Four named for Eisner Hall of Fame

Four creators have been named as automatic inductees into the Eisner Hall of Fame.

Ordinarily, only two individuals would be selected outright, with four more voted in by a public ballot of industry professionals.

"The judges felt that some significant contributors to comics' history were being consistently overlooked by the regular voters," said Eisner Awards administrator Jackie Estrada.

"Choosing only two creators to induct was proving too difficult this year. The solution they chose was to single out individuals from four aspects of the medium."

The four automatic inductees are Nancy cartoonist Ernie Bushmiller, underground comic pioneer and Ripoff Press founder Jack Jackson (aka Jaxon), Golden Age artist and Green Lantern co-creator Marty Nodell and Lynd Ward, a woodcut artist who created some of the first graphic novels.

The shortlist for the remaining 4 inductees features 14 creators including Chris Claremont, Denis O'Neil, Marv Wolfman and the late Harvey Pekar.