The 2020 Judges’ Choices for automatic inclusion into the Eisner Hall of Fame
are Nell Brinkley and E. Simms Campbell.
Comic-Con International (Comic-Con) has announced that the Eisner Awards judges have selected two individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2020. These inductees are pioneering newspaper cartoonist Nell Brinkley (creator of the Brinkley Girl) and African American cartoonist/illustrator E. Simms Campbell (Esquire, Life, Judge, Playboy, and many other magazines).
Further reading on Nell Brinkley and furthermore.
Appreciation of E. Simms Campbell and more.
The judges also chose 14 nominees from which voters will select 4 to be inducted in the Hall of Fame:
Alison Bechdel, Howard Cruse, Moto Hagio, Don Heck, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Francoise Mouly, Keiji Nakazawa, Thomas Nast, Lily Renée Peter Phillips, Stan Sakai, Louise Simonson, Don and Maggie Thompson, James Warren, and Bill Watterson.
aside: The Thomas Nast inclusion is somewhat surprising since the past decade
has seen some protestations at including him as a man to be honored.
[hat tip to Scary Terry and Esquire for the large illustrations.]