Absolute Batman and Absolute Martian Manhunter Lead DC’s 2026 Eisner Awards Haul

The 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards were announced at San Diego Comic-Con, with DC emerging as the most decorated publisher overall. The studio’s Absolute Universe imprint led the way, taking major wins including honors for Absolute Batman and Absolute Martian Manhunter. In total, DC collected 10 Eisner Awards, while Image Comics followed with four.

DC dominates the 2026 Eisners with Absolute Universe wins

DC’s haul included multiple series-category victories, as well as recognition tied directly to its Absolute Universe titles across different award types. Among the headline wins, both Absolute Batman and Absolute Martian Manhunter were named winners in their respective categories, contributing to DC’s total of 10 awards.

2026 Eisner Awards winners by category (selected highlights)

Best Continuing Series

• Absolute Batman — Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and others (DC)
• Absolute Wonder Woman — Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, Mattia De Iulis (DC)
• The Department of Truth — James Tynion IV, Martin Simmonds (Image)
• FML — Kelly Sue DeConnick, David Lopez (Dark Horse)
• The Power Fantasy — Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard (Image)
• Storm — Murewa Ayodele, Lucas Werneck, and others (Marvel)

Best Limited Series

• Absolute Martian Manhunter — Deniz Camp, Javier Rodriguez (DC)
• Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring — Patrick Horvath (IDW)
• Bronze Faces — Shobo, Shof, Alexandre Tefenkgi (BOOM! Studios)
• Crownsville — Rodney Barnes, Elia Bonetti (Oni Press)
• Everything Dead and Dying — Tate Brombal, Jacob Phillips (Image)
• Out of Alcatraz — Christopher Cantwell, Tyler Crook (Oni Press)

Best One-Shot/Single Issue

• Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1 — Daniel Warren Johnson, James Harren, Meredith McClaren (DC)
• Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 — Deniz Camp, Javier Rodriguez (DC)
• Assorted Crisis Events #4 — Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadski (Image)
• Coin-Op no. 10: Wet Cement — Peter and Maria Hoey (Coin-Op Books)
• Ice Cream Man #43: “One Page Horror Stories” — W. Maxwell Prince and others (Image)
• Something Is Killing the Children: A Monster Hunter Walks into a Bar #1 — James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)

Best Short Story

• “Blood Harvest” — Shintaro Kago (Brain Damage), translated by Zack Davisson (Fantagraphics)
• “The Curse Room” — Shintaro Kago (Brain Damage), translated by Zack Davisson (Fantagraphics)
• “Football Is Not War” — R. K. Russell and Wilfred Santiago (Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project) (Stacked Deck Press)
• “Red Snapper in the Rea” — Michael D. Kennedy (Milk White Steed) (Drawn & Quarterly)
• “trAPPed” — Anand RK, Suparna Sharma, Natalie Obiko Pearson (Bloomberg News)

Best New Series

• Assorted Crisis Events — Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadski (Image)
• Batman Vol. 4 — Matt Fraction, Jorge Jiménez (DC)
• Black Cat — G. Willow Wilson, Gleb Melnikov (Marvel)
• Exquisite Corpses — James Tynion IV, Michael Walsh, Pornsak Pichetshote, and others (Image)
• Ghost Pepper — Ludo Lullabi (Image)
• Temporal — Stephanie Williams, Asiah Fulmore (Mad Cave)

Best Writer

• Deniz Camp — Absolute Martian Manhunter (DC), Assorted Crisis Events (Image), The Ultimates (Marvel)
• Scott Snyder — Absolute Batman (DC), Batman/Deadpool (DC), plus other works
• Mariko Tamaki — This Place Kills Me (Abrams Fanfare)
• Kelly Thompson — Absolute Wonder Woman (DC), plus other works
• James Tynion IV — Something Is Killing the Children and multiple other titles (BOOM!, Dark Horse, Image, DSTLRY)
• Stephanie Williams — Temporal and other titles (IDW, Mad Cave, Ignition Press)

Best Writer/Artist

• Juni Ba — The Boy Wonder (DC), The Fable of Erkling Woods (Goats Flying Press), plus other work
• Jamal Campbell — Zatanna (DC)
• Jesse Lonergan — Drome (23rd St. Books)
• Chang Sheng — Yan vols. 1–2 (Titan Manga)
• Linnea Sterte — A Garden of Spheres (Peow2)
• Kazumi Yamashita — Land vol. 1 (Yen Press)

Absolute Universe and beyond: other Eisner winners

Best Graphic Memoir

• The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief — Carol Tyler (Fantagraphics)
• My Life in 24 Frames Per Second — Rintaro (Kana Manga US)
• It Rhymes with Takei — George Takei, Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, Justin Eisinger (Top Shelf)
• Precious Rubbish — Kayla E. (Fantagraphics)
• Raised by Ghosts — Briana Loewinsohn (Fantagraphics)
• Talking to My Father’s Ghost: An Almost True Story — Alex Krokus (Chronicle)

Best Graphic Album–New

• Cannon — Lee Lai (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Drome — Jesse Lonergan (23rd St. Books)
• The Fable of Erkling Woods — Juni Ba (Goats Flying Press)
• A Garden of Spheres — Linnea Sterte (Peow2)
• More Weight: A Salem Story — Ben Wickey (Top Shelf)
• Shadows of the Sea — Cathy Malkasian (Fantagraphics)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

• Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness, Book 1) — Tamora Pierce, adapted by Vita Ayala and Sama Beck (Abrams Fanfare)
• The Compleat Angler: A Graphic Adaptation — Izaak Walton, adapted by Gareth Brookes (SelfMadeHero)
• Dead Man Walking: Graphic Edition — Sister Helen Prejean, adapted by Rose Vines and Catherine Anyango Grünewald (Random House)
• Ghost Boys: The Graphic Novel — Jewell Parker Rhodes and Setor Fiadzigbey (Little, Brown Ink)
• Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel — William Golding, adapted by Aimée De Jongh (Penguin Classics)
• A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel — Ursula K. Le Guin, adapted by Fred Fordham (Clarion Books)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

• Buff Soul — Moa Romanova, translated by Melissa Bowers (Fantagraphics)
• Cornelius: The Merry Life of a Wretched Dog — Marc Torices, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Drawn & Quarterly)
• In the End We All Die — Tobias Aeschbacher, translated by Andrew Shields (Helvetiq)
• Nocturnos — Laura Perez, translated by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)
• Raging Clouds — Yudori (Fantagraphics)
• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes — Anaïs Flogny, translated by Dan Christensen (Abrams ComicArts)

Best Webcomic

• The Accidental Undergrad — Christian Giroux (Fieldmouse Press)
• Keeping Time — Kody Okamoto (keepingtimecomic.com)
• The Legend of Parvaterra — Raúl Arnáiz (WEBTOON)
• Sable: A Ghost Story — Ethan M. Aldridge (sablecomic.com)
• Superfish — Peglo (WEBTOON)
• Terran Omega: The Ghosts of War — PJ Holden (pauljholden.com)
• Tiger, Tiger — Petra Erika Nordlund (tigertigercomic.com)

Best Digital Comic

• DeadAss — hakei (VIZ Media)
• In the Real Dark Night — Jimmy Gownley (G-Ville Comics)
• The Lycan — Mike Carey, Thomas Jane, David James Kelly, Diego Yapur (Comixology Originals)
• Overwatch 2: Against the Tide — Brandon Chen, Velinxi (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Practical Defense Against Piracy — Tony Cliff (delilahdirk.com)
• The World of Lublu — Charbak Dipta (The Charbax Store)

Who won what, and what it means

• DC finished as the most decorated publisher with 10 awards.
• Image Comics followed with 4 awards.
• Absolute Universe titles were central to DC’s success, with Absolute Batman and Absolute Martian Manhunter both recognized in major categories.