VCU/RVA Connection
The Eisner Awards have been presented to comics writers, artists, and publishers from around the world since 1988. It makes sense that Richmond, a city with a vibrant and thriving art scene, and Virginia Commonwealth University, home to the top-tier School of the Arts, has a connection to these prestigious awards. Three former students and a local major independent publisher have been honored as nominees and award recipients over the years.
Mark Waid (1962-)
Mark Waid is best known for writing the DC Comics titles The Flash, Kingdom Come, and Superman: Birthright and for his work on Captain American for Marvel Comics. He has also served as Chief Creative Officer for Boom! Studios, where he wrote for the comics Irredeemable, Incorruptible and The Traveler. He attended VCU in the late 1970s.
Nominated:
- 1997 - Best Writer: Kingdom Come (DC); The Flash (DC); Impulse (DC); and Captain America (Mavel)
- 2012 - Best Single Issue: Daredevil #7 (Marvel Comics)
Winner:
- 1997 - Best Finite Series/Limited Series: Kingdom Come (DC)
- 2012 - Best Continuing Series: Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
- 2012 - Best Writer: Irredeemable, Incorruptible (Boom!); Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Charles Vess (1951-)
Charles Vess graduated from VCU in 1974 with a BFA in Painting and Printmaking. Some of his earliest cartoons appeared in the Fan Free Funnies, a comics supplement to the student newspaper. He remained in Richmond for several years after graduation to work as a commercial animator for Candy Apple Productions. By the 1980s Vess had move on to creating fantasy comic art for a number of publications. He is best known for his collaborations with Neil Gaiman on Sandman, Stardust, and The Books of Magic in the 1990s.
Vess' papers can found in Special Collections and Archives.
Nominated:
- 1995 - Best Cover Artist: Books of Magic (Vertigo/DC)
- 1996 - Best Cover Artist: Books of Magic (Vertigo/DC); Ice Age on the World of Magic the Gathering
- 2001 - Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Rose #1
Winner:
- 1997 - Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: The Book of Ballads & Sagas; Sandman #75 (Vertigo/DC)
- 2002 - Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Rose (Cartoon Books)
Nathan Madison (1986-)
A Richmond area native, Nathan earned a M.A. in History from VCU in 2010 with the thesis, Isolationism, Internationalism, and the “Other”: The Yellow Peril, Mad Brute and Red Menace in Early to Mid-Twentieth Century Pulp Magazines and Comic Books. He revised and expanded his thesis, turning it into an academic work that was published in 2012.
Nominated:
- 2013 - Best Scholarly/Academic Work: Anti-Foreign Imagery in American Pulps and Comic Books, 1920-1960
Adhouse Books
Adhouse Book is an independent comics publisher founded in Richmond, Virginia in 2002 by Chris Pitzer. Originally known for publishing primarily graphic novels, Adhouse has expanded its lineup to include publishing traditional comic book formats and art books.
Nominated:
- 2003 - Best Graphic Album: Pulpatoon Pilgrimage - Joel Priddy
- 2004 - Best Anthology: Project: Telstar
- 2004 - Best Presentation: Project: Telstar
- 2004 - Best Publication Design: Project: Telstar
- 2007 - Best Single Issue: Skyscrapers of the Midwest #3 - Joshua Cotter
- 2007 - Best Anthology: Project: Romantic
- 2007 - Special Recognition: The Aviary - Jamie Tanner
- 2009 - Best Graphic Album Reprint: Skyscrapers of the Midwest - Joshua Cotter
- 2009 - Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Enrico Casarosa - The Venice Chronicles
- 2009 - Best Painter/Multimedia Artist: Scott Morse - Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!
- 2009 - Best Lettering - Scott Morse: Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!
- 2011 - Best Humor: Afrodisiac - Jim Rugg
- 2013 - Best Single Issue/One-Shot: Pope Hats #3 - Ethan Rilly
- 2016 - Best Single Issue/One-Shot: Pope Hats #4 - Ethan Rilly
- 2016 - Best Humor Publication: UR - Eric Haven
- 2018 - Best Single Issue/One-Shot: Pope Hats #5 - Ethan Rilly
- 2019 - Best Graphic Album - Reprint: Young Francis - Hartley Lin
Winner:
- 2008 - Best Publication Design: Process Recess 2 - James Jean
- 2008 - Best Cover: Process Recess 2 - James Jean
Additional Eisner Award books and graphic novels can be found through VCU Libraries' Search. Individual comic issues can located using the Comic Book Index.
For a complete listing of competition categories and winners see the Past Recipients page at the official website for Comic-Con International: San Diego.