| Year |
Nominees |
Titles |
Ref. |
| 1993 |
Frank Miller |
"Sin City" in Dark Horse Presents (Dark Horse Comics) |
[1] |
| Michael D. Allred |
Madman (Tundra Publishing) |
| Peter Bagge |
Hate (Fantagraphics) |
| Eddie Campbell |
Deadface (Dark Horse Comics), The Eyeball Kid (Dark Horse Comics) |
| Dan Clowes |
Eightball (Fantagraphics) |
| Roberta Gregory |
Naughty Bits (Fantagraphics) |
| Mark Schultz |
Xenozoic Tales (Kitchen Sink Press) |
| Jeff Smith |
Bone (Cartoon Books) |
| Bryan Talbot |
"Mask" in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (DC Comics) |
| Matt Wagner |
"Faces" in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (DC Comics) |
| 1994 |
Jeff Smith |
Bone (Cartoon Books) |
[2] |
| Phil Foglio |
XXXenophile (Palliard Press) |
| Roberta Gregory |
Naughty Bits (Fantagraphics) |
| Stan Sakai |
Usagi Yojimbo (Fantagraphics/Mirage Studios) |
| William Van Horn |
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories (Gladstone Publishing) and Donald Duck Adventures (Gladstone Publishing) |
| 1995 |
Mike Mignola |
Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (Dark Horse Comics/Legend Comics) |
[3] |
| Paul Chadwick |
Concrete: Killer Smile (Dark Horse Comics/Legend Comics) |
| Jason Lutes |
Jar of Fools (Penny Dreadful Press) |
| Terry Moore |
Strangers in Paradise (Abstract Studio) |
| Bryan Talbot |
The Tale of One Bad Rat (Dark Horse Comics) |
| 1996 [note 1] |
David Lapham |
Stray Bullets (El Capitán Books) |
[4] |
| Charles Burns |
Black Hole (Kitchen Sink Press) |
| Howard Cruse |
Stuck Rubber Baby (Paradox Press) |
| Will Eisner |
Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood (Kitchen Sink Press) |
| Joe Sacco |
Palestine (Fantagraphics) |
| Osamu Tezuka |
Adolf: A Tale of the Twentieth Century (Cadence Books) |
| 1997 [note 1] |
Mike Mignola |
Hellboy: Wake the Devil (Dark Horse Comics/Legend Comics) |
[5] |
| Paul Grist |
Kane (Dancing Elephant Press) |
| Joe Kubert |
Fax from Sarajevo (Dark Horse Comics) |
| Stan Sakai |
Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse Comics) |
| Osamu Tezuka |
Adolf graphic novel series(Cadence Books) |
| 1998 [note 1] |
Mike Mignola |
Hellboy: Almost Colossus, Hellboy Christmas Special, Hellboy Junior Halloween Special (Dark Horse Comics) |
[6] |
| Dan Clowes |
Eightball (Fantagraphics) |
| Rick Geary |
The Borden Tragedy (NBM Publishing) |
| Vittorio Giardino |
A Jew in Communist Prague (NBM Publishing) |
| David Lapham |
Stray Bullets, Amy Racecar Color Special #1 (El Capitán Books) |
| Jason Lutes |
Berlin (Black Eye Productions) |
| Linda Medley |
Castle Waiting (Olio Press) |
| 1999 |
Frank Miller |
300 (Dark Horse Comics) |
[7] |
| Alan Davis |
JLA: The Nail (DC Comics) |
| Will Eisner |
A Family Matter (Kitchen Sink Press) |
| David Lapham |
Stray Bullets (El Capitán Books) |
| Stan Sakai |
Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse Comics) |
| 2000s |
| 2000 |
Dan Clowes |
Eightball (Fantagraphics) |
[8] |
| André Juillard |
After the Rain (NBM Publishing) |
| David Lapham |
Stray Bullets, Amy Racecar Special #2 (El Capitán Books) |
| Bryan Talbot |
Heart of Empire (Dark Horse Comics) |
| Chris Ware |
Acme Novelty Library (Fantagraphics) |
| 2001 |
Eric Shanower |
Age of Bronze (Image Comics) |
[9] |
| Kaiji Kawaguchi |
Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President (Viz Media) |
| Jason Lutes |
Berlin (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Joe Sacco |
Safe Area Goražde (Fantagraphics) |
| Yslaire |
From Cloud 99: Memories, Part I (Humanoids Publishing) |
| 2002 |
Dan Clowes |
Eightball (Fantagraphics) |
[10] |
| Jessica Abel |
La Perdida (Fantagraphics) |
| Carla Speed McNeil |
Finder (Lightspeed Press) |
| James Sturm |
The Golem's Mighty Swing (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Adrian Tomine |
Optic Nerve (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| 2003 |
Eric Shanower |
Age of Bronze (Image Comics) |
[11] |
| Jessica Abel |
La Perdida (Fantagraphics) |
| Patrick Atangan |
The Yellow Jar (NBM Publishing) |
| Lynda Barry |
One! Hundred! Demons! (Sasquatch Books) |
| Carla Speed McNeil |
Finder (Lightspeed Press) |
| 2004 |
Craig Thompson |
Blankets (Top Shelf Productions) |
[12] |
| Jaime Hernández |
Love and Rockets (Fantagraphics) |
| Paul Hornschemeier |
Forlorn Funnies (Absence of Ink) |
| Takehiko Inoue |
Vagabond (Viz Media) |
| Paul Pope |
Giant THB v.2 #1 (Horse Press) |
| 2005 |
Paul Chadwick |
Concrete: The Human Dilemma (Dark Horse Comics) |
[13] |
| Dan Clowes |
Eightball (Fantagraphics) |
| David Lapham |
Stray Bullets (El Capitán Books) |
| Stan Sakai |
Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse Comics) |
| Adrian Tomine |
Optic Nerve #9 (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| 2006 |
Geof Darrow |
Shaolin Cowboy (Burlyman Entertainment) |
[14] |
| Guy Delisle |
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Eric Shanower |
Age of Bronze (Image Comics) |
| Adrian Tomine |
Optic Nerve #10 (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Chris Ware |
Acme Novelty Library #16 (Acme Novelty Library) |
| 2007 |
Paul Pope |
Batman: Year 100 (DC Comics) |
[15] |
| Alison Bechdel |
Fun Home (Houghton Mifflin) |
| Renée French |
The Ticking (Top Shelf Productions) |
| Gilbert Hernández |
Love and Rockets, New Tales of Old Palomar (Fantagraphics), Sloth (Vertigo Comics/DC Comics) |
| Joann Sfar |
Klezmer, Vampire Loves (First Second Books) |
| 2008 |
Chris Ware |
Acme Novelty Library #18 (Acme Novelty Library) |
[16] |
| Jeff Lemire |
Essex County: Tales from the Farm, Essex County:Ghost Stories (Top Shelf Productions) |
| Rutu Modan |
Exit Wounds (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Shaun Tan |
The Arrival (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic) |
| Fumi Yoshinaga |
Flower of Life (Digital Manga Publishing), The Moon and the Sandals (Digital Manga Publishing) |
| 2009 |
Chris Ware |
Acme Novelty Library (Acme Novelty Library) |
[17][18] |
| Rick Geary |
A Treasury of XXth Century Murder: The Lindbergh Child (NBM Publishing), J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography (Hill & Wang) |
| Emmanuel Guibert |
Alan's War (First Second Books) |
| Jason Lutes |
Berlin (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Cyril Pedrosa |
Three Shadows (First Second Books) |
| Nate Powell |
Swallow Me Whole (Top Shelf Productions) |
| 2010s |
| 2010 |
David Mazzucchelli |
Asterios Polyp (Pantheon Books) |
[19][20] |
| Darwyn Cooke |
Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter (IDW Publishing) |
| R. Crumb |
The Book of Genesis Illustrated (W. W. Norton & Company) |
| Terry Moore |
Echo (Abstract Studio) |
| Naoki Urasawa |
20th Century Boys (Viz Media), Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka (Viz Media) |
| 2011 |
Darwyn Cooke |
Richard Stark's Parker: The Outfit (IDW Publishing) |
[21][22] |
| Daniel Clowes |
Wilson (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Joe Kubert |
Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965 (DC Comics) |
| Terry Moore |
Echo (Abstract Studio) |
| James Sturm |
Market Day (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Naoki Urasawa |
20th Century Boys (Viz Media) |
| 2012 |
Craig Thompson |
Habibi (Pantheon Books) |
[23][22] |
| Rick Geary |
The Lives of Sacco and Vanzetti (NBM Publishing) |
| Terry Moore |
Rachel Rising (Abstract Studio) |
| Sarah Oleksyk |
Ivy (Oni Press) |
| Jim Woodring |
Congress of the Animals (Fantagraphics), "Harvest of Fear" in "The Simpson's Treehouse of Horror" #17, (Bongo Comics) |
| 2013 |
Chris Ware |
Building Stories (Pantheon Books) |
[24][22] |
| Charles Burns |
The Hive (Pantheon Books) |
| Gilbert Hernández |
Love and Rockets New Stories, vol. 5 (Fantagraphics) |
| Jaime Hernández |
Love and Rockets New Stories, vol. 5 (Fantagraphics) |
| Luke Pearson |
Hilda and the Midnight Giant (Nobrow Press), Everything We Miss (Nobrow Press) |
| C. Tyler |
You'll Never Know, Book 3: A Soldier's Heart (Fantagraphics) |
| 2014 |
Jaime Hernández |
Love and Rockets New Stories #6 (Fantagraphics) |
[25][22] |
| Isabel Greenberg |
The Encyclopedia of Early Earth (Little, Brown and Company) |
| Terry Moore |
Rachel Rising (Abstract Studio) |
| Luke Pearson |
Hilda and the Bird Parade (Nobrow Press) |
| Matt Phelan |
Bluffton: My Summers with Buster (Candlewick Press) |
| Judith Vanistendael |
When David Lost His Voice (SelfMadeHero) |
| 2015 |
Raina Telgemeier |
Sisters (Graphix/Scholastic) |
[26][22] |
| Sergio Aragonés |
Sergio Aragonés Funnies (Bongo Comics), Groo vs. Conan (Dark Horse Comics) |
| Charles Burns |
Sugar Skull (Pantheon Books) |
| Stephen Collins |
The Giant Beard That Was Evil (Picador) |
| Richard McGuire |
Here (Pantheon Books) |
| Stan Sakai |
Usagi Yojimbo: Senso (Dark Horse Comics), Usagi Yojimbo Color Special: The Artist (Dark Horse Comics) |
| 2016 |
Bill Griffith |
Invisible Ink: My Mother's Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist (Fantagraphics) |
[27][22] |
| Nathan Hale |
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor (Abrams ComicArts) |
| Sydney Padua |
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (Pantheon Books) |
| Ed Piskor |
Hip Hop Family Tree, vol. 3 (Fantagraphics) |
| Noah Van Sciver |
Fante Bukowski (Fantagraphics), Saint Cole (Fantagraphics) |
| 2017 |
Sonny Liew |
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Pantheon Books) |
[28][22] |
| Jessica Abel |
Trish Trash: Rollergirl of Mars (Papercutz/Super Genius) |
| Box Brown |
Tetris: The Games People Play (First Second Books) |
| Tom Gauld |
Mooncop (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Tom Hart |
Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir (St. Martin's Press) |
| 2018 |
Emil Ferris |
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters (Fantagraphics) |
[29][22] |
| Lorena Alvarez |
Nightlights (Nobrow Press) |
| Chabouté |
Moby Dick (Dark Horse Comics), Alone (Gallery 13/Simon & Schuster), The Park Bench (Gallery 13/Simon & Schuster) |
| Cathy Malkasian |
Eartha (Fantagraphics) |
| Jiro Taniguchi |
Furari (Fanfare/Ponent Mon), Louis Vuitton Travel Guide: Venice (Fanfare/Ponent Mon) |
| 2019 |
Jen Wang |
The Prince and the Dressmaker (First Second Books) |
[30] |
| Sophie Campbell |
Wet Moon (Oni Press) |
| Nick Drnaso |
Sabrina (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| David Lapham |
Lodger (Black Crown/IDW Publishing), Stray Bullets (Image Comics) |
| Nate Powell |
Come Again (Top Shelf Productions/IDW Publishing) |
| Tony Sandoval |
Watersnakes (Magnetic Press/Lion Forge Comics) |
| 2020s |
| 2020 |
Raina Telgemeier |
Guts (Scholastic Graphix) |
[31][32] |
| Nina Bunjevac |
Bezimena (Fantagraphics) |
| Mira Jacob |
Good Talk (Random House), “The Menopause” in The Believer, June 1, 2019 |
| Keum Suk Gendry-Kim |
Grass (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| James Stokoe |
Sobek (ShortBox) |
| Tillie Walden |
Are You Listening? (First Second Books/Macmillan Publishers) |
| 2021 |
Junji Ito |
Remina (Viz Media), Venus in the Blind Spot (Viz Media) |
[33][34] |
| Pascal Jousselin |
Mister Invincible: Local Hero (Magnetic Press) |
| Trung Le Nguyen |
The Magic Fish (Random House Graphic) |
| Craig Thompson |
Ginseng Roots (Uncivilized Books) |
| Adrian Tomine |
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist (Drawn & Quarterly) |
| Gene Luen Yang |
Dragon Hoops (First Second Books/Macmillan Publishers) |
| 2022 |
Barry Windsor-Smith |
Monsters (Fantagraphics) |
[35][36] |
| Alison Bechdel |
The Secret to Superhuman Strength (Mariner Books) |
| Junji Ito |
Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection (Viz Media), Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection (Viz Media), Sensor (Viz Media) |
| Daniel Warren Johnson |
"Generations" in Superman: Red and Blue (DC Comics), Beta Ray Bill (Marvel Comics) |
| Will McPhail |
In: A Graphic Novel (Mariner Books) |
| 2023 |
Kate Beaton |
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Drawn & Quarterly) |
[37] |
| Sarah Andersen |
Cryptid Club (Andrews McMeel Publishing) |
| Espé |
The Pass (Graphic Mundi/Penn State University Press) |
| Junji Ito |
Black Paradox (Viz Media), The Liminal Zone (Viz Media) |
| Zoe Thorogood |
It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth (Image Comics) |
| 2024 |
Daniel Warren Johnson |
Transformers (Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment) |
[38] |
| Emily Carroll |
A Guest in the House (First Second Books/Macmillan Publishers) |
| Bill Griffith |
Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy (Abrams ComicArts) |
| Mokumokuren |
The Summer Hikaru Died, vol. 1 (Yen Press) |
| Zoe Thorogood |
Hack/Slash: Back To School (Image Comics) |
| Tillie Walden |
Clementine Book Two (Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment) |
| 2025 |
Charles Burns |
Kommix (Fantagraphics), Final Cut, (Pantheon Books, Unwholesome Love (Partners & Son) |
[39] |
| Emil Ferris |
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two (Fantagraphics) |
| Jon Macy |
Djuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes (Street Noise Books) |
| Paco Roca |
Return to Eden (Fantagraphics) |
| Olivier Schrauwen |
Sunday (Fantagraphics) |
|