Since 2007 the Eisner Awards have had a category just for the best comics from Asia published in English, and before that manga regularly won the award for international comics. The winners make a great list of manga classics.
Here are ten of the best, from science fiction and samurai epics to gentle fantasy and horror. Some are single books, others are the first volume of a longer series.
Winner2002
Katsuhiro Otomo
Great for a science fiction fan
In Neo-Tokyo, years after a great explosion destroyed the old city, a teenage biker gang leader, Kaneda, tries to save his friend Tetsuo, who is developing terrifying psychic powers. The manga behind the legendary film, and one of the most influential comics ever made.
2002 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material winner
Winner2005
Osamu Tezuka
Great for a reader who loves epics
Osamu Tezuka, the 'god of manga', tells the life of Siddhartha, the man who became the Buddha, as a sweeping adventure full of humor and invented characters. It won the Eisner two years in a row.
2005 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material winner
Winner2013
Naoki Urasawa
Great for a thriller fan
As boys, Kenji and his friends invented a story about the end of the world. Decades later, a mysterious cult leader is making it come true. A huge, gripping mystery thriller that won the Eisner twice.
2013 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Asia winner
Kamome Shirahama
Great for a fantasy lover
In Coco's world, only witches can do magic, until she discovers that spells are drawn with ink. After an accident, she becomes a witch's apprentice. Gorgeous, detailed art, like an old storybook.
2020 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Asia winner
Winner2022
Junji Ito
Great for a horror fan
Short horror stories from Junji Ito, the master of creeping, unforgettable images. Perfect for anyone who loves to be scared.
2022 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Asia winner
Gengoroh Tagame
Great for a reader who loves family stories
Yaichi, a single father in Tokyo, gets an unexpected visitor: Mike, a big, friendly Canadian who was married to Yaichi's late twin brother. Seen through the eyes of Yaichi's young daughter, a warm book about family and acceptance.
2018 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Asia winner
Winner2020
Taiyō Matsumoto
Great for a cat lover or art lover
In the attic of the Louvre lives a secret colony of cats, including a white kitten who never grows up and can wander into the paintings. A dreamy, magical story by Taiyō Matsumoto.
2020 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Asia winner
Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Great for a manga historian
Yoshihiro Tatsumi's memoir of growing up in postwar Japan and helping invent gekiga, manga for adults. Over 800 pages of the history of manga, told by someone who lived it.
2010 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work winner
Winner2001
Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima
Great for a samurai film fan
Ogami Itto, the shogun's executioner, is framed and becomes a wandering assassin, pushing his baby son Daigoro across Japan in a wooden cart. The classic samurai epic.
2001 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material winner
Hayao Miyazaki
Great for a Studio Ghibli fan
Long before Nausicaä and Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki painted this short tale of a prince who travels west to find a golden grain that could save his people. Painted in watercolor and complete in one book.
2023 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Asia winner
Cats of the Louvre, Shuna's Journey and My Brother's Husband are complete in one or two books and need no experience with manga.
Winners include Akira, Lone Wolf and Cub, Buddha, 20th Century Boys, Witch Hat Atelier and several Junji Ito collections. See our award page for the full list.
For more, see every manga that won or was nominated for the Eisner Award.