The Eisner Awards 2022 – Best Writer
We are back with another installment of our coverage of The Eisner Awards 2022, and it’s a big one – Best Writer! This year has been a great one for comics readers, with a whole host of indie and Big Two titles released as printers and publishers play catch up from the previous couple of years. There are some serious heavy hitters in this category so lets dive right in and talk about some writers!
Ed Brubaker
There is no doubt in my mind that Brubaker is one of the great talents in comics. He has re-imagined the pulp genre in ways that no-one saw coming, from Winter Soldier to Daredevil, Velvet through to Criminal, he has taken broken figures and made them whole again. His work on the Reckless series with Sean Phillips (Destroy All Monsters, Friend of the Devil) has earned him this nomination, a series of OGNs that tell of anti-heroes, the classic Brubaker broken men who are trying to do their best in a world not built for them.
Covering a range of time-frames and eras, Brubaker does dark and gritty in a way that no-one else does, creating tough characters who aren’t afraid to give – or take – a beating, but who somewhere deep inside have a heart of gold. While I would love to see him take on some different topics, maybe even return to some capes and cowls work, Brubaker has certainly carved out his very own niche, and if it keeps getting him nominations like these I don’t see why he would stop any time soon.
Kelly Sue DeConnick
I will open by saying that I am a massive fan of KSD, I love how she plays with form and genre, her work on Pretty Deadly did things with mainstream comics that no one else would think to try, let alone pull off as spectacularly as she did. Having said all that, I find it troubling that a writer can be nominated for Best Writer on the strength not just of one series, but a series that was only one issue deep at the point of nomination! Historia is from DC Black Label, one of their prestige format books that has been literal years in the making due to the Phil Jimenez art in issue one (each issue has a different artist), but for me the writing isn’t enough to earn a place on this ballot, over people who have had much more productive years.
Historia itself is a grandiose, sweeping history of the Amazons, filled to the brim with DeConnicks trademark feminism, and with a cast of goddesses and warriors that most other writers would blanch at. She knows what she is doing with these ladies, and she does it so very, very well. But for me, personally, it isn’t enough to warrant the award this year.
Filipe Melo
Another writer on the roster with a single title, in this case the OGN Ballad For Sophie. While I appreciate that Ballad For Sophie is an utterly wonderful piece of work, and that it has swept away a huge amount of critics and awards, I still struggle to see how one work can compare to other writers who have produced much more this year <stares pointedly at Kieron Gillen’s body of work>.
I can’t even compare Melo and DeConnick, as his only other notable works that I am aware of are a piece in a Dark Horse anthology, and The Adventures of Dog Mendonça & Pizzaboy which is… not my favourite. Ballad For Sophie is beautiful, and poetically written, and you can see the influence of Melo’s own work as a musician. But still.
Ram V
One of the more prolific writers on the list this year, and very much the darling of the UK comics scene, Ram V has written critically acclaimed indie books alongside much more traditions superhero fare, and has been well received on the latter as well. The Many Deaths of Laila Starr is a tour de force examination of death, life, and all that falls between, as the avatar of Death is sent to live a mortal life in Mumbai.
He has also produced a formidable body of work for the Big Two, with a triumphant run on Swamp Thing, and the work in the Venom-verse for Marvel. V has the ability to twist and turn his narratives until you are fully immersed in the story, and his gripping use of character makes him a pretty good contender for the award.
James Tynion IV
I have to say that for me, this list saves the best for last. I adore the work of James Tynion IV, he is able to take so many different styles and make them his own, apparently effortlessly. Something Is Killing The Children takes a seemingly mundane trope and turns it into something new, dark and twisted and glorious. The fact that he is also able to write his own spin-off, in the form of House of Slaughter is a testament to how much people enjoy the world of Archers Peak – and beyond – and Erika Slaughter in particular.
The Department of Truth and Nice House on the Lake both contain oodles of Tynion trademark shocks, with final page reveals and cliff-hangers galore. Both books maintain a strong narrative thread, even when giving backstory as to the bizarre goings-on. As with Ram V, Tynion also manages to fit in work for DC, and his piece in DC Pride 2021 was a particular highlight.
Verdict – The Eisner Awards 2022 – Best Writer
Luckily for me, I don’t have a say in the Eisner’s, but if I did I think I’d be giving my vote to James Tynion IV, as he has a solid place on my pull list and manages to cover a wide range of genres. Time will tell if the Eisner Awards 2022 voters agree!
