Which comics, writers and artists will take home Eisner Awards this year?

The nominees for this year’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards were announced last week, and this year’s slate of nominees include more than a few familiar (and popular) comic book titles, writers and illustrators.

Commonly referred to as the Eisner Awards and considered the “Academy Awards of Comics,” these awards have been given annually since 1988 and are given to recognize excellence and superior creative achievement in the American comic book industry.

Eisner Awards are given in 48 categories and tonight I give you the nominees in what is generally perceived to be the most prominent award categories. The winners will be announced on July 22 during Comic-Con International in San Diego, Calif.

Without further ado, here are the nominees for Best Short Story, Best Single Issue, Best Continuing Series, Best Limited Series, Best New Series, Best Graphic Album-New, Best Graphic Album-Reprint, Best Writer, Best Writer/Artist and Best Cover Artist.

Best Short Story
• “Bart on the Fourth of July,” by Peter Kuper
• “Batman, in Trick for the Scarecrow,” by Billy Tucci
• “Cinderella,” by Nick Spencer and Rodin Esquejo
• “Hamburgers for One,” by Frank Stockton
• “Little Red Riding Hood,” by Bryan Talbot and Camilla d’Errico
• “Post Mortem,” by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
• The Cape, by Joe Hill, Jason Ciaramella, and Zack Howard
• Fables #100, by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and others
• Hellboy: Double Feature of Evil, by Mike Mignola and Richard Corben
• Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom #1: “Sparrow,” by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
• Unknown Soldier #21: “A Gun in Africa,” by Joshua Dysart and Rick Veitch

Best Continuing Series
• Chew, by John Layman and Rob Guillory
• Echo, by Terry Moore
• Locke & Key, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
• Morning Glories, by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma
• Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa
• Scalped, by Jason Aaron and R. M. Guéra

Best Limited Series
• Baltimore: The Plague Ships, by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, and Ben Stenbeck
• Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, by Chris Roberson and Shawn McManus
• Daytripper, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá
• Joe the Barbarian, by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy
• Stumptown, by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth

Best New Series
• American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque
• iZombie, by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred
• Marineman, by Ian Churchill
• Morning Glories, by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma
• Superboy, by Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo

Best Graphic Album-New
• Elmer, by Gerry Alanguilan
• Finding Frank and His Friend: Previously Unpublished Work by Clarence ‘Otis’ Dooley, by Melvin Goodge
• Market Day, by James Sturm
• Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee
• Wilson, by Daniel Clowe

Best Graphic Album-Reprint
• The Amazing Screw-on Head and Other Curious Objects, by Mike Mignola
• Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites, by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson
• Motel Art Improvement Service, by Jason Little
• The Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis, by Ian Boothby, James Lloyd, and Steve Steere Jr.
• Tumor, by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon
• Wednesday Comics, edited by Mark Chiarello

Best Writer
• Ian Boothby, Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book; Futurama Comics #47–50; Simpsons Comics #162, 168; Simpsons Super Spectacular #11–12
• Joe Hill, Locke & Key
• John Layman, Chew
• Jim McCann, Return of the Dapper Men
• Nick Spencer, Morning Glories, Shuddertown, Forgetless, Existence 3.0

Best Writer/Artist
• Dan Clowes, Wilson
• Darwyn Cooke, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit
• Joe Kubert, Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965
• Terry Moore, Echo
• James Sturm, Market Day
• Naoki Urasawa, Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys

Best Cover Artist
• Rodin Esquejo, Morning Glories
• Dave Johnson, Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain, Unknown Soldier, Punisher/Max, Deadpool
• Mike Mignola, Hellboy, Baltimore: The Plague Ships
• David Petersen, Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard
• Yuko Shimizu, The Unwritten

Awards are also given out in 38 other categories. For more information about the Eisner Awards and the nominees in the other categories, visit http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_main.php.

In the end, how many of these comics have you had a chance to read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.