Eisner Award for Best Writer

The Eisner Award for Best Writer is an award for "creative achievement" in American comic books.

Winners and nominees

Year Nominee Titles 1980s 1988 (DC) 1989 (DC) 1990s 1990 There was no Eisner Award ceremony, or awards distributed, in 1990, due to widespread balloting mix-ups."Eisners Cancelled," The Comics Journal #137 (Sept. 1990), p. 16. 1991 1992 1993 (Eclipse), The Sandman (DC) 1994 1995 (Kitchen Sink) 1996 (Kitchen Sink) 1997 , Supreme (Maximum Press) 1998 1999 (Oni Press) 2000s 2000 (Oni Press) 2001 (Image), Fortune and Glory (Oni Press), Ultimate Spider-Man (Marvel) (DC/Vertigo) (DC/Vertigo) (WildStorm), Ultimate X-Men (Marvel) 2002 (Image), Alias (Marvel), Daredevil (Marvel), Ultimate Spider-Man (Marvel) (DC/Vertigo), Hellblazer (DC/Vertigo) (Marvel), New X-Men (Marvel) (CrossGen) 2003 (Image), Alias (Marvel), Daredevil (Marvel), Ultimate Spider-Man (Marvel) (DC), Detective Comics (DC), Gotham Central (DC) (Marvel) (DC/Vertigo) 2004 (DC/Vertigo), Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and Hard Place (DC/Vertigo), Batman (DC) (Marvel), Daredevil (Marvel), Ultimate Spider-Man (Marvel), Ultimate X-Men (Marvel), Powers (Image) (DC), Detective Comics (DC), Gotham Central (DC), Sleeper (DC/WildStorm) (DC/Vertigo), Global Frequency, (DC/WildStorm), Red, (DC/WildStorm), Planetary, (DC/WildStorm), Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth, (DC/WildStorm) 2005 (IDW), 30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales (IDW), Aleister Arcane (IDW), Freaks of the Heartland (Dark Horse), Last Train to Deadsville (Dark Horse) (Marvel) (DC/Vertigo) 2006 (Marvel) (DC), All Star Superman (DC) (DC/WildStorm), Y: The Last Man (DC/Vertigo), Runaways (Marvel) 2007 (Marvel), Daredevil (Marvel), Criminal (Marvel/Icon) (Wildcard Ink) (Dark Horse) (DC), Batman (DC), 52 (DC), Seven Soldiers (DC) (DC/Vertigo), Jack of Fables (DC/Vertigo), Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (DC/Vertigo) 2008 (Marvel), Criminal (Marvel/Icon), Daredevil (Marvel), The Immortal Iron Fist (Marvel) (Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion Books) (Dark Horse), Ex Machina (DC/WildStorm), Y: The Last Man (DC/Vertigo) (Marvel), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Dark Horse) (DC/Vertigo), Northlanders (DC/Vertigo), Local (Oni Press) 2009 (DC/Vertigo), House of Mystery (DC/Vertigo) (IDW) (Marvel), The Twelve (Marvel) (Groundwood Books) (Dynamite), Madame Xanadu (DC/Vertigo) 2010s 2010 (Marvel), Daredevil (Marvel), The Marvels Project (Marvel), Criminal (Marvel/Icon), Incognito (Marvel/Icon) (DC), Blackest Night (DC), The Flash: Rebirth (DC), Superman: Secret Origin (DC) (DC) (Boom!), The Incredibles (Boom!) (DC/Vertigo) 2011 (Bongo), Futurama Comics #47-50 (Bongo), Simpsons Comics #162, 168 (Bongo), Simpsons Super Spectacular #11-12 (Bongo) (Image) (Archaia) (Image), Shuddertown (Image), Forgetless (Image), Existence 3.0 (Image), 2012 Incorruptible (Boom!), Daredevil (Marvel) (Oni) (DC/Vertigo) (Dark Horse) (DC), Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown (DC), Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. (DC), Sweet Tooth (DC/Vertigo) 2013 (Image) (Image) (Marvel), Casanova: Avaritia (Marvel/Icon) (Image), Prophet (Image) (Image) (Abrams ComicArts) 2014 (Image) (Image), Captain Marvel (Marvel) (Image), Hawkeye (Marvel), Fantastic Four (Marvel), FF (Marvel) (Image), The Manhattan Projects (Image), Avengers (Marvel), Infinity (Marvel) (Image) 2015 (Dark Horse), The Shadow Hero (First Second) (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), Men of Wrath (Marvel/Icon), Southern Bastards (Image) (Marvel), Pretty Deadly (Image) (DC), Annihilator (Legendary Comics) (Image), The Private Eye (Panel Syndicate) (Marvel) 2016 (Image), Men of Wrath (Marvel/Icon), Doctor Strange (Marvel), Star Wars (Marvel), Thor (Marvel) (Boom!) (Image), Velvet (Image), Criminal Special Edition (Image) (Image) (Marvel) 2017 (Image), Saga (Image), We Stand On Guard (Image) (Image), Kill or Be Killed (Image), Velvet (Image) (DC/Vertigo) (Marvel) (Image/Skybound), Superman: American Alien (DC) (Dark Horse), Descender (Image), Plutona (Image), Bloodshot Reborn (Valiant) 2018 There was a tie between Tom King and Marjorie Liu for best writer in 2018. (DC), Batman Annual #2 (DC), Batman/Elmer Fudd Special #1 (DC), Mister Miracle (DC) (Image) (Boom!), Ether (Dark Horse), Eternity (Valiant), X-O Manowar (Valiant) (Dark Horse), Descender (Image) (DC) 2019 (DC), Mister Miracle (DC), Heroes in Crisis (DC), Swamp Thing Winter Special (DC) (Gallery 13), Twisted Romance (Image) (Dark Horse), Doctor Star & the Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows (Dark Horse), Quantum Age (Dark Horse), Descender (Image), Gideon Falls (Image), Royal City (Image) (DC), Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound (DC), Lex Luthor/Porky Pig (DC), Lone Ranger (Dynamite) (Dynamite), Hawkeye (Marvel), Jessica Jones (Marvel), Mr. & Mrs. X (Marvel), Rogue & Gambit (Marvel), Uncanny X-Men (Marvel), West Coast Avengers (Marvel) (Marvel), Marvel Two-in-One (Marvel) 2020s 2020 (DC), Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me (First Second/Macmillan), Archie (Archie) (IDW) and Greg Means (Top Shelf) (Magnetic Press), Maggy Garrisson (SelfMadeHero) (Berger Books/Dark Horse), Ms. Marvel (Marvel) (Image), Daredevil (Marvel), Spider-Man: Life Story (Marvel), Afterlift (comiXology Originals) 2021 (Boom!), Wynd (Boom!), Batman (DC), The Department of Truth (Image), Razorblades (Tiny Onion) (Image), Reckless (Image), Friday (Panel Syndicate) (DC), Adventureman (Image), November vols. 2–3 (Image), Sex Criminals (Image) (Image), Giant-Size X-Men (Marvel), X-Men (Marvel) (Dark Horse), Black Hammer (Dark Horse), Colonel Weird: Cosmagog (Dark Horse), The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage (DC), Family Tree (Image), Gideon Falls (Image) (Image/Skybound), Daredevil (Marvel), Fantastic Four/X-Men (Marvel) 2022 (Boom!), Something Is Killing the Children (Boom!), Wynd (Boom!), The Nice House on the Lake (DC), The Joker (DC), Batman (DC), DC Pride (DC), The Department of Truth (Image), Blue Book (Tiny Onion Studios), Razorblades (Tiny Onion Studios) (Image), Friend of the Devil (Image) (DC) (Top Shelf) (Boom!), The Swamp Thing (DC), Carnage: Black, White & Blood (Marvel), Venom (Marvel) 2023 (Boom!), Something Is Killing the Children (Boom!), Wynd (Boom!), The Nice House on the Lake (DC), The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country (DC), The Closet (Image)The Department of Truth (Image) (Abrams Comicsart) (DC), Batman: One Bad Day (DC), Gotham City: Year One (DC), The Human Target (DC), Supergirl: The Woman of Tomorrow (DC), Love Everlasting (Image) (Ablaze), One-Star Squadron (DC), Superman: Space Age (DC), The Incal: Psychoverse (Humanoids) (Image Skybound), Daredevil (Marvel) 2024 Roaming (graphic novel) (Drawn & Quarterly) EarthDivers (IDW) Nightwing, Titans (DC) Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn: Black White and Redder (DC), Black Cloak, The Cull (Image), It's Jeff, Captain Marvel (Marvel) Batman/Superman: World's Finest, Shazam!, World's Finest: Teen Titans (DC) Poison Ivy (DC), Hunger and the Dusk (IDW) 2025 Lunar New Year Love Story (First Second/Macmillan)| rowspan=5|

| The Decision (Archie), Animal Pound (BOOM!), Helen of Wyndhorn (Dark Horse), Jenny Sparks, The Penguin, Wonder Woman (DC)

| Rare Flavours (BOOM!), Dawnrunner (Dark Horse), The One Hand (Image), Universal Monsters: Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! (Image Skybound)

| Absolute Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey (DC); Scarlett (Image Skybound); Venom War: It's Jeff #1 (Marvel)

| Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM!), Blue Book, The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos (Dark Horse), Spectregraph (DSTLRY), The Department of Truth, The Deviant, WORLDTR33 (Image) |- ! scope="row" rowspan=6 style="text-align:center" | 2026 |style="background:#FAEB86;"| |style="background:#FAEB86;"| This Place Kills Me (Abrams Fanfare) Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC), Assorted Crisis Events (Image), The Ultimates (Marvel) Absolute Batman, Batman/Deadpool (DC); By a Thread: Book 2 (Comixology Originals), You Won't Feel a Thing (DSTLRY) Absolute Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey (DC), Jeff the Land Shark (Marvel) Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd: The Power of the Blood (BOOM!), Let This One Be a Devil, Red Book (Dark Horse), The City Beneath Her Feet (DSTLRY); The Department of Truth, Exquisite Corpses, W0RLDTR33 (Image), Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man (Image Skybound) Street Sharks (IDW Publishing), Roots of Madness (Ignition Press), Temporal (Mad Cave Studios)

Multiple awards and nominations

The following individuals have won Best Writer one or more times:

Writer Wins Nominations Alan Moore 9 13 Brian K. Vaughan 4 7 Neil Gaiman 4 6 Ed Brubaker 3 10 Mariko Tamaki 3 4 James Tynion IV 3 3 Brian Michael Bendis 2 4 Tom King 2 3 Garth Ennis 1 5 Kurt Busiek 1 5 Bill Willingham 1 5 Mark Waid 1 4 Joe Hill 1 2 Jason Aaron 1 2 Marjorie Liu 1 2 Gene Luen Yang 1 1

Most nominations without a win

Writer Nominations Grant Morrison 8 Greg Rucka 6 Jeff Lemire 5 Dave Sim 4 James Robinson 4 Chip Zdarsky 4 Matt Wagner 3 Warren Ellis 3 G. Willow Wilson 3 Matt Fraction 3 Jonathan Hickman 3 Kelly Thompson 3 Mike Baron 2 Scott McCloud 2 Frank Miller 2 Peter Bagge 2 Harvey Pekar 2 John Ostrander 2 Mark Millar 2 Mike Carey 2 Brian Azzarello 2 Joss Whedon 2 Kelly Sue DeConnick 2 Mark Russell 2

See also Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist Eisner Award for Best Coloring Eisner Award for Best Lettering

Notes

References