com
Nimona, by Noelle Stephenson, http://gingerhaze.com/nimona/comic

Best Reality-Based Work
El Deafo, by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, by Nathan Hale (Abrams)

Best Graphic Album—New
This One Summer, by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki (First Second)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
One-Punch Man, by One & Yusuke Murata (VIZ)
Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki, by Mamoru Hosada & Yu (Yen Press)

Best Writer
G. Willow Wilson, Ms. Marvel (Marvel)
Gene Luen Yang, Avatar: The Last Airbender (Dark Horse); The Shadow Hero (First Second)

Best Writer/Artist
Raina Telgemeier, Sisters (Graphix/Scholastic)

Best Penciller/Inker
Adrian Alphona, Ms. Marvel (Marvel)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Colleen Coover, Bandette (Monkeybrain)

Best Cover Artist
Jamie McKelvie/Matthew Wilson, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); Ms. Marvel (Marvel)

Best Coloring
Nelson Daniel, Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, Judge Dredd, Wild Blue Yonder (IDW)
Lovern Kindzierski, The Graveyard Book, vols. 1-2 (Harper)

Best Lettering
Joe Caramagna, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil (Marvel)
Jack Morelli, Afterlife with Archie, Archie, Betty and Veronica, etc. (Archie)

This year’s Eisner Awards jury included comics retailer Carr DeAngelo (Earth-2 Comics, Los Angeles, CA), librarian/educator Richard Graham (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), Eisner Award–winning author Sean Howe (Marvel Comics: The Untold Story), educator/author Susan Kirtley (Portland State University), Comic-Con International committee member Ron McFee, and writer/editor Maggie Thompson (Comic-Con’s Toucan blog, Diamond’s Scoop newsletter).

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