Chuck's Comic Book Lists

IDW Publishing has received 11 nominations for the 2026 Eisner Awards, highlighting significant achievements in the comic book industry.

The press release follows:

Media Release – IDW Publishing is proud to announce a total of 11 nominations in the 2026 Eisner Awards, the prestigious event celebrating the very best storytelling and creatives from across the comic book industry over the past year.



This tremendous recognition of IDW’s stories features five solo nominations and six shared nominations. The solo nominations for IDW are…

Best Graphic Memoir: IT RHYMES WITH TAKEI, by George Takei, Steven Scott, Justin Eisinger, and Harmony Becker (Top Shelf Productions)

Best Graphic Album-New: MORE WEIGHT: A SALEM STORY, by Ben Wickey (Top Shelf Productions)

Best Limited Series: BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES: RITE OF SPRING, by Patrick Horvath, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (IDW Publishing)

Best Lettering: Ben Wickey (MORE WEIGHT: A SALEM STORY, Top Shelf Productions)

Best Graphic Album-Reprint: BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES: STORYBOOK EDITION, by Patrick Horvath, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, designed by Nathan Widick (IDW Publishing)

The shared nominations for IDW are…

Best Writer: Stephanie Williams (STREET SHARKS, Roots of Madness, Temporal)

Best Cover Artist: Juni Ba (TMNT: NIGHTWATCHER, TMNT X GODZILLA, The Boy Wonder, and more)

Best Cover Artist: Francesco Francavilla (STAR TREK: THE LAST STARSHIP, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, Star Wars: Tales from the Nightlands, and more)

Best Coloring: Jordie Bellaire (THE EXORCISM AT 1600 PENN, Absolute Wonder Woman, Exquisite Corpses, and more)

Best Coloring: José Villarrubia (IT RHYMES WITH TAKEI, Ghostbox, Dracula Book 2 The Brides)

Best Lettering: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES: RITE OF SPRING, STARSHIP GODZILLA, THE EXORCISM AT 1600 PENN, Absolute Martian Manhunter, and more)

“The title says it out loud: It Rhymes with Takei. For most of my life, I could not say that word. Gay. A small word. A heavy silence. This memoir is the story of how that silence finally broke. To have it honored with an Eisner nomination tells me that the silences we break can become bridges for someone else — and that graphic memoirs can carry that truth further than I ever could alone.”
-George Takei

“It’s a huge honor to receive the nominations for Best Limited Series and Best Graphic Album Re-Print. They’re a testament to IDW’s support of the book, as well as their support in my ongoing experiment of how it should evolve. I’m forever grateful to the readers, retailers, and critics who continue to give this book a shot.”
-Patrick Horvath

“Since first reading his adaptation of Moby-Dick as a child, I have long revered the masterful and daring work of Will Eisner. To be nominated twice for an award named in his honor, for my first book, is therefore extremely meaningful to me."
-Ben Wickey

For an insightful and fun behind-the-scenes look at the creation of MORE WEIGHT: A SALEM STORY and BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES, check out the debut episode of IDW Studios’ CreatorxCreator series featuring an in-depth and entertaining conversation between Horvath and Wickey.