The 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, held during San Diego Comic-Con, saw a strong showing for Japanese creators and publishers. Shintaro Kago claimed the prestigious Best Short Story award for his work Blood Harvest, featured in the Brain Damage collection and translated by Zack Davisson. Kago held a double presence in the category, as his story The Curse Room from the same anthology also received a nomination.
In the Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia category, Purgatory Funeral Cakes by Sanho emerged victorious. Published by Dark Horse Comics with translation by Danny Lim, the title beat out heavy hitters including Keigo Shinzō’s Hirayasumi and Tokyo Alien Bros., as well as Kazumi Yamashita’s Land. The win highlights the continued critical success of international manga imports in the North American market.
Other notable industry recognitions included Kodansha USA’s hardcover release of Akira (volumes 1-5), which took home the award for Best Archival/Collection Project. On the academic front, Andrea Horbinski’s Manga's First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905-1989 secured the win for Best Academic/Scholarly Work.
The ceremony also honored two titans of the medium, with Gō Nagai and the late Akira Toriyama officially inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame. These inductions follow last year's inclusion of industry legends Shigeru Mizuki and Junji Ito, further cementing the global influence of Japanese creators on the comic medium.
