Posted By Dan Greenfield on May 15, 2025 | 1 comment

Wonderful recognition for Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez…

The 2025 Eisner Awards nominations are out and there are, as usual, a ton of worthy works recognized.

But there’s one that’s especially near and dear to our hearts — Standards Manual’s 1982 DC Comics Style Guide, featuring the gorgeous art of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, inked by Dick Giordano.

The decades-awaited hardcover, published under a DC license, has been nominated in the Best Archival Collection/Project – Comic Books category.

“Standards Manual is honored to be nominated for an Eisner Award. We’re simply stewards of the work—and proud to see Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez’s art and the DC Style Guide live on,” said the publisher’s co-founder Hamish Smyth.

Garcia-Lopez himself added: “It’s an edition so well done, and presented to the reader in such a magnificent way, that it really deserves this recognition.”

The book reprints the rare Style Guide that was made available to merchandisers in the ’80s and early ’90s but never to the general public until last year. The hefty hardcover is jammed with wonderful JLGL art and has long been a grail item for collectors.

The competition is stiff. Here are the other nominees:

— The Complete Web of Horror, edited by Dana Marie Andra (Fantagraphics)

— David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One Artist’s Edition, by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

— The Farewell Song of Marcel LaBrume, by Attilio Micheluzzi, edited by Gary Groth and Conrad Groth (Fantagraphics)

— Wally Wood from Witzend: Complete Collection, commentary by J. David Spurlock (Vanguard)

— X-Men: The Manga Remastered, Vol. 1, edited by Glenn Greenberg and others (VIZ Media)

Being completely transparent, I’m deeply honored to have been involved in the project, both as technical adviser and the writer of the book’s interview with Garcia-Lopez and former DC marketing exec Mary Yedlin. (You can read it in full here.) Former DC chief Paul Levitz wrote the introduction.

“Well, since there weren’t Eisner Awards when we first did the Style Guide, we couldn’t have dreamed of winning one,” Levitz said. “But the original was done with great commitment to quality, and the reprint was done with care and love.”

Yedlin added: “What an honor! Working with Jose and the whole team on this Style Guide back in the day was an absolute privilege. So delighted to see this work available in such a stunning format. Bravissimo!”

If you love the book as much as I do, here’s the link for the complete Eisner ballot: Cast your vote — for any of the superb nominees!

And to get yourself a copy, click here.

—

MORE

— JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ Reflects on the DC COMICS STYLE GUIDE: ‘Thrilled My Work Is Still Alive.’ Click here.

— HERE IT IS! Your EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK at the 1982 DC COMICS STYLE GUIDE Hardcover. Click here.

— EXTREME CLOSE-UP: Dig the Incredible Detail of the Upcoming DC COMICS STYLE GUIDE Release. Click here.

— INSIDE LOOK: The Source Copy of the 1982 DC COMICS STYLE GUIDE That’s Being Published as a Hardcover. Click here.

— OUTSTANDING! 1982 DC STYLE GUIDE Reprint Will Include Pages From Later Editions. Click here.