Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work winners
The Eisner Award for the best nonfiction comic: history, biography, journalism and science.
Every year, 2026 to 2006
2026
- Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance by Ben Passmore Winner
- Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me by Mimi Pond Nominee
- Fela: Music is the Weapon by Jibola Fagbamiye, Conor McCreery Nominee
- Globetrotters: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s World Tour by Julian Voloj and Julie Rocheleau Nominee
- Muybridge by Guy Delisle Nominee
- Surrounded: America's First School for Black Girls, 1832 by Wilfrid Lupano, Stéphane Fert Nominee
2025
- Suffrage Song: The Haunted History of Gender, Race, and Voting Rights in the U.S. by Caitlin Cass Winner
- Djuna by Jon Macy Nominee
- The Heart That Fed: A Father, a Son, and the Long Shadow of War by Carl Sciacchitano Nominee
- The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C. S. Lewis & J. R. R. Tolkien by John Hendrix Nominee
- The Puerto Rican War: A Graphic History by John Vasquez Mejias Nominee
2024
- Three Rocks: The story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy by Bill Griffith Winner
- Are You Willing to Die for the Cause? by Chris Oliveros Nominee
- Last on His Feet: Jack Jackson and the Battle of the Century by Adrian Matejka and Youssef Daoudi Nominee
- Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali by Marc Bernardin and Ron Salas Nominee
- Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood by Samuel Machado and Cynthia Sousa Machado with Steven M. Wise Nominee
2023
- Flung Out of Space by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer Winner
- Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense by Noël Simsolo and Dominique Hé, translation by Montana Kane Nominee
- Alice Guy: First Lady of Film by José-Louis Bocquet and Catel Muller, translation by Edward Gauvin Nominee
- But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust by Charlotte Schallié Nominee
- Invisible Wounds: Graphic Journalism by Jess Ruliffson Nominee
- Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball by Jon Chad Nominee
2021
- Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf Winner
- Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank “Big Black” Smith, Jared Reinmuth, and Améziane Nominee
- Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang Nominee
- Invisible Differences: A Story of Asperger’s, Adulting, and Living a Life in Full Color by Mademoiselle Caroline and Julie Dachez, translation by Edward Gauvin Nominee
- Paying the Land by Joe Sacco Nominee
- Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna, translation by Helge Dascher Nominee
2020
- They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker Winner
- Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob Nominee
- Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translation by Janet Hong Nominee
- Kid Gloves by Lucy Knisley Nominee
- Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm Nominee
- My Solo Exchange Diary by Nagata Kabi, translation Jocelyne Allen Nominee
2019
- Is This Guy For Real? The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman by Box Brown Winner
- All the Answers: A Graphic Memoir by Michael Kupperman Nominee
- All the Sad Songs by Summer Pierre Nominee
- Monk! by Youssef Daoudi Nominee
- One Dirty Tree by Noah Van Sciver Nominee
2018
- Spinning by Tillie Walden Winner
- Audubon: On the Wings of the World by Fabien Grolleau and Jerémie Royer Nominee
- Calamity Jane: The Calamitous Life of Martha Jane Cannary 1852–1903 by Christian Perrissin and Matthieu Blanchin Nominee
- Lennon: The New York Years by David Foenkinos, Éric Corbeyran, and Horne Perreard Nominee
- The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui Nominee
2017
- March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell Winner
- Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso Nominee
- Glenn Gould: A Life Off Tempo by Sandrine Revel Nominee
- Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir by Tom Hart Nominee
- Tetris: The Games People Play by Box Brown Nominee
2016
- March: Book Two by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell Winner
- Displacement: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley Nominee
- Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor Nominee
- Invisible Ink: My Mother’s Secret Love Affair with a Famous Cartoonist by Bill Griffith Nominee
- The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East 1978–1984 by Riad Sattouf Nominee
- The Story of My Tits by Jennifer Hayden Nominee
2015
- Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor Winner
- Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast Nominee
- Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories by MariNaomi Nominee
- El Deafo by Cece Bell Nominee
- Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor by Nathan Hale Nominee
- To End All Wars: The Graphic Anthology of The First World War by Jonathan Clode and John Stuart Clark Nominee
2014
- The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story by Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, and Kyle Baker Winner
- A Bag of Marbles by Joseph Joffo, Kris, and Vincent Bailly Nominee
- Hip Hop Family Tree by Ed Piskor Nominee
- March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell Nominee
- Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life by Ulli Lust Nominee
- Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story by Peter Bagge Nominee
2013
- Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller by Joseph Lambert Winner
- The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song by Frank M. Young and David Lasky Winner
- A Chinese Life by Li Kunwu and Philippe Ôtié Nominee
- Marbles: Mania Depression Michelangelo & Me by Ellen Forney Nominee
- The Infinite Wait and Other Stories by Julia Wertz Nominee
- You'll Never Know by Carol Tyler Nominee
2012
- Green River Killer: A True Detective Story by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case Winner
- Around the World by Matt Phelan Nominee
- Marzi: A Memoir by Marzena Sowa and Sylvain Savoia Nominee
- Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths by Shigeru Mizuki Nominee
- Vietnamerica by GB Tran Nominee
2011
- It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi Winner
- Picture This: The Nearsighted Monkey Book by Lynda Barry Nominee
- Special Exits: A Graphic Memoir by Joyce Farmer Nominee
- Treasury of XXth Century Murder: The Terrible Axe Man of New Orleans by Rick Geary Nominee
- Two Generals by Scott Chantler Nominee
- You'll Never Know by Carol Tyler Nominee
2010
- A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi Winner
- Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco Nominee
- Monsters by Ken Dahl Nominee
- Stitches by David Small Nominee
- The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir by Laurie Sandell Nominee
- The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, and Frédéric Lemercier Nominee
2009
- What It Is by Lynda Barry Winner
- A Treasury of XXth Century Murder: The Lindbergh Child by Rick Geary Nominee
- Alan’s War by Emmanuel Guibert Nominee
- Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story by Frederik Peeters Nominee
- Fishtown by Kevin Colden Nominee
2008
- Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso Winner
- Laika by Nick Abadzis Nominee
- Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm by Percy Carey and Ronald Wimberly Nominee
- The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by Ann Marie Fleming Nominee
- White Rapids by Pascal Blanchet Nominee
2007
- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel Winner
- I Love Led Zeppelin by Ellen Forney Nominee
- Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies Nominee
- Project X: Cup Noodle by Tadashi Katoh Nominee
- Stagger Lee by Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix Nominee
2006
- Nat Turner by Kyle Baker Winner
- Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi Nominee
- Epileptic by David B. Nominee
- Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle Nominee
- True Story, Swear to God by Tom Beland Nominee