VCU Libraries Gallery

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.

 

pn6728_w26_k56_1997_kingdom_come.jpg

Kingdom Come

PN 6727 .W26 K56 1997

 

books_of_magic_no1.jpg

The Books of Magic

No. 1, May 1994

pn6727_s546_r6715_2002_rose.jpg

Rose

PN 6727 .S546 R6715 2002

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Anti-Foreign Imagery in

American Pulps and Comic Books, 1920-1960

PN 6725 .M33 2013

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Project Telstar: a spacial robotic anthology

PN 6726 .P76 2003

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:

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:

Winner: 

 

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.