Akira Toriyama and Go Nagai Inducted Into The Eisner Hall of Fame

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards inducted the late manga creator Akira Toriyama and Go Nagai into the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Hall of Fame on Friday morning during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

永井豪さん、鳥山明さんが米漫画賞で殿堂入り　コミック界のアカデミー賞「アイズナー賞」 https://t.co/stksCaMUn9

審査員は永井さんについて代表作の「マジンガーZ」や「キューティーハニー」などを引き合いに「現在の米国の人気漫画のほぼ全てのジャンルが永井豪の影響を受けている」と称賛した。

— 産経ニュース (@Sankei_news) July 25, 2026

Toriyama was one of 16 nominees announced in February, the nominee list included Kate Carew, Colleen Doran, George Evans, Crockett Johnson, Peter Kuper, George McManus, Kevin Nowlan, Mimi Pond, Posy Simmonds, Jeff Smith, Paul Smith, Leonard Starr, Akira Toriyama, Mark Waid, Chris Ware, and S. Clay Wilson. Out of the 16 nominees, Toriyama was inducted, along with Chris Ware, Colleen Doran, and Jeff Smith.

However, the judging committee pre-selected 19 Judges Choice honorees in January to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, this included legendary manga creator, Go Nagai. Listed below is a list of Manga creators who were inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame, and the judges comments on both Akira Toriyama and Go Nagai.

Manga Creators who were inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame:

“Of the many genres of manga popular today in the United States, there are few that Go Nagai (Kyoshi Nagai) has not either influenced or outright created. On Mazinger Z, he created the first mecha robots—a genre centered on piloted giant robots—popular now more than ever. With Cutie Honey, he helped pioneer the “magical girl” genre. The postapocalyptic visions, dark violence, and psychological depth present in works such as Violence Jack and Devilman were hugely influential, not only in his native Japan, but also the world over. Much of his work continues to be adapted across other media to this day.”

RELATED: Go Nagai’s Legends Return: An Explosive Teaser Drops For An Epic Kyoto Exhibition Revival!

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“Akira Toriyama became well known for creating the popular manga series Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball. In 1981, he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for Dr. Slump, which sold over 35 million copies in Japan and was also made into a successful anime TV show. Dragon Ball has become one of the most popular manga worldwide. It sold 260 million copies, making it one of the bestselling manga series ever. The Dragon Ball anime shows helped make anime popular in Western countries. Toriyama also designed characters for many popular video games.“

Source: The Sankei Shimbun, San Diego Comic-Con Official Website, Anime News Network

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