Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing

The Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing is an American award for excellence in comic book writing. The awards committee, chaired by Mark Evanier, is charged each year with selecting two recipients, one living and one deceased. In 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic there were six deceased honorees and no living ones (and makeup plans for two living recipients in 2021). 2021 saw the same formula as the previous year, with six deceased recipients.

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

• 2005 – Jerry Siegel (deceased), Arnold Drake
• 2006 – Harvey Kurtzman (deceased), Alvin Schwartz
• 2007 – Gardner Fox (deceased), George Gladir
• 2008 – Archie Goodwin (deceased), Larry Lieber
• 2009 – John Broome (deceased), Frank Jacobs
• 2010 – Otto Binder (deceased), Gary Friedrich
• 2011 – Bob Haney (deceased), Del Connell
• 2012 – Frank Doyle (deceased), Steve Skeates
• 2013 – Steve Gerber (deceased), Don Rosa
• 2014 – Robert Kanigher (deceased), Bill Mantlo, Jack Mendelsohn
• 2015 – Don McGregor, John Stanley (deceased)
• 2016 – Elliot S! Maggin, Richard E. Hughes (deceased)
• 2017 – William Messner-Loebs, Jack Kirby (deceased)
• 2018 – Joye Hummel Murchison Kelly, Dorothy Roubicek Woolfolk (deceased)
• 2019 – Mike Friedrich, E. Nelson Bridwell (deceased)
• 2020 – Virginia Hubbell (deceased), Nicola Cuti (deceased), Leo Dorfman (deceased), Gaylord DuBois (deceased), Joe Gill (deceased), France Herron (deceased)
• 2021 - Robert Bernstein (deceased), Audrey "Toni" Blum (deceased), Vic Lockman (deceased), Robert Morales (deceased), Paul S. Newman (deceased), Robert "Bob" White (deceased)
• 2022 – Bob Bolling, Don Rico (deceased)
• 2023 – Sam Glanzman (deceased), Barbara Friedlander.

References