The 2001 Eisner Awards, for comics work published in the year 2000, have been announced, and while DC did score the most nominations the wide diversity of works and publishers nominated was most notable. With more than 28 companies represented, the Eisners this year included such mainstream book publishers as HarperCollins, Pantheon, Henry Holt, and Chronicle Books, collectively scoring an unprecedented 17 nominations: HarperCollins, with their publications of the Art Spiegelman-edited Little Lit (five nominations) and Michael Kupperman's collection Snake 'n' Bacon (two nominations); Pantheon for Jimmy Corrigan (three nominations) and Julius Knipl: The Beauty Supply District (two nominations).

International works were very well represented in the Eisners, with four nominations going to the Belgian graphic novel From Cloud 99: Memories by Yslaire (Humanoids Publishing), four to Kaiji Kawaguchi's series Eagle (Viz), three to the Canadian anthology Drawn & Quarterly, two to Dark Horse's reprints of the Japanese classic Lone Wolf & Cub and two to the graphic novel Louis: Red Letter Day produced by Metaphrog. Other non-US nominees include works by Canadian Michel Rabagliati, Croatian writer-artist team Darko Macan and Edvin Buikovic, Japanese master Katsuhiro Otomo, Spanish artist Max and French cartoonist Lewis Trondheim.

In a semi-reprise of the results from last year, DC Comics dominated the Eisners with 26 nominations, but this time Alan Moore's ABC series, which last year propelled DC to the top of the Eisners with 16 nominations, attracted just five nominations, equaling the number of nominations for the new Vertigo series, Lucifer. Multiple nominations also went to 100 Bullets (Vertigo) and The Authority (Wildstorm), with three each.

Image Comics enjoyed the most successful year in its history with eight and a half nominations, including three for Christian Gossett's series The Red Star, two and a half for Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming's Powers and two for Eric Shanower's Age of Bronze. Bendis also received two nominations for his Oni miniseries Fortune & Glory.

Chris Ware received three nominations for Fantagraphics Books' Acme Novelty Library. Joe Sacco's Safe Area Gorazde drew two nominations for Fantagraphics, which received approximately 10 nominations (several were shared with other companies).

Interestingly, the Best Short Story nominee "Monsieur Jean" is longer than the Best Graphic Album nominee Last Lonely Saturday.

The judging panel chose to drop two categories from this year's ballot: Best Comics-Related Periodical and Best Comics-Related Product/Item. This year's judges were writer/editor Anina Bennett (Heartbreakers), Sequential Tart Webmaster Karon Flage, retailer Ralph Mathieu (Alternate Realities, Las Vegas), Diamond Comics product manager Chris Schaff and journalist Douglas Wolk (Publishers Weekly).

Ballots will be going out in early May to some 5000 comics publishers, creators and retailers. The results will be announced in a gala awards ceremony at Comic-Con International: San Diego on the night of Friday, July 20 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Eisner Award Nominees, 2000

Best Short Story

• "The Fisherman and the Sea Princess," by David Mazzucchelli, in Little Lit (HarperCollins)
• "The Gorilla Suit," by Sergio Aragonés, in Streetwise (TwoMorrows)
• "Monsieur Jean," by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian, in Drawn & Quarterly, Vol. 3 (Drawn & Quarterly)
• "A Prayer to the Sun," by Edvin Buikovic and Darko Macan, in Weird War Tales Special (Vertigo/DC)
• "Prince Rooster," by Art Spiegelman , in Little Lit (HarperCollins)

Best Single Issue

• Finder #19: "Talisman," by Carla Speed McNeil (Lightspeed Press)
• Hey Mister: The Trouble with Jesus, by Pete Sickman-Garner (Top Shelf)
• Lucifer #4: "Born with the Dead," by Mike Carey, Warren Pleece and Dean Ormston (Vertigo/DC)
• Paul in the Country, by Michel Rabagliati (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Promethea #10: "Sex, Stars, and Serpents," by Alan Moore, J. H. Williams III and Mick Gray (ABC)
• Sock Monkey Vol. 3 #2, by Tony Millionaire (Dark Horse Maverick)

Best Serialized Story

• The Authority #13-16: "The Nativity," by Mark Millar, Frank Quitely and Trevor Scott (Wildstorm/DC)
• Lucifer #5-7: "The House of Windowless Rooms," by Mike Carey, Peter Gross and Ryan Kelly (Vertigo/DC)
• 100 Bullets #15-18 : "Hang Up on the Hang Low," by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Rizzo (Vertigo/DC)
• Preacher #59-66: "Alamo," by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon (Vertigo/DC)
• The Red Star #1-4: "The Battle of Kar Dathra's Gate," by Christian Gossett and Team Red Star (Image)

Best Continuing Series

• Age of Bronze, by Eric Shanower (Image)
• Berlin, by Jason Lutes (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Eagle, by Kaiji Kawaguchi (Viz)
• Promethea, by Alan Moore, J. H. Williams III and Mick Gray (ABC)
• Top 10, by Alan Moore, Gene Ha and Zander Cannon (ABC)

Best Limited Series

• Blue Monday: The Kids Are Alright, by Chynna Clugston-Major (Oni)
• Breakfast After Noon, by Andi Watson (Oni)
• Fortune & Glory, by Brian Michael Bendis (Oni)
• The Ring of the Nibelung, by P. Craig Russell, with Patrick Mason (Dark Horse Maverick)
• Sock Monkey, Vol. 3, by Tony Millionaire (Dark Horse Maverick)

Best New Series

• Eagle, by Kaiji Kawaguchi (Viz)
• Lucifer, by Mike Carey and others (Vertigo/DC)
• Powers, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming (Image)
• The Red Star, by Christian Gossett and Team Red Star (Image)

Best Title for a Younger Audience

• Akiko, by Mark Crilley (Sirius)
• Clan Apis trade paperback, by Jay Hosler (Active Synapse)
• Little Lit, edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly (HarperCollins)
• Louis: Red Letter Day, by Metaphrog (Metaphrog)
• Scary Godmother: The Boo Flu, by Jill Thompson (Sirius)

Best Humor Publication

• Fortune & Glory, by Brian Michael Bendis (Oni)
• Hey Mister: The Trouble with Jesus, by Pete Sickman-Garner (Top Shelf)
• Post-Dykes to Watch Out For, by Alison Bechdel (Firebrand Books)
• Snake 'n' Bacon Cartoon Cabaret, by Michael Kupperman (HarperCollins)
• Sock Monkey, Vol. 3, by Tony Millionaire (Dark Horse Maverick)

Best Anthology

• Drawn & Quarterly, Vol. 3, edited by Chris Oliveros (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Expo 2000, edited by Tom Devlin and others (The Expo)
• Little Lit, edited by Art Spiegelman and Fran¨oise Mouly (HarperCollins)
• Strapazin: Bubbles 'n' Boxes and Beyond, edited by Patrizia Crivelli and others (Swiss Institute of New York/Swiss Federal Office of Culture)
• Streetwise, edited by Jon B. Cooke and John Morrow (TwoMorrows)

Best Graphic Album - New

• From Cloud 99: Memories, Part I, by Yslaire (Humanoids)
• Last Lonely Saturday, by Jordan Crane (Red Ink)
• Louis: Red Letter Day, by Metaphrog (Metaphrog)
• Pedro and Me, by Judd Winick (Henry Holt)
• Safe Area Gorazde, by Joe Sacco (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album Reprint

• Clan Apis, by Jay Hosler (Active Synapse)
• The Collected Hutch Owen, vol. 1, by Tom Hart (Top Shelf)
• Dear Julia, by Brian Biggs (Top Shelf)
• Jimmy Corrigan, by Chris Ware (Pantheon)
• Julius Knipl: The Beauty Supply District, by Ben Katchor (Pantheon)
• Mirror, Window, by Jessica Abel (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project

• "Gasoline Alley," by Frank King, in Drawn & Quarterly, vol. 3 (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Lone Wolf and Cub, by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima (Dark Horse)
• Plastic Man Archives, vol. 2, by Jack Cole (DC)
• Playboy's Little Annie Fanny, by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder (Dark Horse)
• The Spirit Archives, vols. 1 and 2, by Will Eisner (DC)

Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material

• Akira, Book One, by Katsuhiro Otomo (Dark Horse)
• Eagle, by Kaiji Kawaguchi (Viz)
• The Extended Dream of Mr. D, by Max (Drawn & Quarterly)
• From Cloud 99: Memories, Part I, by Yslaire (Humanoids)
• Lone Wolf and Cub, by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima (Dark Horse)
• The Nimrod, by Lewis Trondheim (Fantagraphics)

Best Writer

• Brian Michael Bendis, Powers (Image), Fortune & Glory (Oni), Ultimate Spider-Man (Marvel)
• Mike Carey, Lucifer (Vertigo/DC)
• Garth Ennis, Preacher (Vertigo/DC)
• Mark Millar, The Authority (Wildstorm/DC), Ultimate X-Men (Marvel)
• Alan Moore, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Promethea, Tom Strong, Top Ten, Tomorrow Stories (ABC)

Best Writer/Artist

• Kaiji Kawaguchi, Eagle (Viz)
• Jason Lutes, Berlin (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Joe Sacco, Safe Area: Gorazde (Fantagraphics)
• Eric Shanower, Age of Bronze (Image)
• Yslaire, From Cloud 99: Memories, Part I (Humanoids)

Best Writer/Artist - Humor

• Alison Bechdel, Post-Dykes to Watch Out For (Firebrand)
• Ben Katchor, Julius Knipl: The Beauty Supply District (Pantheon)
• Michael Kupperman, Snake 'n' Bacon Cartoon Cabaret (HarperCollins)
• Tony Millionaire, Maakies (Fantagraphics), Sock Monkey (Dark Horse Maverick)
• Pete Sickman-Garner, Hey, Mister (Top Shelf)
• Judd Winick, The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius, 2.0 (Oni)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

• Michael Avon Oeming, Powers (Image)
• Frank Quitely/Trevor Scott, The Authority (Wildstorm/DC)
• Eduardo Risso, 100 Bullets (Vertigo/DC)
• P. Craig Russell, Ring of the Nibelung (Dark Horse Maverick)
• J. H. Williams III/Mick Gray, Promethea (ABC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art)

• Christian Gossett and Team Red Star, The Red Star (Image)
• David Mack, Kabuki #9 (Image)
• George Pratt, Batman: Harvest Breed (DC)
• Jill Thompson, Scary Godmother (Sirius)
• Charles Vess, Rose #1 (Cartoon Books)
• Yslaire, From Cloud 99: Memories, Part I (Humanoids)

Best Coloring

• Jeromy Cox, Promethea (ABC)
• Lovern Kindzierski, Ring of the Nibelung (Dark Horse Maverick)
• Patricia Mulvihill, 100 Bullets (Vertigo/DC), Nightwing (DC)
• Lynn Varley, Sin City: Hell and Back (Dark Horse Maverick)
• Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #14 (Fantagraphics)

Best Lettering

• Todd Klein, Promethea, Tom Strong, Tomorrow Stories, Top 10 (ABC); The Invisibles, The Dreaming (Vertigo/DC); Castle Waiting (Cartoon Books)
• Galen Showman, Ring of the Nibelung (Dark Horse Maverick)
• Dave Sim, Cerebus (Aardvark-Vanaheim)
• Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library (Fantagraphics)

Best Cover Artist

• Brian Bolland, Batman: Gotham Knights, The Flash (DC); The Invisibles (Vertigo/DC)
• Duncan Fegredo, Lucifer (Vertigo/DC)
• Phil Hale, Swamp Thing, Vertigo Secret Files, Flinch #11 (Vertigo/DC)
• Dave Johnson, Detective Comics (DC), 100 Bullets (Vertigo/DC)
• Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library (Fantagraphics), Jimmy Corrigan (Pantheon), Drawn & Quarterly Vol. 3 (Drawn & Quarterly)

Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition

• J. Bone (artist, Allison Dare; Solar Stella)
• Mike Brennan (Electric Girl)
• Catherine Doherty (Can of Worms)
• Scott Mills (Big Clay Pot)
• Alex Robinson (Box Office Poison)
• Mark Smylie (Artesia)

Best Comics-Related Book

• Comic Book Artist Collection, Vol. 1, edited by Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)
• Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History, by Ron Goulart (Collectors Press)
• 50 Years of Happiness: A Tribute to Charles M. Schulz, by Derrick Bang, with Victor Lee (Peanuts Collectors Club)
• Tales of Terror! The EC Comics Companion, by Fred von Bernewitz and Grant Geissman (Fantagraphics/Gemstone)
• Wonder Woman: The Complete History, by Les Daniels (Chronicle Books)

Best Publication Design

• Drawn & Quarterly, Vol. 3, designed by Chris Oliveros (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Jimmy Corrigan, designed by Chris Ware (Pantheon)
• The Last Lonely Saturday, designed by Jordan Crane (Red Ink)
• Little Lit, designed by Chip Kidd and Art Spiegelman (HarperCollins)
• Wonder Woman: The Complete History, designed by Chip Kidd (Chronicle Books)

Hall of Fame

• Judges' Choices (will be automatically inducted): Dale Messick, Roy Crane

• Voters will choose four from the following nominees: Gene Colan, Reed Crandall, Dan DeCarlo, Will Elder, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, Chester Gould, Hergé, Frank King, Bernie Krigstein, John Romita, E.C. Segar, Marie Severin, John Stanley, Osamu Tezuka.

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