Cry For Justice creators nominated for Eisner

The nominees for the Eisners, possibly the most prestigious of comic book awards, have just been announced. Love it or hate it, Justice League: Cry For Justice has been included in the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominees 2010 under nominations for James Robinson as best writer and Mauro Cascioli as best painter. The full fields (as listed by the Beat) for those awards are:

Best Writer
• Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Daredevil, Marvels Project (Marvel) Criminal, Incognito (Marvel Icon)
• Geoff Johns, Adventure Comics, Blackest Night, The Flash: Rebirth, Superman: Secret Origin (DC)
• James Robinson, Justice League: Cry for Justice (DC)
• Mark Waid, Irredeemable, The Incredibles (BOOM!)
• Bill Willingham, Fables (Vertigo/DC)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
• Émile Bravo, My mommy is in America and she met Buffalo Bill (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
• Mauro Cascioli, Justice League: Cry for Justice (DC)
• Nicolle Rager Fuller, Charles Darwin on the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation (Rodale Books)
• Jill Thompson, Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse); Magic Trixie and the Dragon (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• Carol Tyler, You’ll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man (Fantagraphics)

The Absolute edition of the Justice maxi-series is also nominated for Best Graphic Album—Reprint and Publication Design.

DC Comic reacted by posting short celebrations of the candidates, who they describe thusly,

WRITER:
James Robinson, JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE. One thing that can be said about James Robinson as a writer? He takes risks. Whether it’s launching a Justice League series starring Congorilla, a blue-skinned Starman and Supergirl or having one of comic’s most-beloved heroes shoot an arrow through Prometheus’ skull, let it never said that Robinson plays it safe. And it’s that daring and innate knowledge of these characters he so clearly loves that earned him the nod.

PAINTER/MULTIMEDIA ARTIST:
Mauro Cascioli, JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE. Mauro Cascioli made tragedy real. With his realistic, painterly style, Cascioli brought a gritty, three-dimensional sensibility to a book that collected some of the most daring and imaginative characters in the DC Universe. Whether it was a battle of super-powered beings among the clouds or an archer’s aching sense of loss, Cascioli has it covered, and he showed as much in the pages of CRY FOR JUSTICE.

GRAPHIC ALBUM (REPRINT) and PUBLICATION DESIGN
ABSOLUTE JUSTICE. Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and Doug Braithwaite’s all-star story of of heroes and villains got the spruced up Absolute treatment in 2009, and we finally got to see the book’s amazing artwork presented as it should have been — in an expanded and high-end format.

James Robinson acknowledged his nomination on Twitter in defiant style:

To all who congratulated me for the Eisner nom, thank you. To all those vocally pissed that I got one, thank you too. The fact that you care enough about comics to have strong opinions at all is a good thing, ultimately. So bravo to all you Robinson haters, I love you all.

James is a brilliant writer, but its a tough field this year and I don’t personally think that Cry For Justice is either his strongest work or the strongest work on that list. Nevertheless, good luck to him and Mauro. The winners will be announced on Friday, July 23 at Comic-Con International.