DC Comics ruled the 16th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, with projects and creators from DC titles involved in half of the award winners. The gala ceremony was held on July 23, 2004, in the Ballroom at the San Diego Convention Center. Dark Horse took home four Eisners. The only other publisher with multiple Eisners was Top Shelf.

Sergio Aragonés presented the Hall of Fame Awards. The judges’ choice awards went to Otto Binder, John Stanley, Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. The four elected inductees were Al Capp, Jules Feiffer, Don Martin and Jerry Robinson. Robinson was on hand to accept his award in person.

Besides Aragonés, Eisner presenters included Bill Plympton, Dave Gibbons, Walter and Louise Simonson, Bill Willingham, Eric Shanower, Eric Powell, Stan Sakai, and Bruce Jones and April Campbell. The MC for the evening was Eisner administrator Jackie Estrada, and Will Eisner was on hand to congratulate all the winners.

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Michael Chabon (THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY) kicked off the evening with a keynote speech in which he issued a call to comic creators and publishers to do comics for kids that actually appeal to children and contain all the elements that excited today’s creators about comics when they were kids.

Among the other awards given out over the evening were the Comic-Con’s Clampett and Manning awards. The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, presented by Clampett’s daughter Ruth, went to Mimi Cruz Carroll, co-owner of Night Flight Comics in Salt Lake City, for her efforts in using comics for literacy and her involvement in children’s advocacy. The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award went to Eric Wight, artist on “The Passing of the Key,” which appeared in MICHAEL CHABON PRESENTS: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE ESCAPIST #1.

A complete list of this year’s Eisner recipients follows.

2004 Eisner Award Recipients for material published in 2003

Best Short Story
"Death," by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell, in THE SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS (Vertigo/DC)

Best Single Issue (tie)
CONAN THE LEGEND #0, by Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord (Dark Horse)
THE GOON #1, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

Best Serialized Story
GOTHAM CENTRAL #6–10: "Half a Life," by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark (DC)

Best Continuing Series
100 BULLETS, by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso (Vertigo/DC)

Best Limited Series
UNSTABLE MOLECULES, by James Sturm and Guy Davis (Marvel)

Best New Series
PLASTIC MAN, by Kyle Baker (DC)

Best Title for a Younger Audience
WALT DISNEY'S UNCLE SCROOGE, by various (Gemstone)

Best Humor Publication
FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE, by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Joe Rubinstein (DC)

Best Anthology
THE SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS, by Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, P. Craig Russell, Miguelanxo Prado, Barron Storey, Frank Quitely, Glenn Fabry, Milo Manara, and Bill Sienkiewicz; co-edited by Karen Berger and Shelly Bond (Vertigo/DC)

Best Graphic Album—New
BLANKETS, by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
BATMAN ADVENTURES: DANGEROUS DAMES AND DEMONS, by Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, and others (DC)

Best Archival Collection/Project
KRAZY AND IGNATZ, 1929–1930, by George Herriman, edited by Bill Blackbeard (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material
BUDDHA, VOLS. 1 AND 2, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)

Best Writer
Alan Moore, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, PROMETHEA, SMAX, TOM STRONG, TOM STRONG'S TERRIFIC TALES (ABC)

Best Writer/Artist
Craig Thompson, BLANKETS (Top Shelf)

Best Writer/Artist—Humor
Kyle Baker, PLASTIC MAN (DC); THE NEW BAKER (Kyle Baker Publishing)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
John Cassaday, PLANETARY, PLANETARY/BATMAN: NIGHT ON EARTH (WildStorm/DC); HELLBOY WEIRD TALES (Dark Horse)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Jill Thompson, "Stray," in THE DARK HORSE BOOK OF HAUNTINGS (Dark Horse)

Best Coloring