2 manga artists included among 16 nominees

Comic-Con International announced on Friday that the Eisner Awards judges have nominated manga creators Akira Toriyama and Naoki Urasawa for the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame this year. They are part of a selection of 16 nominees, four of whom will be selected by vote to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Creative professionals working in the comics or related industries, publishers, editors, retailers (comics store owner or manager), graphic novels librarians, and comics historians/educators can vote online now for four nominees, and the vote will continue until March 15.

Other nominees for this year include Brian Bolland, Kevin Eastman, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Lynn Johnston, Jenette Kahn, Paul Levitz, Alex Niño, Lily Renée Wilhelm Peters Phillips, Wendy and Richard Pini, P. Craig Russell, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Don and Maggie Thompson. The judges also picked four creators to be automatically inducted: Jim Aparo, June Tarpé Mills, Dave Stevens, and Morrie Turner.

Toriyama began his first serialized manga, Dr. Slump , in 1980, and it inspired two television anime and multiple films. Toriyama followed it up with Dragon Ball , which ran from 1984 to 1995, and is still inspiring manga and anime sequels and spinoffs today. He is also well-known as the character designer for the Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon games.

Urasawa has been drawing manga since 1981. His works include Yawara!, 20th Century Boys, Pluto, and Monster , as well as collaborations such as Master Keaton and Billy Bat . The Eisner Awards have awarded his 20th Century Boys manga the Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia award twice.

The previous Japanese inductees of the Eisner Hall of Fame were Osamu Tezuka (2002), Kazuo Koike (2004), Goseki Kojima (2004), Katsuhiro Otomo (2012), and Rumiko Takahashi (2018).

Source: Comic-Con International: San Diego's Website website via Viz Media