The list of nominees for the 2020 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards has been revealed. Essentially the equivalent of the Oscars for the comic book industry, the Eisners highlight the best and most noteworthy releases of the past year. This year's list of nominees includes some big names. The Immortal Hulk, which won IGN's Best Comic Book Series of 2019 award, is among those nominated for Best Continuing Series. Daredevil and Spider-Man: Life Story writer Chip Zdarsky is nominated in several categories, as is the ever-prolific Jeff Lemire (including being nominated twice for Best Limited Series). Other noteworthy honors include The Dreaming being nominated for Best Continuing Series and Best Penciler/Inker (for artist Bilquis Evely), Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora's Once and Future being nominated for Best New Series and Mariko Tamaki being nominated for Best Writer for her work on Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me and Archie. Normally, the Eisner Award winners are revealed during a ceremony at San Diego Comic-Con. Unfortunately, with Comic-Con being canceled for 2020, we're not sure when and how the awards will be presented. No doubt we'll learn more between now and July. Until then, scroll down to see the full list of this year's Eisner nominees. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-top-25-best-spider-man-comics&captions=true"]

Best Short Story

• “Hot Comb,” by Ebony Flowers, in Hot Comb (Drawn & Quarterly)
• “How to Draw a Horse,” by Emma Hunsinger, The New Yorker, https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/how-to-draw-a-horse
• “The Menopause,” by Mira Jacob, The Believer, https://believermag.com/the-menopause/
• “Who Gets Called an ‘Unfit’ Mother?” by Miriam Libicki, The Nib, https://thenib.com/who-gets-called-an-unfit-mother/
• “You’re Not Going to Believe What I’m About to Tell You,” by Matthew Inman, The Oatmeal, https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

• Coin-Op No. 8: Infatuation, by Peter and Maria Hoey (Coin-Op Books)
• The Freak, by Matt Lesniewski (AdHouse)
• Minotäar, by Lissa Treiman (Shortbox)
• Our Favorite Thing Is My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
• Sobek, by James Stokoe (Shortbox)

Best Continuing Series

• Bitter Root, by David Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Image)
• Criminal, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
• Crowded, by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, and Ted Brandt (Image)
• Daredevil, by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto (Marvel)
• The Dreaming, by Simon Spurrier, Bilquis Evely et al. (DC)
• Immortal Hulk, by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, and Ruy José et al. (Marvel)

Best Limited Series

• Ascender, by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen (Image)
• Ghost Tree, by Bobby Curnow and Simon Gane (IDW)
• Little Bird by Darcy Van Poelgeest and Ian Bertram (Image)
• Naomi by Brian Michael Bendis, David Walker, and Jamal Campbell (DC)
• Sentient, by Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta (TKO)

Best New Series

• Doctor Doom, by Christopher Cantwell and Salvador Larocca (Marvel)
• Invisible Kingdom, by G. Willow Wilson and Christian Ward (Berger Books/Dark Horse)
• Once & Future, by Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora (BOOM! Studios)
• Something Is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)
• Undiscovered Country, by Scott Snyder, Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Daniele Orlandini (Image)

Best Publication for Early Readers

• Comics: Easy as ABC, by Ivan Brunetti (TOON)
• Kitten Construction Company: A Bridge Too Fur, by John Patrick Green (First Second/Macmillan)
• The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willems (Hyperion Books)
• A Trip to the Top of the Volcano with Mouse, by Frank Viva (TOON)
• ¡Vamos! Let's Go to the Market, by Raúl the Third (Versify/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea and Zachariah Ohora (Little, Brown)

Best Publication for Kids

• Akissi: More Tales of Mischief, by Marguerite Abouet and Mathieu Sapin (Flying Eye/Nobrow)
• Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls, by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic Graphix)
• Guts, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)
• New Kid, by Jerry Craft (Quill Tree/HarperCollins)
• This Was Our Pact, by Ryan Andrews (First Second/Macmillan)
• The Wolf in Underpants, by Wilfrid Lupano, Mayana Itoïz, and Paul Cauuet (Graphic Universe/Lerner Publishing Group)

Best Publication for Teens

• Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh (DC)
• Hot Comb, by Ebony Flowers (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Kiss Number 8, by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw (First Second/Macmillan)
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell (First Second/Macmillan)
• Penny Nichols, by MK Reed, Greg Means, and Matt Wiegle (Top Shelf)

Best Humor Publication

• Anatomy of Authors, by Dave Kellett (SheldonComics.com)
• Death Wins a Goldfish, by Brian Rea (Chronicle Books)
• Minotäar, by Lissa Treiman (Shortbox)
• Sobek, by James Stokoe (Shortbox)
• The Way of the Househusband, vol. 1, by Kousuke Oono, translation by Sheldon Drzka (VIZ Media)
• Wondermark: Friends You Can Ride On, by David Malki (Wondermark)

Best Anthology

• ABC of Typography, by David Rault (SelfMade Hero)
• Baltic Comics Anthology š! #34-37, edited by David Schilter, Sanita Muižniece et al. (kuš!)
• Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival, edited by Diane Noomin (Abrams)
• Kramer’s Ergot #10, edited by Sammy Harkham (Fantagraphics)
• The Nib #2–4, edited by Matt Bors (Nib)

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/18/comic-con-is-canceled-ign-now"]

Best Reality-Based Work

• Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations, by Mira Jacob (One World/Random House)
• Grass, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translation by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos, by Lucy Knisley (First Second/Macmillan)
• Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight, by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm (Hill & Wang)
• My Solo Exchange Diary, vol. 2 (sequel to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness), by Nagata Kabi, translation by Jocelyne Allen (Seven Seas)
• They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker (Top Shelf)

Best Graphic Album—New

• Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden (First Second/Macmillan)
• Bezimena, by Nina Bunjevac (Fantagraphics)
• BTTM FDRS, by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore (Fantagraphics)
• Life on the Moon, by Robert Grossman (Yoe Books/IDW)
• New World, by David Jesus Vignolli (Archaia/BOOM!)
• Reincarnation Stories, by Kim Deitch (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

• Bad Weekend by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
• Clyde Fans, by Seth (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Cover, vol. 1, by Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack (DC/Jinxworld)
• Glenn Ganges: The River at Night, by Kevin Huizenga (Drawn & Quarterly)
• LaGuardia, by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford (Berger Books/Dark Horse)
• Rusty Brown, by Chris Ware (Pantheon)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

• Giraffes on Horseback Salad: Salvador Dali, the Marx Brothers, and the Strangest Movie Never Made, by Josh Frank, Tim Hedecker, and Manuela Pertega (Quirk Books)
• The Giver, by Lois Lowry and P. Craig Russell, (HMH Books for Young Readers)
• The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel, by Margaret Atwood, adapted by Renee Nault (Nan A. Talese)
• HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, vols. 1–2, adapted by Gou Tanabe, translation by Zack Davisson (Dark Horse Manga)
• The Seventh Voyage, by Stanislaw Lem, adapted by Jon Muth, translation by Michael Kandel (Scholastic Graphix)
• Snow, Glass, Apples, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran (Dark Horse Books)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

• Diabolical Summer, by Thierry Smolderen and Alexandre Clerisse, translation by Edward Gauvin (IDW)
• Gramercy Park, by Timothée de Fombelle and Christian Cailleaux, translation by Edward Gauvin (EuroComics/IDW)
• The House, by Paco Roca, translation by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)
• Maggy Garrisson, by Lewis Trondheim and Stéphane Oiry, translation by Emma Wilson (SelfMadeHero)
• Stay, by Lewis Trondheim and Hubert Chevillard, translation by Mike Kennedy (Magnetic Press)
• Wrath of Fantômas, by Olivier Bouquet and Julie Rocheleau, translation by Edward Gauvin (Titan)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

• BEASTARS, by Paru Itagaki, translation by Tomo Kimura (VIZ Media)
• Cats of the Louvre, by Taiyo Matsumoto, translation by Michael Arias (VIZ Media)
• Grass, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translation by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Magic Knight Rayearth 25th Anniversary Edition, by CLAMP, translation by Melissa Tanaka (Kodansha)
• The Poe Clan, by Moto Hagio, translation by Rachel Thorn (Fantagraphics)
• Witch Hat Atelier, by Kamome Shirahama, translation by Stephen Kohler (Kodansha)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

• Cham: The Best Comic Strips and Graphic Novelettes, 1839–1862, by David Kunzle (University Press of Mississippi)
• Ed Leffingwell’s Little Joe, by Harold Gray, edited by Peter Maresca and Sammy Harkham (Sunday Press Books)
• The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1916–1918, edited by R.J. Casey (Fantagraphics)
• Krazy Kat: The Complete Color Sundays, by George Herriman, edited by Alexander Braun (TASCHEN)
• Madness in Crowds: The Teeming Mind of Harrison Cady, by Violet and Denis Kitchen (Beehive Books)
• Pogo, Vol. 6: Clean as a Weasel, by Walt Kelly, edited by Mark Evanier and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

• Alay-Oop, by William Gropper (New York Review Comics)
• The Complete Crepax, vol. 5: American Stories, edited by Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• Jack Kirby’s Dingbat Love, edited by John Morrow (TwoMorrows)
• Moonshadow: The Definitive Edition, by J. M. DeMatteis, Jon J Muth, George Pratt, Kent Williams, and others (Dark Horse Books)
• Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo: The Complete Grasscutter Artist Select, by Stan Sakai, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
• That Miyoko Asagaya Feeling, by Shinichi Abe, translation by Ryan Holmberg, edited by Mitsuhiro Asakawa (Black Hook Press)

Best Writer

• Bobby Curnow, Ghost Tree (IDW)
• MK Reed and Greg Means, Penny Nichols (Top Shelf)
• Mariko Tamaki, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass (DC); Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me (First Second/Macmillan); Archie (Archie)
• Lewis Trondheim, Stay (Magnetic Press); Maggy Garrisson (SelfMadeHero)
• G. Willow Wilson, Invisible Kingdom (Berger Books/Dark Horse); Ms. Marvel (Marvel)
• Chip Zdarsky, White Trees (Image); Daredevil, Spider-Man: Life Story (Marvel); Afterlift (comiXology Originals)

Best Writer/Artist

• Nina Bunjevac, Bezimena (Fantagraphics)
• Mira Jacob, Good Talk (Random House); “The Menopause” in The Believer (June 1, 2019)
• Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, Grass (Drawn & Quarterly)
• James Stokoe, Sobek (Shortbox)
• Raina Telgemeier, Guts (Scholastic Graphix)
• Tillie Walden, Are You Listening? (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

• Ian Bertram, Little Bird (Image)
• Colleen Doran, Snow, Glass, Apples (Dark Horse)
• Bilquis Evely, The Dreaming (DC)
• Simon Gane, Ghost Tree (IDW)
• Steve Pugh, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass (DC)
• Rosemary Valero-O'Connell, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Painter/Digital Artist

• Didier Cassegrain, Black Water Lilies (Europe Comics)
• Alexandre Clarisse, Diabolical Summer (IDW)
• David Mack, Cover (DC)
• Léa Mazé, Elma, A Bear’s Life, vol. 1: The Great Journey (Europe Comics)
• Julie Rocheleau, Wrath of Fantômas (Titan)
• Christian Ward, Invisible Kingdom (Berger Books/Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist

• Jen Bartel, Blackbird (Image Comics)
• Francesco Francavilla, Archie, Archie 1955, Archie Vs. Predator II, Cosmo (Archie)
• David Mack, American Gods, Fight Club 3 (Dark Horse); Cover (DC)
• Emma Rios, Pretty Deadly (Image)
• Julian Totino Tedesco, Daredevil (Marvel)
• Christian Ward, Machine Gun Wizards (Dark Horse), Invisible Kingdom (Berger Books/Dark Horse)

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/03/new-footage-of-cancelled-avengers-game-emerges-ign-news"]

Best Coloring

• Lorena Alvarez, Hicotea (Nobrow)
• Jean-Francois Beaulieu, Middlewest, Outpost Zero (Image)
• Matt Hollingsworth, Batman: Curse of the White Knight, Batman White Knight Presents Von Freeze (DC); Little Bird, November (Image)
• Molly Mendoza, Skip (Nobrow)
• Dave Stewart, Black Hammer, B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know, Hellboy and the BPRD (Dark Horse); Gideon Falls (Image); Silver Surfer Black, Spider-Man (Marvel)

Best Lettering

• Deron Bennett, Batgirl, Green Arrow, Justice League, Martian Manhunter (DC); Canto (IDW); Assassin Nation, Excellence (Skybound/Image); To Drink and To Eat, vol. 1 (Lion Forge); Resonant (Vault)
• Jim Campbell, Black Badge, Coda (BOOM Studios); Giant Days, Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship (BOOM Box!); Rocko’s Modern Afterlife (KaBOOM!); At the End of Your Tether (Lion Forge); Blade Runner 2019 (Titan); Mall, The Plot, Wasted Space (Vault)
• Clayton Cowles, Aquaman, Batman, Batman and the Outsiders, Heroes in Crisis, Superman: Up in the Sky, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen (DC); Bitter Root, Pretty Deadly, Moonstruck, Redlands, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); Reaver (Skybound/Image); Daredevil, Ghost-Spider, Silver Surfer Black, Superior Spider-Man, Venom (Marvel)
• Emilie Plateau, Colored: The Unsung Life of Claudette Colvin (Europe Comics)
• Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (IDW)
• Tillie Walden, Are You Listening? (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

• Comic Riffs blog, by Michael Cavna, www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/comics/
• The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, RJ Casey, and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• Hogan’s Alley, edited by Tom Heintjes (Hogan’s Alley)
• Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society, edited by Qiana Whitted (Ohio State University Press)
• LAAB Magazine, vol. 4: This Was Your Life, edited by Ronald Wimberly and Josh O’Neill (Beehive Books)
• Women Write About Comics, edited by Nola Pfau and Wendy Browne, www.WomenWriteAboutComics.com

Best Comics-Related Book

• The Art of Nothing: 25 Years of Mutts and the Art of Patrick McDonnell (Abrams)
• The Book of Weirdo, by Jon B. Cooke (Last Gasp)
• Grunt: The Art and Unpublished Comics of James Stokoe (Dark Horse)
• Logo a Gogo: Branding Pop Culture, by Rian Hughes (Korero Press)
• Making Comics, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Screwball! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny, by Paul Tumey (Library of American Comics/IDW)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

• The Art of Pere Joan: Space, Landscape, and Comics Form, by Benjamin Fraser (University of Texas Press)
• The Comics of Rutu Modan: War, Love, and Secrets, by Kevin Haworth (University Press of Mississippi)
• EC Comics: Race, Shock, and Social Protest, by Qiana Whitted (Rutgers University Press)
• The Peanuts Papers: Writers and Cartoonists on Charlie Brown, Snoopy & the Gang, and the Meaning of Life, edited by Andrew Blauner (Library of America)
• Producing Mass Entertainment: The Serial Life of the Yellow Kid, by Christina Meyer (Ohio State University Press)
• Women’s Manga in Asia and Beyond: Uniting Different Cultures and Identities, edited by Fusami Ogi et al. (Palgrave Macmillan)

Best Publication Design

• Grunt: The Art and Unpublished Comics of James Stokoe, designed by Ethan Kimberling (Dark Horse)
• Krazy Kat: The Complete Color Sundays, by George Herriman, designed by Anna-Tina Kessler (TASCHEN)
• Logo a Gogo, designed by Rian Hughes (Korero Press)
• Madness in Crowds: The Teeming Mind of Harrison Cady, designed by Paul Kopple and Alex Bruce (Beehive Books)
• Making Comics, designed by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Rusty Brown, designed by Chris Ware (Pantheon)

Best Digital Comic

• Afterlift, by Chip Zdarsky and Jason Loo (comiXology Originals)
• Black Water Lilies, by Michel Bussi, adapted by Frédéric Duval and Didier Cassegrain, translated by Edward Gauvin (Europe Comics)
• Colored: The Unsung Life of Claudette Colvin, by Tania de Montaigne, adapted by Emilie Plateau, translated by Montana Kane (Europe Comics)
• Elma, A Bear’s Life, vol. 1: The Great Journey, by Ingrid Chabbert and Léa Mazé, translated by Jenny Aufiery (Europe Comics)
• Mare Internum, by Der-shing Helmer (comiXology; gumroad.com/l/MIPDF)
• Tales from Behind the Window, by Edanur Kuntman, translated by Cem Ulgen (Europe Comics)

Best Webcomic

• Cabramatta, by Matt Huynh, http://believermag.com/cabramatta/
• Chuckwagon at the End of the World, by Erik Lundy, https://hollowlegcomics.tumblr.com/chuckwagon
• The Eyes, by Javi de Castro, https://www.javidecastro.com/theeyes
• Fried Rice Comic, by Erica Eng, https://friedricecomic.tumblr.com
• reMIND, by Jason Brubaker, https://is.gd/T7rafM
• Third Shift Society, by Meredith Moriarty, https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/third-shift-society/list?title_no=1703

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

The list of nominees for the 2020 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards has been revealed. Essentially the equivalent of the Oscars for the comic book industry, the Eisners highlight the best and most noteworthy releases of the past year. This year's list of nominees includes some big names. The Immortal Hulk, which won IGN's Best Comic Book Series of 2019 award, is among those nominated for Best Continuing Series. Daredevil and Spider-Man: Life Story writer Chip Zdarsky is nominated in several categories, as is the ever-prolific Jeff Lemire (including being nominated twice for Best Limited Series). Other noteworthy honors include The Dreaming being nominated for Best Continuing Series and Best Penciler/Inker (for artist Bilquis Evely), Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora's Once and Future being nominated for Best New Series and Mariko Tamaki being nominated for Best Writer for her work on Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me and Archie. Normally, the Eisner Award winners are revealed during a ceremony at San Diego Comic-Con. Unfortunately, with Comic-Con being canceled for 2020, we're not sure when and how the awards will be presented. No doubt we'll learn more between now and July. Until then, scroll down to see the full list of this year's Eisner nominees. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-top-25-best-spider-man-comics&captions=true"]

Best Short Story

• “Hot Comb,” by Ebony Flowers, in Hot Comb (Drawn & Quarterly)
• “How to Draw a Horse,” by Emma Hunsinger, The New Yorker, https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/how-to-draw-a-horse
• “The Menopause,” by Mira Jacob, The Believer, https://believermag.com/the-menopause/
• “Who Gets Called an ‘Unfit’ Mother?” by Miriam Libicki, The Nib, https://thenib.com/who-gets-called-an-unfit-mother/
• “You’re Not Going to Believe What I’m About to Tell You,” by Matthew Inman, The Oatmeal, https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

• Coin-Op No. 8: Infatuation, by Peter and Maria Hoey (Coin-Op Books)
• The Freak, by Matt Lesniewski (AdHouse)
• Minotäar, by Lissa Treiman (Shortbox)
• Our Favorite Thing Is My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
• Sobek, by James Stokoe (Shortbox)

Best Continuing Series

• Bitter Root, by David Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene (Image)
• Criminal, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
• Crowded, by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, and Ted Brandt (Image)
• Daredevil, by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto (Marvel)
• The Dreaming, by Simon Spurrier, Bilquis Evely et al. (DC)
• Immortal Hulk, by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, and Ruy José et al. (Marvel)

Best Limited Series

• Ascender, by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen (Image)
• Ghost Tree, by Bobby Curnow and Simon Gane (IDW)
• Little Bird by Darcy Van Poelgeest and Ian Bertram (Image)
• Naomi by Brian Michael Bendis, David Walker, and Jamal Campbell (DC)
• Sentient, by Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta (TKO)

Best New Series

• Doctor Doom, by Christopher Cantwell and Salvador Larocca (Marvel)
• Invisible Kingdom, by G. Willow Wilson and Christian Ward (Berger Books/Dark Horse)
• Once & Future, by Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora (BOOM! Studios)
• Something Is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)
• Undiscovered Country, by Scott Snyder, Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Daniele Orlandini (Image)

Best Publication for Early Readers

• Comics: Easy as ABC, by Ivan Brunetti (TOON)
• Kitten Construction Company: A Bridge Too Fur, by John Patrick Green (First Second/Macmillan)
• The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willems (Hyperion Books)
• A Trip to the Top of the Volcano with Mouse, by Frank Viva (TOON)
• ¡Vamos! Let's Go to the Market, by Raúl the Third (Versify/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea and Zachariah Ohora (Little, Brown)

Best Publication for Kids

• Akissi: More Tales of Mischief, by Marguerite Abouet and Mathieu Sapin (Flying Eye/Nobrow)
• Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls, by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic Graphix)
• Guts, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix)
• New Kid, by Jerry Craft (Quill Tree/HarperCollins)
• This Was Our Pact, by Ryan Andrews (First Second/Macmillan)
• The Wolf in Underpants, by Wilfrid Lupano, Mayana Itoïz, and Paul Cauuet (Graphic Universe/Lerner Publishing Group)

Best Publication for Teens

• Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh (DC)
• Hot Comb, by Ebony Flowers (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Kiss Number 8, by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw (First Second/Macmillan)
• Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell (First Second/Macmillan)
• Penny Nichols, by MK Reed, Greg Means, and Matt Wiegle (Top Shelf)

Best Humor Publication

• Anatomy of Authors, by Dave Kellett (SheldonComics.com)
• Death Wins a Goldfish, by Brian Rea (Chronicle Books)
• Minotäar, by Lissa Treiman (Shortbox)
• Sobek, by James Stokoe (Shortbox)
• The Way of the Househusband, vol. 1, by Kousuke Oono, translation by Sheldon Drzka (VIZ Media)
• Wondermark: Friends You Can Ride On, by David Malki (Wondermark)

Best Anthology

• ABC of Typography, by David Rault (SelfMade Hero)
• Baltic Comics Anthology š! #34-37, edited by David Schilter, Sanita Muižniece et al. (kuš!)
• Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival, edited by Diane Noomin (Abrams)
• Kramer’s Ergot #10, edited by Sammy Harkham (Fantagraphics)
• The Nib #2–4, edited by Matt Bors (Nib)

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/18/comic-con-is-canceled-ign-now"]

Best Reality-Based Work

• Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations, by Mira Jacob (One World/Random House)
• Grass, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translation by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos, by Lucy Knisley (First Second/Macmillan)
• Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight, by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm (Hill & Wang)
• My Solo Exchange Diary, vol. 2 (sequel to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness), by Nagata Kabi, translation by Jocelyne Allen (Seven Seas)
• They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker (Top Shelf)

Best Graphic Album—New

• Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden (First Second/Macmillan)
• Bezimena, by Nina Bunjevac (Fantagraphics)
• BTTM FDRS, by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore (Fantagraphics)
• Life on the Moon, by Robert Grossman (Yoe Books/IDW)
• New World, by David Jesus Vignolli (Archaia/BOOM!)
• Reincarnation Stories, by Kim Deitch (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

• Bad Weekend by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
• Clyde Fans, by Seth (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Cover, vol. 1, by Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack (DC/Jinxworld)
• Glenn Ganges: The River at Night, by Kevin Huizenga (Drawn & Quarterly)
• LaGuardia, by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford (Berger Books/Dark Horse)
• Rusty Brown, by Chris Ware (Pantheon)

Best Adaptation from Another Medium

• Giraffes on Horseback Salad: Salvador Dali, the Marx Brothers, and the Strangest Movie Never Made, by Josh Frank, Tim Hedecker, and Manuela Pertega (Quirk Books)
• The Giver, by Lois Lowry and P. Craig Russell, (HMH Books for Young Readers)
• The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel, by Margaret Atwood, adapted by Renee Nault (Nan A. Talese)
• HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, vols. 1–2, adapted by Gou Tanabe, translation by Zack Davisson (Dark Horse Manga)
• The Seventh Voyage, by Stanislaw Lem, adapted by Jon Muth, translation by Michael Kandel (Scholastic Graphix)
• Snow, Glass, Apples, by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran (Dark Horse Books)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

• Diabolical Summer, by Thierry Smolderen and Alexandre Clerisse, translation by Edward Gauvin (IDW)
• Gramercy Park, by Timothée de Fombelle and Christian Cailleaux, translation by Edward Gauvin (EuroComics/IDW)
• The House, by Paco Roca, translation by Andrea Rosenberg (Fantagraphics)
• Maggy Garrisson, by Lewis Trondheim and Stéphane Oiry, translation by Emma Wilson (SelfMadeHero)
• Stay, by Lewis Trondheim and Hubert Chevillard, translation by Mike Kennedy (Magnetic Press)
• Wrath of Fantômas, by Olivier Bouquet and Julie Rocheleau, translation by Edward Gauvin (Titan)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

• BEASTARS, by Paru Itagaki, translation by Tomo Kimura (VIZ Media)
• Cats of the Louvre, by Taiyo Matsumoto, translation by Michael Arias (VIZ Media)
• Grass, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translation by Janet Hong (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Magic Knight Rayearth 25th Anniversary Edition, by CLAMP, translation by Melissa Tanaka (Kodansha)
• The Poe Clan, by Moto Hagio, translation by Rachel Thorn (Fantagraphics)
• Witch Hat Atelier, by Kamome Shirahama, translation by Stephen Kohler (Kodansha)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips

• Cham: The Best Comic Strips and Graphic Novelettes, 1839–1862, by David Kunzle (University Press of Mississippi)
• Ed Leffingwell’s Little Joe, by Harold Gray, edited by Peter Maresca and Sammy Harkham (Sunday Press Books)
• The George Herriman Library: Krazy & Ignatz 1916–1918, edited by R.J. Casey (Fantagraphics)
• Krazy Kat: The Complete Color Sundays, by George Herriman, edited by Alexander Braun (TASCHEN)
• Madness in Crowds: The Teeming Mind of Harrison Cady, by Violet and Denis Kitchen (Beehive Books)
• Pogo, Vol. 6: Clean as a Weasel, by Walt Kelly, edited by Mark Evanier and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books

• Alay-Oop, by William Gropper (New York Review Comics)
• The Complete Crepax, vol. 5: American Stories, edited by Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• Jack Kirby’s Dingbat Love, edited by John Morrow (TwoMorrows)
• Moonshadow: The Definitive Edition, by J. M. DeMatteis, Jon J Muth, George Pratt, Kent Williams, and others (Dark Horse Books)
• Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo: The Complete Grasscutter Artist Select, by Stan Sakai, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)
• That Miyoko Asagaya Feeling, by Shinichi Abe, translation by Ryan Holmberg, edited by Mitsuhiro Asakawa (Black Hook Press)

Best Writer

• Bobby Curnow, Ghost Tree (IDW)
• MK Reed and Greg Means, Penny Nichols (Top Shelf)
• Mariko Tamaki, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass (DC); Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me (First Second/Macmillan); Archie (Archie)
• Lewis Trondheim, Stay (Magnetic Press); Maggy Garrisson (SelfMadeHero)
• G. Willow Wilson, Invisible Kingdom (Berger Books/Dark Horse); Ms. Marvel (Marvel)
• Chip Zdarsky, White Trees (Image); Daredevil, Spider-Man: Life Story (Marvel); Afterlift (comiXology Originals)

Best Writer/Artist

• Nina Bunjevac, Bezimena (Fantagraphics)
• Mira Jacob, Good Talk (Random House); “The Menopause” in The Believer (June 1, 2019)
• Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, Grass (Drawn & Quarterly)
• James Stokoe, Sobek (Shortbox)
• Raina Telgemeier, Guts (Scholastic Graphix)
• Tillie Walden, Are You Listening? (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

• Ian Bertram, Little Bird (Image)
• Colleen Doran, Snow, Glass, Apples (Dark Horse)
• Bilquis Evely, The Dreaming (DC)
• Simon Gane, Ghost Tree (IDW)
• Steve Pugh, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass (DC)
• Rosemary Valero-O'Connell, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Painter/Digital Artist

• Didier Cassegrain, Black Water Lilies (Europe Comics)
• Alexandre Clarisse, Diabolical Summer (IDW)
• David Mack, Cover (DC)
• Léa Mazé, Elma, A Bear’s Life, vol. 1: The Great Journey (Europe Comics)
• Julie Rocheleau, Wrath of Fantômas (Titan)
• Christian Ward, Invisible Kingdom (Berger Books/Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist

• Jen Bartel, Blackbird (Image Comics)
• Francesco Francavilla, Archie, Archie 1955, Archie Vs. Predator II, Cosmo (Archie)
• David Mack, American Gods, Fight Club 3 (Dark Horse); Cover (DC)
• Emma Rios, Pretty Deadly (Image)
• Julian Totino Tedesco, Daredevil (Marvel)
• Christian Ward, Machine Gun Wizards (Dark Horse), Invisible Kingdom (Berger Books/Dark Horse)

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/03/new-footage-of-cancelled-avengers-game-emerges-ign-news"]

Best Coloring

• Lorena Alvarez, Hicotea (Nobrow)
• Jean-Francois Beaulieu, Middlewest, Outpost Zero (Image)
• Matt Hollingsworth, Batman: Curse of the White Knight, Batman White Knight Presents Von Freeze (DC); Little Bird, November (Image)
• Molly Mendoza, Skip (Nobrow)
• Dave Stewart, Black Hammer, B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know, Hellboy and the BPRD (Dark Horse); Gideon Falls (Image); Silver Surfer Black, Spider-Man (Marvel)

Best Lettering

• Deron Bennett, Batgirl, Green Arrow, Justice League, Martian Manhunter (DC); Canto (IDW); Assassin Nation, Excellence (Skybound/Image); To Drink and To Eat, vol. 1 (Lion Forge); Resonant (Vault)
• Jim Campbell, Black Badge, Coda (BOOM Studios); Giant Days, Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship (BOOM Box!); Rocko’s Modern Afterlife (KaBOOM!); At the End of Your Tether (Lion Forge); Blade Runner 2019 (Titan); Mall, The Plot, Wasted Space (Vault)
• Clayton Cowles, Aquaman, Batman, Batman and the Outsiders, Heroes in Crisis, Superman: Up in the Sky, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen (DC); Bitter Root, Pretty Deadly, Moonstruck, Redlands, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); Reaver (Skybound/Image); Daredevil, Ghost-Spider, Silver Surfer Black, Superior Spider-Man, Venom (Marvel)
• Emilie Plateau, Colored: The Unsung Life of Claudette Colvin (Europe Comics)
• Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (IDW)
• Tillie Walden, Are You Listening? (First Second/Macmillan)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

• Comic Riffs blog, by Michael Cavna, www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/comics/
• The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, RJ Casey, and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
• Hogan’s Alley, edited by Tom Heintjes (Hogan’s Alley)
• Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society, edited by Qiana Whitted (Ohio State University Press)
• LAAB Magazine, vol. 4: This Was Your Life, edited by Ronald Wimberly and Josh O’Neill (Beehive Books)
• Women Write About Comics, edited by Nola Pfau and Wendy Browne, www.WomenWriteAboutComics.com

Best Comics-Related Book

• The Art of Nothing: 25 Years of Mutts and the Art of Patrick McDonnell (Abrams)
• The Book of Weirdo, by Jon B. Cooke (Last Gasp)
• Grunt: The Art and Unpublished Comics of James Stokoe (Dark Horse)
• Logo a Gogo: Branding Pop Culture, by Rian Hughes (Korero Press)
• Making Comics, by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Screwball! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny, by Paul Tumey (Library of American Comics/IDW)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

• The Art of Pere Joan: Space, Landscape, and Comics Form, by Benjamin Fraser (University of Texas Press)
• The Comics of Rutu Modan: War, Love, and Secrets, by Kevin Haworth (University Press of Mississippi)
• EC Comics: Race, Shock, and Social Protest, by Qiana Whitted (Rutgers University Press)
• The Peanuts Papers: Writers and Cartoonists on Charlie Brown, Snoopy & the Gang, and the Meaning of Life, edited by Andrew Blauner (Library of America)
• Producing Mass Entertainment: The Serial Life of the Yellow Kid, by Christina Meyer (Ohio State University Press)
• Women’s Manga in Asia and Beyond: Uniting Different Cultures and Identities, edited by Fusami Ogi et al. (Palgrave Macmillan)

Best Publication Design

• Grunt: The Art and Unpublished Comics of James Stokoe, designed by Ethan Kimberling (Dark Horse)
• Krazy Kat: The Complete Color Sundays, by George Herriman, designed by Anna-Tina Kessler (TASCHEN)
• Logo a Gogo, designed by Rian Hughes (Korero Press)
• Madness in Crowds: The Teeming Mind of Harrison Cady, designed by Paul Kopple and Alex Bruce (Beehive Books)
• Making Comics, designed by Lynda Barry (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Rusty Brown, designed by Chris Ware (Pantheon)

Best Digital Comic

• Afterlift, by Chip Zdarsky and Jason Loo (comiXology Originals)
• Black Water Lilies, by Michel Bussi, adapted by Frédéric Duval and Didier Cassegrain, translated by Edward Gauvin (Europe Comics)
• Colored: The Unsung Life of Claudette Colvin, by Tania de Montaigne, adapted by Emilie Plateau, translated by Montana Kane (Europe Comics)
• Elma, A Bear’s Life, vol. 1: The Great Journey, by Ingrid Chabbert and Léa Mazé, translated by Jenny Aufiery (Europe Comics)
• Mare Internum, by Der-shing Helmer (comiXology; gumroad.com/l/MIPDF)
• Tales from Behind the Window, by Edanur Kuntman, translated by Cem Ulgen (Europe Comics)

Best Webcomic

• Cabramatta, by Matt Huynh, http://believermag.com/cabramatta/
• Chuckwagon at the End of the World, by Erik Lundy, https://hollowlegcomics.tumblr.com/chuckwagon
• The Eyes, by Javi de Castro, https://www.javidecastro.com/theeyes
• Fried Rice Comic, by Erica Eng, https://friedricecomic.tumblr.com
• reMIND, by Jason Brubaker, https://is.gd/T7rafM
• Third Shift Society, by Meredith Moriarty, https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/third-shift-society/list?title_no=1703

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

A selection from EA's PC catalog is now available on Steam. To everyone's surprise and with no official announcement from EA, many of the company's PC catalog is now available for purchase on Steam, including Dragon Age 2, Crysis 3, Unravel, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, and Need for Speed Heat. In addition, these games are also available at steep discounts. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=kingdoms-of-amalur-re-reckoning-screenshots&captions=true"] Games like Dragon Age Inquisition and Mirror's Edge Catalyst - previously only available on EA's Origin service - are 50% off right now, while others like Need for Speed Heat have a steeper 60% cut. Many EA titles that have always been on Steam - due to launching before EA began its Origin exclusive approach - are also discounted, including Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition at 75% off, and the original Mirror's Edge cut by 90%. Not all of EA's older titles are available at a discount though. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - which is due to be remastered soon - is still being sold at its full price, as are several Command & Conquer games and the first two Mass Effect games. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/08/need-for-speed-heat-review"] Notably missing from the group of new additions right now are the latter Mass Effects- Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect Andromeda - as well as Anthem and Respawn's Titanfall and Apex Legends. DICE's last few Battlefield games and its Star Wars: Battlefront series have also yet to make the leap. While EA has not made an announcement about these games, the company did state last year that EA PC games would be coming to Steam, starting with the release of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It appears that this is the first wave of previously EA Origin exclusive games making their way to Valve's platform. In addition, on many of the Steam store pages for EA's games, there is now an advert for EA Access. As seen in the screenshot below, EA's subscription games service will soon be coming to Steam. This move makes sense considering EA is working to get its games available in more storefronts. The company announced last month that it plans to bring more games to the Nintendo Switch. It also announced last month that it had renewed its multi-year partnership with the NFL to create more Madden games. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

Valorant is officially available for everyone, but some players who were caught cheating during the beta were disappointed that they’re still banned in the public release version of Riot’s new shooter. “All cheating account bans are permanent for the account,” says Valorant’s Anti-Cheat Lead Paul Chamberlain in a statement to IGN. “Most cheating account bans also come with a hardware ban, meaning we track their souls through time and space and ban them again when they try to re-enter the game with a fake mustache.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=gameplay-screenshots-of-valorant-closed-beta&captions=true"] Riot has made anti-cheating a key pillar in Valorant's development. Along with strict anti-cheat policies, Riot’s anti-cheat system Vanguard goes further than a lot of other anti-cheat software by making it more difficult to start up or even create cheats for Valorant. The company also offered a bounty of $100,000 for hackers who can find weaknesses in Vanguard. Chamberlain did reveal that while all bans on Valorant are permanent by default, they can be reversed. “I can’t reveal too much here, but I will say that not all of these bans are permanent, and we do periodically review them to lift specific ones. At release, we have reviewed all existing hardware bans and unbanned some of the less egregious offenders. We are not planning to remove any more hardware bans until our next periodic review.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/03/6-minutes-of-valorant-gameplay"] Valorant is Riot’s new team-based shooter with hero elements. The free-to-play, 5v5 shooter had an extended beta but is now freely available for anyone who wants to play. You can check out IGN’s Valorant review for our take on Riot’s newest title. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Rockstar has announced that it will be shutting down GTA Online and Red Dead Online today for 2 hours, to "honor the legacy of George Floyd". Both games will have access closed between 11am - 1pm Pacific / 2pm - 4pm Eastern / 7pm - 9pm UK / 4am - 6am AEST.

Black Lives Matter. To honor the legacy of George Floyd, today, 6/4/20, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. ET, we will be shutting down access to our online games, Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online.

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) June 4, 2020

Rockstar followed up its initial message by asking players to support victims of racial injustice by supporting a list of civil rights-based charitable organisations. It's unclear at time of writing if Rockstar will itself be making donations to the causes it highlights.

Following the memorial, we hope you will join us in further honoring the many victims of America's racial injustices by supporting their families, black-owned businesses, those marching on the streets, and coalitions through the organizations listed here: https://t.co/yIQu2R1pJb

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) June 4, 2020

IGN stands in solidarity with the black community, and condemns racism. We encourage those reading to donate to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and support the fight for racial justice. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Black lives matter.

Acclaimed director Ridley Scott has shared his thoughts on the future of the Alien franchise, particularly his idea for a third prequel film. Speaking to the LA Times in a recent interview, Scott spoke openly about a prospective return to the 40-year-old sci-fi franchise, saying that he would like to see the next Alien film explore the secret origins of the Xenomorph eggs from the original 1979 classic. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/05/13/alien-covenant-why-the-xenomorphs-were-created-spoilers"] "I still think there's a lot of mileage in Alien, but I think you'll have to now re-evolve," he admitted. "What I always thought when I was making the first one [was] why would a creature like this be made and why was it travelling in what I always thought was a kind of war-craft, which was carrying a cargo of these eggs. What was the purpose of the vehicle and what was the purpose of the eggs? That's the thing to question - who, why, and for what purpose is the next idea, I think." In the first Alien movie, Ripley and the other crew members of the Nostromo stumble upon the mysterious hive of eggs inside the abandoned Space Jockey ship on LV-426. In the decades since then, we have seen an entire franchise of seemingly unstoppable, acid-bleeding, double-jaw chomping xenomorphs burst from the chest of this original concept to breed a whole host of new storylines, with some mixed results. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-xenomorph-and-alien-from-the-alien-movies&captions=true"] Alien: Covenant opened to an estimated $36 million in the U.S. in 2017, a figure that was down 34 percent from Prometheus' opening weekend in 2012. Further to this, Covenant suffered a severe 71 percent drop in its second weekend at the box office. Despite performing below some prior expectations, Covenant still had one of the Alien franchise's strongest debuts, unadjusted for inflation. In the past, Scott, who helmed the original Alien film for Fox in 1979, as well as the two recent prequels, has revealed his intentions to make two further sequels to Covenant, with the last film planned to lead directly into Alien. However, it appears that the now-infamous Disney/Fox merger that took place in 2019 has put those sequels on hold for now. For more on the ramifications of that acquisition, find out what Disney's rebranding of their Fox properties could mean for the future of those franchises. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 3 has been delayed, with the new season now launching on June 17th, with developer Epic explaining that the move is due to current outcry and protests in the US. "Recent events are a heavy reminder of ongoing injustices in society, from the denial of basic human rights to the impact of racism both overt and subtle against people of color. We're acutely aware of the pain our friends, families, team members, players, and communities are experiencing," begins a statement from the Fortnite blog published earlier today. "We believe in equality and justice, diversity and inclusion, and that these fundamentals are above politics," Epic Games adds. "The team is eager to move Fortnite forward, but we need to balance the Season 3 launch with time for the team to focus on themselves, their families and their communities."

https://t.co/8KgWau8FyC

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) June 3, 2020

An in-game live event, 'The Device', that is set to occur at the end of the current season has also been moved to June 15th. The delay comes in the wake of the death of George Floyd, and the protests against police brutality and racism that have subsequently taken place worldwide. Chapter 2 Season 3 has been delayed twice previously, first in April in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and then last week - it was originally set to launch on June 11th. Earlier this week, Sony revealed that it was postponing its PS5 conference to "stand back and allow more important voices to be heard." IGN stands in solidarity with the black community, and condemns racism. We encourage those reading to donate to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and support the fight for racial justice. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Black lives matter.

A music artist has accused Naughty Dog of copying her cover of New Order’s True Faith, which features in a trailer for The Last of Us Part 2.

@Neil_Druckmann @Naughty_Dog hey are you aware that the true faith cover you put in your last of us 2 trailer is a replica of my cover that came out 10 yrs ago? I wrote original parts not in the original song that are copied exactly by whoever covered it. I am heartbroken.

— Lotte Kestner (@lottekestner) June 4, 2020

Lotte Kestner, a singer/songwriter, posted to Twitter a message for Naughty Dog and its vice president, Neil Druckman, pointing out that the cover of True Faith used in the trailer is a “replica” of her cover, which she released in 2011 on her album Stolen. “I wrote original parts not in the original song that are copied exactly by whoever covered it,” she said. “I am heartbroken.” To compare, it’s worth listening to Kestner’s cover, the trailer, and the original New Order song. Three minutes and thirty seconds into Kestner’s version, there are some humming vocals that fit with the slower, acoustic stylings of the cover. A similar vocal segment is sung by Ellie in the trailer at the 45 second mark. Importantly, the original New Order track - a piece of synth music - does not feature these humming-like vocals. It’s this difference that has led Kestner to believe that the trailer has copied her version of the song. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/03/the-last-of-us-part-ii-official-extended-commercial"] The legal status of this is murky. While currently unconfirmed, it is likely that copyright permission for the trailer was sought from New Order rather than Lotte Kestner. So, despite the song not being Kestner’s original work, does she have any legal grounds over her arrangement? A similar case can be found from back in 2013, when Jonathan Coulton - yes, the guy who wrote Portal’s Still Alive - found that his folky cover of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back had been covered identically by the Fox TV show Glee. Take a listen to his cover and the Glee version. It's a very similar arrangement, right down to the banjo. When interviewed about it by Wired, Coulton said “[Fox] got in touch with my peeps to basically say that they’re within their legal rights to do this.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-last-of-us-part-2-new-screenshots&captions=true"] "It seems that because of the compulsory license I purchased when I made a cover of this song, the arrangement itself is not protected under copyright, although it's the darkest gray of the gray areas [of the law]... While there may be some weird offshoot of the law, it doesn't seem like something where a little guy could sue to get any satisfaction,” he explained. It appears, then, that Lotte Kestner may be stuck fighting in a very unclear area of copyright law. So far, Naughty Dog has yet to respond publicly. IGN has reached out to Sony for comment. For more from The Last of Us Part 2, check out the new enemy factions, the new terrors of the infected, and our final, story spoiler-free preview. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

A recent update to The Sims 4 has seemingly introduced a bug to the game that is causing some sims to pee fire. "Why is my sims pee literally in flames?? is it because he is tense?" writes user JojoWigSnatch on The Sims 4 subreddit. And they're not the only one - the place is flooded with reports of flammable urine, as noticed by RockPaperShotgun. Many are claiming that it has something to do with the 'Tense' emotional state sims can experience, but until EA makes a statement, we can't be sure where this glitch has come from. For now, please enjoy this absurd situation while you can. Aside from the blazing wee, this update is causing other, more serious problems like crashes and lost saves. Sims Quality Designer SimGuruNick noted on Twitter that the team is looking into these issues. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/08/the-sims-4-tiny-living-official-trailer"] Appropriately, this update also added firefighters to the game, although, luckily, the burning wiz won't set your house alight, as players are reporting that it goes away once your Sim is finished with their number one. "I saw that with my sim too! But once she was done it just went away... like, wut," writes user BeadingBeauty97. This unfortunate update has arrived in advance of the Eco Lifestyle Pack, which launches tomorrow on June 5th. You can check out the full patch notes here. Check out our review of The Sims 4 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which was published back in 2017. In other The Sims 4 news, check out this great feature from The Sims General Manager Lyndsey Pearson about the women who inspired her love for games. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Studio Ghibli has shared details about its first fully 3D CG-animated film, Goro Miyazaki's Aya and the Witch. Entertainment Weekly reports that production company NHK Enterprises announced that Aya and the Witch (Aya to Majo) will premiere on Japan's NHK this winter, and will be Studio Ghibli's first entirely 3D CG feature. Hayao Miyazaki is overseeing the project alongside his son, Goro Miyazaki, who is taking to the director's chair on the film, which is based on Diana Wynne Jones' children's book Earwig and the Witch, published in 2011. [caption id="attachment_2360343" align="alignnone" width="508"] Image credit: Greenwillow Books/Paul O. Zelinsky[/caption] The book tells the story of Earwig, an orphan girl who has lived at St. Morwald's Home for Children ever since she was a baby, but all of that changes the day that she is adopted by a mysterious woman named Bella Yaga, who turns out to be a terrible witch and brings Earwig to live in her home of supernatural trinkets. With help from a talking cat, Earwig must use her wits to survive in her new magical surroundings. Wynne Jones also wrote the novel for Howl's Moving Castle, the 2004 animated adaptation, scripted and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/03/studio-ghibli-confirmed-to-be-working-on-two-new-films-ign-now"] Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki made a statement about the film. "Can Aya and the Witch do well after corona?" he quizzed. "I thought about that many times when I was watching the early footage. Then I realized the big characteristic of the movie is Aya's wisdom. If only we have wisdom, we can overcome anything in any era. When I thought about that, I was relieved. "If Pippi Longstocking is the story of the world's strongest girl," Suzuki added. "Aya is the story of the world's smartest girl. Aya is cheeky but somehow cute. I hope she is loved by many types of people. By the way, I thought Aya reminded me of someone, then it turned out it was Goro himself, who was the director of the movie. When I told that to him he looked bashful." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-anime-series-on-netflix-right-now&captions=true"] While the film is a digression from the traditional, hand-drawn animation that Studio Ghibli is well-renowned for, it has already been picked up as one of four animated selections ahead of this year's Cannes Festival, which is postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic but may be rescheduled for June or July, depending on the developing situation. Goro Miyazaki's Aya and the Witch is one of two projects being developed by Studio Ghibli this year -- the other being Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film since coming out of retirement, though we might have some time to wait until the release of How Do You Live? (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka), as Suzuki projects that it could take three years to complete its animation. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.