Eisner nominations and new Manga Competition!

The Mysterious Underground Men

The Mysterious Underground Men

The big news this week is the Eisner nominations. Here’s the list in the manga category (officially known as Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia):

The Heart of Thomas, by Moto Hagio (Fantagraphics)
The Mysterious Underground Men, by Osamu Tezuka (PictureBox)
Showa: A History of Japan, 1926–1939, by Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn & Quarterly)
Summit of the Gods, vol. 4, by Yemmakura Baku and Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist, by Asumiko Nakamura (Vertical)

If the choices seem pretty far from the mainstream, keep in mind that the Eisner judges have a difficult task (I was a judge in 2012 so I know this): You have to read a LOT of comics, and reading a series is a big investment of time; you’re looking for excellence, which implies literary quality; and you have to judge based on what came out in the nomination year, so even if you read a lot of series, you can’t consider the series as a whole, just a one-year slice. This biases the selection process heavily in favor of one-shots. All that said, I’d love to hear from you what you think the judges missed. I have my own opinions, which I’ll post eventually…

Attention creators! Entries are now being accepted for the Eighth International Manga Award.

Reviews

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 60 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Mark Thomas on vol. 5 of Demon Love Spell (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 5 of Happy Marriage?! (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Happy Marriage?! (I Reads You)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Insufficient Direction (Comics Worth Reading)
Kimi on vol. 6 of Itazura na Kiss (The Kimi-Chan Experience)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Library Wars (The Comic Book Bin)
Mark Thomas on vol. 2 of No Matter How You Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 20 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Jocelyne Allen on Sakuran (Brain Vs. Book)
Kristin on vol. 1 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Comic Attack)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 3 of Wolfsmund (The Fandom Post)

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