Comic-Con International announced on Tuesday that the Eisner Awards judges have selected two individuals for the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame this year, as well as 14 nominees for four more inductees. The two pre-selected inductees are Human Torch creator Carl Burgos and Moomin creator Tove Jansson. The 14 nominees for this year's four remaining spots are Lynda Barry, Kim Deitch, Rube Goldberg, Edward Gorey, Bill Griffith, Matt Groening, Jack Kamen, Francoise Mouly, George Perez, Antonio Prohias, P. Craig Russell, Rumiko Takahashi, Jacques Tardi, and Wolverine co-creator Herb Trimpe.

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 April 1.

In her career of over three decades, Takahashi created such manga series as Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Mermaid Saga , Rumic Theater, Ranma 1/2, One Pound Gospel, Inuyasha, and Rinne. Many of her works became internationally popular and inspired anime and live-action adaptations. She appeared at the convention in 1994 and 2000. She also received an Eisner Hall of Fame nomination in 2014.

The convention gave Takahashi an Inkpot Award during her first visit there. The previous Japanese inductees of the Eisner Hall of Fame were Osamu Tezuka (2002), Kazuo Koike (2004), Goseki Kojima (2004), and Katsuhiro Otomo (2012). Other inductees include the awards' namesake Will Eisner, Stan Lee, French creator Moebius, and Winsor McCay.

This year's judges are journalist/reviewer Brian Doherty, comics writer/editor Danny Fingeroth, retailer Jason Grazulis (BSI Comics, Metairie, LA), librarian Jason M. Poole (Webster Public Library, Webster, NY), Comic-Con International board member Natalie Powell, and academic/scholar Carol Tilley (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

Source: ICv2