La traditionnelle cérémonie de remise des Eisner Awards qui s'est tenue cette année le vendredi 2 juillet au Hilton San Diego Bayfront a ajouté deux éminents auteurs de bande dessinée européenne à la liste du Hall of Fame. Présentée par John Barrowman, à la fois acteur (il interprète le rôle de Malcolm Merlyn, ennemi d'Oliver Queen dans la série Arrow) et scénariste de comics, qui a donc livré les noms des différentes distinctions attribuées cette année.
Parmi celles-ci, le Hall of Fame, qui récompense une carrière déjà bien fournie, et parfois même déjà achevée, a élargi la liste de ses récipiendaires à Carl Burgos et Tove Jansson (par un vote du jury), tandis que les professionels votants ont intronisé Lynda Barry, Rube Goldberg, Matt Groening et Jacques Tardi. Rappelons que le Hall of Fame avait déjà distingué des auteurs comme Jean Giraud/Moebius (1998), Hergé (2003), René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo et Hugo Pratt (2005). On ignore encore si le créateur d'Adèle Blanc-Sec, plutôt réfractaire aux remises de médailles (il avait refusé la Légion d'Honneur en 2013) acceptera...
Liste complète des Eisner Awards 2016
Best Short Story : "Killing and Dying," by Adrian Tomine, in Optic Nerve #14 (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Single Issue/One-Shot : Silver Surfer #11 : "Never After," by Dan Slott and Michael Allred (Marvel)
Best Continuing Series : Southern Bastards, by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour (Image)
Best Limited Series : The Fade Out, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
Best New Series : Paper Girls, by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang (Image)
Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8) : Little Robot, by Ben Hatke (First Second)
Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12) : Over the Garden Wall, by Pat McHale, Amalia Levari, and Jim Campbell (BOOM ! Studios/KaBOOM !)
Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17) : SuperMutant Magic Academy, by Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Humor Publication : Step Aside, Pops : A Hark ! A Vagrant Collection, by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Digital/Webcomic : Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain/comiXology)
Best Anthology:Drawn & Quarterly, Twenty-Five Years of Contemporary, Cartooning, Comics, and Graphic Novels,edited by Tom Devlin (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Reality-Based Work : March : Book Two, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf/IDW)
Best Graphic Album-New : Ruins, by Peter Kuper (SelfMadeHero)
Best Graphic Album-Reprint : Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson (Harper Teen)
Best Adaptation from Another Medium : Two Brothers, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Dark Horse)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material : The Realist, by Asaf Hanuka (BOOM ! Studios/Archaia)
Best U.S. Edition of International Material-Asia : Showa, 1953-1989 : A History of Japan, by Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn & Quarterly)
Best Archival Collection/Project-Strips : The Eternaut, by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano Lòpez, edited by Gary Groth and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
Best Archival Collection/Project-Comic Books : Walt Kelly's Fairy Tales, edited by Craig Yoe (IDW)
Best Writer : Jason Aaron, Southern Bastards (Image), Men of Wrath (Marvel Icon), Doctor Strange, Star Wars, Thor (Marvel)
Best Writer/Artist : Bill Griffith, Invisible Ink : My Mother's Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist (Fantagraphics)
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team : Cliff Chiang, Paper Girls (Image)
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist : Dustin Nguyen, Descender (Image)
Best Cover Artist : David Aja, Hawkeye, Karnak, Scarlet Witch (Marvel)
Best Coloring : Jordie Bellaire, The Autumnlands, Injection, Plutona, Pretty Deadly, The Surface, They're Not Like Us, Zero (Image) ; The X-Files (IDW) ; The Massive (Dark Horse) ; Magneto, Vision (Marvel)
Best Lettering : Derf Backderf, Trashed (Abrams)
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism : Hogan's Alley, edited by Tom Heintjes (Hogan's Alley)
Best Comics-Related Book : Harvey Kurtzman : The Man Who Created Mad and Revolutionized Humor in America, by Bill Schelly (Fantagraphics)
Best Academic/Scholarly Work : The Blacker the Ink : Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art, edited by Frances Gateward and John Jennings (Rutgers)
Best Publication Design : The Sandman Gallery Edition, designed by Josh Beatman/Brainchild Studios (Graphitti Designs/DC)
Hall of Fame : Judges' Choices : Carl Burgos, Tove Jansson * Voters' Choices : Lynda Barry, Rube Goldberg, Matt Groening, Jacques Tardi
Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award : Dan Mora
Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award : Matthew Inman
Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing : Richard E. Hughes, Elliot S ! Maggin
Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award : Orbital Comics and Games, London, UK
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