The North American comics industry gathered at New York Comic Con to reveal the winners of the prestigious Harvey Awards, recognizing exceptional accomplishments in sequential art. Acclaimed mystery thriller Billy Bat, created by Naoki Urasawa and co-written by Takashi Nagasaki, secured the win for Best Manga.
Translated by Kristi Iwashiro and published in English through Abrams ComicArts' Kana imprint, the ambitious 20-volume series explores historical conspiracies, artistic creation, and global conflicts surrounding a recurring bat motif. The title triumphed over an impressive slate of literary and avant-garde nominations:
- He Rolled Me Up Like a Grilled Squid by Yoshiharu Tsuge (Drawn & Quarterly, translated by Ryan Holmberg)
- Land by Kazumi Yamashita (Yen Press, translated by Kevin Gifford)
- Miss Ruki by Fumiko Takano (New York Review Comics, translated by Alexa Frank)
- My Gorilla Family by Ichiro Iijima (Living the Line, translated by Ryan Holmberg)
- My Life in 24 Frames per Second by Rintarō (Kana/Abrams ComicArts, translated by Montana Kane)
Competitive Field and Category Legacy
Anime and manga properties also featured prominently in the Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel category, with nominations including Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle - Akaza Sairai, the final season of My Hero Academia, the live-action production of One Piece: Into the Grand Line, and the Korean animated feature Your Letter. The adaptation category award ultimately went to Spider-Noir.
Established as a distinct category in 2018, the Harvey Award for Best Manga has previously recognized works including Kabi Nagata's My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, Kōhei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia, Kamome Shirahama's Witch Hat Atelier, Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man, and Ryōko Kui's Delicious in Dungeon. Unlike many peer-voted distinctions, the Harvey Awards are nominated and voted on entirely by industry professionals across the sequential art community.
