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Awards: Tamaki, Beaton make Eisner list in record year for female artists

QQ - Jillian Tamaki 001

Jillian Tamaki (photo: Matthew Tammaro)

Canadians Jillian Tamaki, Kate Beaton, and Ethan Rilly are among the nominees announced on April 19 for the 2016 Eisner Awards, highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels distributed in the United States.

Montreal-based Rilly received a nod in the Best Single Issue/One-Shot category for Pope Hats No. 4 (AdHouse), while Toronto’s Claudia Dávila was co-nominated alongside Jessica Dee Humphreys and Michel Chikwanine for Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War (Kids Can Press). Writer Ryan North also received a co-nomination, with Erica Henderson, for the Best New Series–nominated Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (Marvel), as did Valentine De Landro, with Kelly Sue DeConnick, for Bitch Planet (Image), in the same category. Multiple titles from Montreal’s Drawn & Quarterly received nominations this year, including Beaton for Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection in the category Best Humor Publication; Tamaki in the Best Publication for Teens category for SuperMutant Magic Academy; and Tom Devlin’s anniversary collection, Drawn & Quarterly: Twenty-five Years of Contemporary, Cartooning, Comics, and Graphic Novels, nominated for Best Anthology.

Female comic creators made up the majority of the nominees this year, with 49 women receiving 61 nominations, a record number for the 28-year-old Eisners. Founded in 1988, the awards are named for acclaimed comics creator Will Eisner, best known for his character the Spirit. The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on July 22 at Comic-Con International in San Diego.