Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing

Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing
Awarded forExcellence in comic book writing
Sponsored byDC Comics, Heritage Auctions, Maggie Thompson
CountryUnited States
Hosted bySan Diego Comic-Con
First award2005
Websitewww.comic-con.org/awards/other/bill-finger-award/
Robinson sitting at a table smiling
Jerry Robinson (pictured 2011) created the award.

The Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing is an American award for excellence in comic book writing, presented each year at ComicCon in San Diego. The awards committee, chaired by Mark Evanier, is charged each year with selecting two recipients, one living and one deceased. In 2020 and 2021, when the awards could not be presented in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic there were six deceased honorees each year and no living ones.

The award, along with the Eisner Awards, is presented in July of each year at the annual San Diego Comic-Con. It was established by Bill Finger's colleague and fellow writer Jerry Robinson.

Evanier in 2003 said the premise of the award was "to recognize writers for a body of work that has not received its rightful reward and/or recognition. That was what Jerry Robinson intended as his way of remembering his friend, Bill Finger. Bill is still kind of the industry poster boy for writers not receiving proper reward or recognition."

Recipients

Year Living Recipient Deceased Recipient Ref.
2005 Arnold Drake Jerry Siegel
2006 Alvin Schwartz Harvey Kurtzman
2007 George Gladir Gardner Fox
2008 Larry Lieber Archie Goodwin
2009 Frank Jacobs John Broome
2010 Gary Friedrich Otto Binder
2011 Del Connell [fr] Bob Haney
2012 Steve Skeates Frank Doyle
2013 Don Rosa Steve Gerber
2014 Bill Mantlo and Jack Mendelsohn Robert Kanigher
2015 Don McGregor John Stanley
2016 Elliot S. Maggin Richard E. Hughes
2017 William Messner-Loebs Jack Kirby
2018 Joye Hummel Murchison Kelly Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk
2019 Mike Friedrich E. Nelson Bridwell
2020 None Virginia Hubbell, Nicola Cuti, Leo Dorfman, Gaylord DuBois, Joe Gill, France Herron
2021 None Robert Bernstein, Audrey "Toni" Blum, Vic Lockman, Robert Morales, Paul S. Newman, Robert "Bob" White
2022 Bob Bolling Don Rico
2023 Barbara Friedlander Sam Glanzman
2024 Jo Duffy Ralph Newman
2025 Don Glut Sheldon Mayer
2026 Jenny Blake Isabella Martin Pasko

References

  1. ↑ "New Writing Achievement Award to Honor Bill Finger". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2005. Archived from the original on May 9, 2005.
  2. 1 2 "In a year where Comic-Con cannot take place, it seemed wrong to honor, as we usually do, one posthumous writer and one who is still with us," [Chairman Mark] Evanier explained. "The one who is still with us would be denied the full honors of being brought to the convention and presented with the award onstage. Therefore, after much discussion, we decided to instead present no 'alive' award this year, and, assuming there is a convention in 2021, we will present two of those awards then. For 2020, we have selected six writers from the dozens who have been nominated to receive the posthumous award. Each of these six during their time in the industry produced a body of work that the judges deem worthy of more recognition and/or reward than it has received." Six Posthumous Recipients to Receive 2020 Bill Finger Award Archived November 11, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 "Since we are not yet in a position to honor a writer who is still with us in a proper ceremony, we're going to a long list of comic book writers from the past who we feel did not receive sufficient recognition or reward for their contributions to the field. As with last year, we have selected six posthumous awards and no 'alive' award," [Chairman Mark] Evanier explained. "Each of these six writers left us with a body of work that the judges deem worthy of this honor." Six Posthumous Recipients to Receive 2021 Bill Finger Award Archived November 11, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 "Bill Finger Award Recipients Announced". San Diego Comic-Con International. May 17, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Siegel, Drake to Receive First Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Schwartz, Kurtzman To Receive Second Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  7. ↑ Evanier, Mark (June 5, 2007). "This Year's Bill Finger Award". NewsFromMe.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Archie Goodwin, Larry Lieber to Receive Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved July 27, 2008.
  9. ↑ "John Broome, Frank Jacobs to Receive 2009 Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2009. Archived from the original on December 29, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Otto Binder, Gary Friedrich to Receive 2010 Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2010. Archived from the original on July 26, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Bob Haney, Del Connell to Receive 2011 Bill Finger Award". Archived from the original on December 11, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Frank Doyle, Steve Skeates to Receive Bill Finger Award at 2012 Eisner Awards". www.cbr.com. June 13, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Robert Kanigher, Bill Mantlo, Jack Mendelsohn to Receive 2014 Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2014. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Don McGregor, John Stanley Are the 2015 Bill Finger Award Recipients". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2016. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Elliot S! Maggin, Richard E. Hughes to Receive 2016 Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2016. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Bill Messner-Loebs and Jack Kirby to Receive 2017 Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2017. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Joye Murchison Kelly, Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk to Receive 2018 Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2018. Archived from the original on February 5, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Mike Friedrich, E. Nelson Bridwell to Receive 2019 Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2019. Archived from the original on July 3, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Bob Bolling, Don Rico to Receive 2022 Bill Finger Award". San Diego Comic-Con International. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  20. ↑ Staff, Beat (July 22, 2023). "SDCC '23: The 2023 Eisner Awards Winners". The Beat. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  21. ↑ Samantha (July 27, 2024). "SDCC '24: Announcing the 2024 Eisner Award winners". The Beat. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  22. ↑ "This Year's Bill Finger Award Winners". June 5, 2025.
  23. ↑ "Bill Finger Award". Comic-Con International. Retrieved June 13, 2026.