Media Release -- Comic-Con International (Comic-Con), the largest comic book and popular arts event in the United States, announced today that the Eisner Awards judges have selected two individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame this summer: Burne Hogarth, legendary artist on the Tarzan newspaper strip and influential art educator, and Bob Montana, the co-creator of Archie who drew the Riverdale gang for more than 30 years.
The judges have also chosen 13 nominees from which voters will select 4 to be inducted in the Hall of Fame for 2010:
Carl Burgos
Steve Gerber
Dick Giordano
Michael Kaluta
Jack Kamen
Frans Masereel
George McManus
Sheldon Moldoff
Marty Nodell
Bob Oksner
Bob Powell
Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Mort Weisinger
Online voting is now open. To vote, you must be a professional working in the comics industry, whether as a creator (writer, artist, cartoonist, colorist, letterer), a publisher or editor, or a retailer (comics store owner or manager). Eligible voters can visit eisnervote.com to register and then select up to four picks in the Hall of Fame category. The deadline for voting is March 31, 2010. Further eligibility information is provided on the Eisner Awards page.
The 2010 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of academic Craig Fisher (Appalachian State University), librarian Francisca Goldsmith (Berkeley, California), reviewer John Hogan (GraphicNovelReporter.com), comics writer James Hudnall (The Psycho, Harsh Realm), and retailer Wayne Winsett (Time Warp Comics, Boulder, Colorado).
The judges were assisted by students at Vermont's Center for Cartoon Studies, who made suggestions for Hall of Fame nominees and provided background information on the people they suggested. Eisner Awards administrator Jackie Estrada notes that the contributions of the students was very helpful and is looking forward to working with CCS instructor Steve Bissette and his students again next year.
The online voting process is being conducted by Mel Thompson and Associates, the official tabulators of the Eisner Awards. The rest of the categories will be available for online voting in mid-April. In addition, paper ballots will still be mailed out and a pdf version will be available for downloading; the paper ballots will be tabulated along with the online votes for the other categories.
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are underwritten by Comic-Con, the nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture.
The Eisner Awards will take place at a gala awards ceremony to be held on July 23 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel.
