Comic-Con has announced the 2024 nominees for the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award (the Manning Award). The nominees were chosen by a panel consisting of members of Comic-Con International and a San Diego comics retailer. The winner will be decided by past Manning award winners and Russ Manning assistants.

The award has been given out each year since 1982 and is presented to an artist who is early in their career and shows superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics.

The award is named for Russ Manning, , the artist best known for his work on the Tarzan and Star Wars newspaper strips and the Magnus, Robot Fighter.

Past recipients include Jan Duursema, Steve Rude, Scott McCloud, Art Adams, Eric Shanower, Dan Brereton, Jeff Smith, Gene Ha, David Petersen, Eleanor Davis, Tyler Crook, Dan Mora, Anne Szabala, Zoe Thorogood, and Greg Smallwood, to name a few.

The recipient will be announced during the Eisner Awards which will take place on July 26 at Comic-Con in San Diego.

Congrats and good luck to all. This year’s nominees are:

• Oliver Bly, writer/artist of The Mushroom Knight (Mad Cave Studios)
• Patrick Horvath, writer/artist of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees (IDW)
• Vincent Kings, writer/artist of Atomic Fairytales and Time Dog and Other Atomic Fairytales (Sincere Comics)
• Oma Sei, writer/artist of Blood Blade (Kodansha)
• Eamon Winkle, artist of Principles of Necromancy (Magma Comix)