NEWS: NINE MANGA TITLES UP FOR EISNERS
Reported by Michael Aronson 04-25-2007
In an effort to better represent the achievement of manga as an artform, the judges of the 2007 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards have added a new specialized category to distinguish eastern-derived material.
Previously limited to the Best U.S. Edition of International Material, that category now coexists with a new subdivision, Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Japan. With the exception of the 2003 and 2006 winners, the award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material has been dominated by manga titles for the last decade. The rapid surge of new manga titles and publishers alike seems justification for the spinoff category, though it remains unclear why the category is reserved strictly for material of Japanese origin and not material of like content and style (manhwa, manhua, western manga).
The five nominees for Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Japan:
After School Nightmare, by Setona Mizushiro (Go! Comi)
Antique Bakery, by Fumi Yoshinaga (Digital Manga)
Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, by Naoki Urasawa (Viz)
Old Boy, by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi (Dark Horse Manga)
Walking Man, by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Four additional manga titles are nominated for various awards. For Best Continuing Series, Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, by Naoki Urasawa (Viz). For Best Reality-Based Work, Project X Challengers: Cup Noodle, by Tadashi Katoh (Digital Manga). For Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books, Abandon the Old In Tokyo, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly) and Ode to Kirihito, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical). |
