DC was the big winner in the 2026 Eisner Awards, with eight solo or shared awards including Best One Shot for Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1, Best Continuing Series for Absolute Batman, and Best Limited Series for Absolute Martian Manhunter. Two members of the Absolute Martian Manhunter creative team also won awards for their work on that series: Javier Rodriguez won the Best Penciller/Inker and Best Cover Artist awards, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou won the Best Letterer Award.
Abrams took home four Eisners, including two for Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux’s This Place Kills Me, the only other multiple winner. Tamaki and her cousin Jillian Tamaki won three Eisners in 2024 for their graphic novel Roaming (see “Tamakis Take Three”).
The previously announced Hall of Fame Inductees included distributor, retailer, and publisher Bud Plant (see “Bud Plant Named to Eisner Awards Hall of Fame”). This is the second year in a row that the awards have recognized the retail side of the comics industry. The voters’ choices were Colleen Doran, Jeff Smith, Akira Toriyama, and Chris Ware.
Here’s the full list of winners.
Best Short Story
“Blood Harvest,” in Brain Damage, by Shintaro Kago, translated by Zack Davisson (Fantagraphics)
Best One-Shot/Single Issue
Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1, by Daniel Warren Johnson, James Harren, and Meredith McClaren (DC)
Best Continuing Series
Absolute Batman, by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and others (DC)
Best Limited Series
Absolute Martian Manhunter, by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez (DC)
Best New Series
Assorted Crisis Events, by Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadzki (Image)
Best Publication for Early Readers
All the Hulk Feels, by Dan Santat (Abrams Fanfare/Marvel)
Best Publication for Kids
The Cartoonists Club, by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud (Scholastic Graphix)
Best Publication for Teens
This Place Kills Me, by Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux (Abrams Fanfare)
Best Humor Publication
Physics for Cats, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Anthology
DC Pride 2025, edited by Andrea Shea and Jillian Grant (DC)
Best Reality-Based Work
Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance, by Ben Passmore (Pantheon)
Best Graphic Memoir
It Rhymes with Takei, by George Takei, Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger (Top Shelf)
Best Graphic Album–New
Drome, by Jesse Lonergan (23rd St. Books)
Best Graphic Album–Reprint
Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen: The Deluxe Edition, by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber (DC)
Best Adaptation from Another Medium
Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel, by William Golding, adapted by Aimée De Jongh (Penguin Classics)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
Nocturnos, by Laura Perez, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia
Purgatory Funeral Cakes, by Sanho, translated by Danny Lim (Dark Horse)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1928–1930, edited by J. Michael Catron and Bill Blackbeard (Fantagraphics)
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
AKIRA Volumes 1–5 Hardcover Collection, by Katsuhiro Otomo, edited by Haruko Hashimoto, Ajani Oloye, and Lauren Scanlan (Kodansha USA Publishing)
Best Academic/Scholarly Work
Manga’s First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905–1989, by Andrea Horbinski (University of California Press)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
SKTCHD, by David Harper, www.sktchd.com
Best Comics-Related Book
Crumb: A Cartoonist’s Life, by Dan Nadel (Scribner)
Best Publication Design
The Essential Peanuts, designed by Shawn Dahl with Chip Kidd (Abrams ComicArts)
Best Webcomic
Tiger, Tiger by Petra Erika Nordlund (tigertigercomic.com)
Best Digital Comic
Practical Defense Against Piracy, by Tony Cliff (delilahdirk.com)
Best Writer
Mariko Tamaki, This Place Kills Me (Abrams Fanfare)
Best Writer/Artist
Jamal Campbell, Zatanna (DC)
Best Penciller/Inker
Javier Rodriguez, Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist
Martin Simmonds, The Department of Truth (Image)
Best Cover Artist
Javier Rodriguez, Absolute Martian Manhunter, Batman & Robin: Year One #7, The New Gods #8 (DC)
Best Coloring
Jordie Bellaire, Absolute Wonder Woman, The Nice House by the Sea (DC); The Exorcism at 1600 Penn (IDW); Assorted Crisis Events, The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, W0RLDTR33 (Image); G.I. Joe (Image/Skybound); EC Catacomb of Torment, EC Epitaphs from the Abyss (Oni Press)
Best Lettering
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Ill Vacation, Stillman (Comixology Originals); Absolute Martian Manhunter, Challengers of the Unknown, DC K.O., The Flash, Green Arrow, Poison Ivy (DC); Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Starship Godzilla, (IDW); Author Immortal (Image); Our-Soot-Stained Heart (Mad Cave)
Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Wendy and Richard Pini
Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Stipan Morian
Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing: Jenny Blake Isabella and Martin Pasko
Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Books with Pictures, Eugene Oregon
HALL OF FAME
Judges’ Choices: Bob Bolling, Gerry Conway, Denys Cowan, Edwina Dumm, Mike Friedrich, Oliver Harrington, Don Heck, Abe Kanegson, Lee Marrs, Go Nagai, Paul S. Newman, Hector German Osterheld, Tom Palmer Sr., Bud Plant, Mike Royer, Dave Sim, Jimmy Swinnerton, Carol Tyler, and Rick Veitch.
Voters’ Choices: Colleen Doran, Jeff Smith, Akira Toriyama, Chris Ware
Source: ICv2
