News

Manga Creators Moto Hagio, Keiji Nakazawa Nominated for Eisner Hall of Fame

Comic-Con International announced on Friday that the Eisner Awards judges have nominated manga creators Moto Hagio and Keiji Nakazawa for the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame this year. Hagio and Nakazawa are part of a selection of 14 nominees, four of whom will be selected by vote to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Other nominees for this year include Alison Bechdel, Howard Cruse, Don Heck, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Francoise Mouly, Thomas Nast, Lily Renée Wilhelm Peters Phillips, Stan Sakai, Louise Simonson, Don and Maggie Thompson, James Warren, and Bill Watterson.

Hagio is a pioneer of shōjo and shōnen-ai manga, and her works helped establish conventions of these and other fields. Hagio's They Were Eleven, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, A,A', The Heart of Thomas, Otherworld Barbara, and The Poe Clan manga have English releases. Her Lil' Leo manga has an English release planned.

Hagio received the Person of Cultural Merit honor from the Japanese government in October. She also received the Asahi Prize for fiscal year 2016, and the Japanese government previously awarded Hagio with the Spring 2012 Medal With Purple Ribbon, which honors academic and artistic achievement. Hagio was the first female shōjo manga creator to receive the award.

Nakazawa is the creator of the world-renowned Barefoot Gen manga about the Hiroshima atomic bombing and aftermath. Nakazawa was born in Hiroshima in 1939. At the age of 6, he survived the 1945 Hiroshima bombing and the loss of most of his immediate family — his father, older sister, younger brother, and younger sister. Only he, his mother, and two brothers who were not at home survived.

After graduating from middle school in 1954, Nakazawa moved to Tokyo in 1961 and became a published manga creator at the age of 24 in 1963. Last Gasp Publishing republished the Barefoot Gen manga in North America. The story has been adapted into two animated films and a live-action television drama special in Japan. Nakazawa passed away in 2012.

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 13. The award ceremony will be held at this year's Comic-Con International: San Diego event from July 23-26.

The previous Japanese inductees of the Eisner Hall of Fame were Osamu Tezuka (2002), Kazuo Koike (2004), Goseki Kojima (2004), Katsuhiro Ōtomo (2012), and Rumiko Takahashi (2018). Akira Toriyama and Naoki Urasawa were nominated last year, but were not among the four selected.

Sources: Comic-Con International, Fantagraphics