It’s victory lap time with this week’s “So You Want To Read Comics.”  This is our (unnominated) weekly feature where we take a look at a single topic or genre, then give you two comic book recommendations, perfect for new readers, based on that topic or genre.  This week we’re looking at 2023 Eisner Award Winners.

Every year comic book industry professionals come together to honor various comic book issues, series, creators, and even comics-related journalism and periodicals (albeit not this one).  Much like The Oscars or The Grammys, Eisner Awards are based on the votes of colleagues and fellow members of the industry, and have become one of the premiere awards that a creator or publication can receive in the comic book industry.  There are currently 32 different categories, each one representing extraordinary accomplishments by both the winners and the nominees.  If you’re interested in getting into comic books, you could do far worse than choosing any one of these winners as your entry point.

But, some are a little more new reader friendly than others.  Here are two award-winning recommendations to check out.

DUCKS: TWO YEARS IN THE OIL SANDS

Writer: Kate Beaton
Artist: Kate Beaton
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

Winner of two Eisner Awards, Best Memoir, and Best Writer/Artist,  Ducks: Two Years in The Oil Sands is an autobiographical graphic novel written by Kate Beaton.  Beaton is probably known best for her webcomic Hark! A Vagrant (also a multiple award-winning series).  In this graphic novel, Kate expands on another one of her webcomic series, to tell her story of working in the oil sands in Western Canada.  Along the way, she touches on a vast array of topics like environmentalism, sexism, sexual harassment, indigenous rights, and the morality of stacking all of those issues against self-preservation and personal gain.  This novel manages to be incredibly critical of capitalism without ever outright saying anything against it.  Rather, Kate uses real-life, excruciating detail, to allow the reality itself to be the criticism. In the art department, Kate uses her familiar cartoon style when depicting humans, but then switches to a more realistic style when depicting just about everything else.  It creates an interesting look that suggests that humanity, their own creations, and nature no longer resemble each other or fit together.

SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artists: Werther Dell’Edera and Miquel Muerto
Publisher: BOOM! Studios

James Tynion IV, who just so happened to have won the Eisner Award for Best Writer, is a prolific comic book creator who hit the scene during DC’s New 52 era, and hasn’t stopped since. Amongst his many appearances on established titles, are also a slew of his own created series, including Something Is Killing The Children The series follows a monster slayer named Erica Slaughter as she battles not only horrific beasts lingering in the wildernesses outside small towns, but also her own past.  The series is a wonderfully balanced one that takes visceral action and an effective level of gore and leverages it against an interesting conspiracy involving secret orders.  It’s like taking a monster flick and slamming it into something like John Wick.  In addition to being a thoroughly enjoyable experience on its own, as of the writing of this article, this title has been optioned for a Netflix series and is in production.  For those who are interested in this one, the first five of the collected editions are available to read digitally for free (with a Comixology Unlimited or Amazon Prime account).

How do you feel about the winners and nominees of the 2023 Eisner Awards?  What do you think about these recommendations?  Let us know in the comments section below?

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