Last week, the nominations for the 2021 Eisner Awards were announced. Six series were nominated for the ‘Best Continuing Series’ award, all of which are excellent comics of different stripes. There has been a lot of extremely valid criticism placed at the feet of the Eisners for the utter lack of female and non-binary nominees in this and other categories, and we echo those complaints. However, we cannot change the nominees, and so all that is left to do is ask: which of these series deserve the award?
Of all the titles here, only “Stillwater” and “The Department of Truth” are new books, both debuting after last year’s Eisners ceremony. “Usagi Yojimbo,” across multiple publishers and decades, is the most established title on the list. Even thought there have been more issues of “Daredevil,” and even though it debuted long before “Usagi Yojimbo,” Stan Sakai has been the only creator on “Usagi Yojimbo,” whereas “Daredevil” has been written and illustrated by dozens of folks in that timeframe, and so isn’t really one ‘continuing’ series. That said, “Daredevil” has won this twice before (from different creators), and “Usagi” has not.
“Bitter Root” is the previous winner, and “Gideon Falls” is one of the most celebrated comics of recent memory. The list is solid, despite the lack of non-male creators and the overabundance of Image books represented. And hey, congrats Chip Zdarsky on the double writing nom!
But anyway, which do you feel should win? Vote in our Reader Poll, and check back on Monday for the results!
