Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Michael Cavna.
At 22, Walden became one of the youngest Eisner winners ever. She received the best-reality-based-work honor for her graphic memoir “Spinning” (First Second).
Other notable wins included:
• Marjorie Liu became the first woman to win the best-writer honor. She is the co-creator, with artist Sana Takeda, of Image Comics’ fantasy epic “Monstress," about young female warriors who, according to Liu, “become monsters in their own right.” “Monstress” won five Eisners, including best continuing series and best publication for teens.
• Emil Ferris, author of the graphic novel "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters” (Fantagraphics), won three Eisners, including best writer-artist and best colorist. Ferris has been an artistic warrior, recovering from West Nile virus and fighting to regain the use of her drawing hand.
• Decades after her contributions to Wonder Woman wend uncredited, Joye Murchison Kelly, 90, finally received recognition for comics written by creator William Moulton Marston dating to the World War II era. She received the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing — an honor that also went to the late DC Comics/All-American Publications writer-editor of the Golden and Silver ages, Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk. They are the first two women to receive the award in its 13-year history.
• Best limited series went to Marvel’s “Black Panther: World of Wakanda,” by Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Alitha E. Martinez.
• Jillian Tamaki’s collected stories in "Boundless" (Drawn & Quarterly) won the best graphic album/reprint honor.
• The honor for best adaptation from another medium went to Abrams ComicArts’ “Kindred,” by the late sci-fi legend Octavia Butler as adapted by Damian Duffy and John Jennings.
• The trophy for best academic/scholarly work went to University of Arizona Press’s “Latinx Superheroes in Mainstream Comics,” by Frederick Luis Aldama.
Hall of Fame inductees
Six people were inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame, including Rumiko Takahashi, the legendary manga artist. Takahashi received Comic-Con’s Inkpot Award a quarter-century ago.
Other inductees included: Karen Berger, the celebrated former DC/Vertigo editor; the late comics direct-market pioneer Carol Kalish; and the late Jackie Ormes (“Torchy Brown,” “Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger”), the first African American woman to create a syndicated newspaper comic strip.
