Horror Legend Junji Ito Inducted Into Eisner Hall Of Fame At SDCC 2025
The undisputed king of horror manga, Junji Ito, was inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame at San Diego Comic Con this past weekend. The 61-year-old legend has received four Eisner Awards over his nearly four-decade career, and he was the first international author to win Best Writer/Artist for his stories, Remina and Venus in the Blind Spot.
Mr. Ito was not present at the ceremony, but a subtitled video that was shared by his main American publisher, VIZ media, shows the horror author expressing how honored he feels to be given this high accolade.
“Hello, I’m Junji Ito, manga creator,” Ito begins. “At this time I’d liked to express my heartfelt gratitude for being inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame. I first received the Eisner Award in 2019 for Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection, and again, later in total, four times . . . more than I deserve.”
“Furthermore,” he concludes. “To be inducted into the Hall of Fame, is the greatest honor. This honor inspires me, though I don’t know how long I will continue being a manga artist, to continue for as long as I can in a way that doesn’t rest on one’s laurels, to continue to strive to be a better creator. I would like to thank the selection committee of the Eisner Awards, my readers who have continuously supported me, and the publishing community, for their longstanding support. And a special thanks to VIZ Media, with their wonderful designs of my book covers.”
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Only the outpour of grateful energy didn’t stop there, friends and neighbors. Being the extrovert that he is, Ito went to social media to share with his rabid following of spiral-brained fanatics the good news. Below is a translated tweet from the author, and his X account.
“I am deeply honored to have been inducted into the Eisner Award Hall of Fame,” says Ito (via translator). I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved with the Eisner Awards, all the readers who have supported me, and everyone at the various publishing houses. Thank you so much!”
Junji Ito first hit the scene in 1987 with his amazing debut, Tomie, in Japan’s Monthly Halloween Magazine. This was followed by terrifying stories such as Slug Girl, The Strange Tale of the Tunnel, Washed Ashore, Long Sleep, Fashion Model, and there’s no forgetting his masterwork of horror literature, Uzumaki (1998-1999). Other great titles are Gyo, Tomio: Red Turtleneck, Greased, The Hanging Balloons, The Enigma of Amigara Fault, Human Chair, Library Vision, Scarecrows, Blood-Bubble Bushes, and do I really need to keep going?!?!?
Luckily for non-readers, much of his work has been adapted into anime for easier consumption. The Junji Ito Collection is on Crunchyroll, Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre can be seen on Netflix, and Uzumaki is on HBO Max, but believe me when I say that you’re better off reading the book for the last one.
