2025 Eisner Award Nominees: Batman, Spider-Man Highlighted

The 2025 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards nominees have officially been announced, offering a prestigious spotlight on the most outstanding achievements in comics over the past year. Often regarded as the comic book world's equivalent of the Oscars, these nominations celebrate excellence across a wide range of categories, from storytelling and artistic talent to design and academic contributions.

Leading the pack among publishers is Fantagraphics with an impressive 24 individual nominations (plus one shared), followed closely by DC Comics with 10 solo nods (and 9 shared). Tom King, celebrated for his work on *Wonder Woman*, stands out as this year’s most nominated creator with four separate recognitions, while several other creators earned three nominations each.

Among the standout series earning recognition is DC’s *Absolute Universe*, which continues to make waves in the industry. IGN readers may also be interested to know that former IGN Comics editor Joey Esposito has received a nomination alongside Sean Von Gorman for their series *The Pedestrian* in the Best New Series category—a strong contender against titles like *Absolute Batman* and *The Power Fantasy*.

The winners will be revealed at a ceremony held during San Diego Comic-Con on July 25 at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel. Until then, fans and critics alike can review the full list of nominees below:

Best Short Story

• “Anything Sinister,” by Ross Murray, in NOW #13 (Fantagraphics)
• “Day 1703,” by Chris Ware, in Smoke Signal #43 (Desert Island)
• “Pig” by Stacy Gougoulis, in NOW #13 (Fantagraphics)
• “Spaces,” by Phil Jimenez, in DC Pride 2024 #1 (DC)
• “Water I’ve Loved: Moving Day” by Pam Wye, in MUTHA magazine
• “You Cannot Live on Bread Alone” by Kayla E., in NOW #13 (Fantagraphics)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

• Abortion Pill Zine: A Community Guide to Misoprostol and Mifepristone by Isabella Rotman, Marnie Galloway, and Sage Coffey (Silver Sprocket)
• Ice Cream Man #39: “Decompression in a Wreck, Part One,” by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo (Image Comics)
• PeePee PooPoo #1, by Caroline Cash (Silver Sprocket)
• Sunflowers, by Keezy Young (Silver Sprocket)
• Unwholesome Love, by Charles Burns (co-published with Partners and Son)
• The War on Gaza, by Joe Sacco (Fantagraphics)

Best Continuing Series

• The Department of Truth, by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (Image)
• Detective Comics, by Ram V, Tom Taylor, Riccardo Federici, Stefano Raffaele, Javier Fernandez, Christian Duce, March, and Mikel Janín (DC)
• Fantastic Four, by Ryan North, Carlos Gomez, Ivan Fiorelli, and others (Marvel)
• Santos Sisters, by Greg & Fake, Graham Smith, Dave Landsberger, and Marc Koprinarov (Floating World)
• Ultimate Spider-Man, by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto (Marvel)
• Wonder Woman, by Tom King and Daniel Sampere (DC)

Best Limited Series

• Alan Scott: The Green Lantern, by Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey (DC)
• Animal Pound, by Tom King and Peter Gross (BOOM! Studios)
• The Deviant, by James Tynion IV and Joshua Hixson (Image)
• Helen of Wyndhorn, by Tom King and Bilquis Evely (Dark Horse)
• Rare Flavours, by Ram V and Filipe Andrade (BOOM! Studios)
• Zatanna: Bring Down the House, by Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodriguez (DC)

Best New Series

• Absolute Batman, by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta (DC)
• Absolute Wonder Woman, by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman (DC)
• Minor Arcana, by Jeff Lemire (BOOM! Studios)
• The Pedestrian, by Joey Esposito and Sean Von Gorman (Magma Comix)
• The Power Fantasy, by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard (Image)
• Uncanny Valley, by Tony Fleecs and Dave Wachter (BOOM! Studios)

Best Publication for Early Readers

• Bog Myrtle, by Sid Sharp (Annick Press)
• Club Microbe, by Elise Gravel, translated by Montana Kane (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Hilda and Twig Hide from the Rain, by Luke Pearson (Flying Eye)
• Night Stories, by Liniers (Astra Books)
• Poetry Comics, by Grant Snider (Chronicle Books)

Best Publication for Kids

• How It All Ends, by Emma Hunsinger (Greenwillow/HarperCollins Early Readers)
• Next Stop, by Debbie Fong (Random House Graphic/Random House Children’s Books)
• Plain Jane and the Mermaid, by Vera Brosgol (First Second/Macmillan)
• Weirdo, by Tony Weaver Jr. and Jes & Cin Wibowo (First Second/Macmillan)
• Young Hag and the Witches’ Quest, by Isabel Greenberg (Abrams Fanfare)

Best Publication for Teens

• Ash’s Cabin, by Jen Wang (First Second/Macmillan)
• Big Jim and the White Boy, by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson (Ten Speed Graphic)
• The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag (Scholastic)
• The Gulf, by Adam de Souza (Tundra)
• Lunar New Year Love Story, by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham (First Second/Macmillan)
• Out of Left Field, by Jonah Newman (Andrews McMeel)

Best Humor Publication

• Adulthood is a Gift! by Sarah Andersen (Andrews McMeel)
• Forces of Nature, by Edward Steed (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Kids Are Still Weird: And More Observations from Parenthood, by Jeffrey Brown (NBM)
• A Pillbug Story, by Allison Conway (Black Panel Press)
• Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It, by Tara Booth (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Anthology

• EC Cruel Universe, edited by Sierra Hahn and Matt Dryer (Oni Press)
• Godzilla’s 70th Anniversary, edited by Jake Williams and others (IDW)
• Now: The New Comics Anthology #13, edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
• Peep #1, edited by Sammy Harkham and Steve Weissman (Brain Dead/Kyle Ng)
• So Buttons #14: “Life and Death,” by Jonathan Baylis and various artists (So Buttons Comix)

Best Reality-Based Work

• Djuna, by Jon Macy (Street Noise Books)
• The Heart That Fed: A Father, a Son, and the Long Shadow of War, by Carl Sciacchitano (Gallery 13/S&S)
• The Mythmakers: The