Spirit of Will Eisner Lives on at 2005 Eisner Awards

The 17th Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards were bestowed on Friday, July 15, 2005, in a gala ceremony in the ballroom at the San Diego Convention Center. The awards event was dedicated to Eisner, who died in January. His presence was felt throughout the evening, as presenter after presenter shared thoughts about the late comics giant. The ceremony was preceded by a slide show of Eisners career and a video with taped tributes from many creators who couldnt attend, including Frank Miller, Mike Mignola and Dave Sim. Wills widow, Ann, appeared briefly on stage to welcome everyone.

The Eisner award winners were spread out among a variety of creators and titles, with only a few projects winning two trophies. The multiple winners were Kyle Baker and PLASTIC MAN (Best Writer/Artist Humor; Best Publication for a Younger Audience), Eric Powell and THE GOON (Best Humor Publication, Best Continuing Series), Brian K. Vaughan and EX MACHINA (Best Writer, Best New Series), FABLES (Best Serialized Story, Best Cover Artist for James Jean) and THE COMPLETE PEANUTS (Best Archival Project, Best Publication Design).

New this year was the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The chair of the awards jury, Jerry Robinson, presented the first Bill Finger Awards to Jerry Siegel (accepted by his widow, Joanne) and to Arnold Drake, who roused the crowd with a hilarious a capella song about the San Diego Comic-Con.

The following is a complete list of the 2005 award winners:

Best Short Story:"Unfamiliar," by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, in THE DARK HORSE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT (Dark Horse Books)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot):EIGHTBALL #23: "The Death Ray," by Dan Clowes (Fantagraphics)

Best Serialized Story:FABLES #19-27: "March of the Wooden Soldiers," by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha (Vertigo/DC)

Best Continuing Series:THE GOON, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

Best Limited Series:DC: THE NEW FRONTIER, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)

Best New Series:EX MACHINA, by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Fesiter (WildStorm/DC)

Best Publication for a Younger Audience:PLASTIC MAN, by Kyle Baker and Scott Morse (DC)

Best Humor Publication:THE GOON, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

Best Anthology:MICHAEL CHABON PRESENTS THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE ESCAPIST, edited by Diana Schutz and David Land (Dark Horse)

Best Digital Comic:MOM'S CANCER, by Brian Fies

Best Graphic Album-New:THE ORIGINALS, by Dave Gibbons (Vertigo/DC)

Best Graphic Album-Reprint:BONE ONE VOLUME EDITION, by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)

Best Archival Collection/Project:THE COMPLETE PEANUTS, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material:BUDDHA, vols. 3-4 by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)

Best Writer:Brian K. Vaughan, Y: THE LAST MAN (Vertigo/DC); EX MACHINA (WildStorm/DC); RUNAWAYS (Marvel)

Best Writer/Artist:Paul Chadwick, CONCRETE: THE HUMAN DILEMMA (Dark Horse)

Best Writer/Artist-Humor:Kyle Baker, PLASTIC MAN (DC); KYLE BAKER, CARTOONIST (Kyle Baker Publishing)

Best Penciller/Inker (tie):John Cassaday, ASTONISHING X-MEN (Marvel); PLANETARY (WildStorm/DC); I AM LEGION: THE DANCING FAUN (Humanoids/DC); Frank Quitely, WE3 (Vertigo/DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art):Teddy Kristiansen, IT'S A BIRD... (Vertigo/DC)

Best Coloring:Dave Stewart, DAREDEVIL, ULTIMATE X-MEN, ULTIMATE SIX, CAPTAIN AMERICA (Marvel); CONAN, BPRD (Dark Horse); DC: THE NEW FRONTIER (DC)

Best Lettering:Todd Klein, PROMETHEA; TOM STRONG; TOM STRONG'S TERRIFIC TALES (ABC); WONDER WOMAN (DC); BOOKS OF MAGICK: LIFE DURING WARTIME; FABLES; WE3 (Vertigo/DC); CREATURES OF THE NIGHT (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist:James Jean, FABLES (Vertigo/DC); GREEN ARROW, BATGIRL (DC)

Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition:Sean McKeever (A WAITING PLACE; MARY JANE; INHUMANS; SENTINELS)

Best Comics-Related Periodical:COMIC BOOK ARTIST, edited by Jon B. Cooke (Top Shelf)

Best Comics-Related Book:MEN OF TOMORROW: GEEKS, GANGSTERS, AND THE BIRTH OF THE COMIC BOOK, by Gerard Jones (Basic Books)

Best Publication Design:THE COMPLETE PEANUTS, designed by Seth (Fantagraphics)

Hall of FameJudges' choices:Lou Fine; René Goscinny and Albert UderzoVoters' choices:Nick Cardy, Gene Colan, Johnny Craig, Hugo Pratt

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award:George Pérez

Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award:Chris Bailey (MAJOR DAMAGE)

Bill Finger Excellence in Comic Writing Award:Jerry Siegel, Arnold Drake

CBLDF Defender of Liberty Award:Denis Kitchen

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award:Night Flight, Mimi Cruz and Alan CarrollRunners Up:Austin Books and Comics, Brad BankstonHeroes Comics, Dave AllreadKrypton Comics, Dean PhillipsOlympic Cards & Comics, Gabrielle Shephard

The major sponsor for the 2005 Eisner Awards is mycomicsshop.com. The principal sponsors are Century Guild, Diamond Comic Distributors, Gentle Giant, Isotope, and Odd Lott. Supporting sponsors include Alternate Reality Comics (Las Vegas), Atlantis Fantasyworld (Santa Cruz, CA), Comic ReliefThe Comic Bookstore (Berkeley, CA), comicsunlimited.com, Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff (Concord, CA), Quebecor Printing, and Star*Reach. Ballots were tabulated by Mel Thompson and Assoc.