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Shoto Press's Garlands of Moonlight nominated for prestigious Eisner Award
Judges for the 2003 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards nominate debut title for Best Graphic Album--New

NEW YORK, April 11, 2003 -- Shoto Press, a small press imprint specializing in speculative fiction and graphic novels, announced today that its debut title, the Xeric award-winning Garlands of Moonlight, was nominated for a coveted 2003 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in the category of Best Graphic Album--New.

"What struck me most about this year's submissions," noted Jackie Estrada, awards administrator of the Eisners for the last twelve years, "is the wide range of publication formats and the attention to design and bookcraft we're seeing from publishers of every size and type."

Nominees are selected from entries submitted to a panel of judges culled from all parts of the comics industry. This year's panel included Time magazine columnist Andrew D. Arnold, The Pulse journalist Jen Contino, Diamond Comic Distributors product manager Steve Leaf, Titan Comics owner and retailer reviewer for the Comic Buyer's Guide Jeremy Shorr, and multiple award-winning writer/artist Charles Vess.

"I'm completely beside myself that Garlands is being nominated for an Eisner," said author Jai Sen of his first graphic novel. "They're the equivalent of Oscars for the comics industry, and it's a great honor to be recognized. But delighted as I am by this recognition of my work, the lion's share of the credit goes to [Garlands of Moonlight artist] Rizky Wasisto Edi, whose enchanting illustrations really brought the story to life."

Garlands of Moonlight, the debut title in the ten-book Malay Mysteries series by Shoto Press, also received an esteemed Xeric Foundation Award in April 2002. The 86-page graphic novel, printed in a high-definition duotone of black and specially formulated silver metallic ink to simulate turn-of-the-last-century daguerreotypes, achieved critical acclaim from various notable critics including the widely-read Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics Worth Reading. The Ghost of Silver Cliff, book 2 in The Malay Mysteries, was published last year and has garnered similarly positive reviews.

Shoto Press books are available through Baker & Taylor and include Publisher's Cataloging-in-Publication (P-CIP) data provided by Quality Books, Inc. to facilitate integration of Shoto titles into library collections and bookstores.

Garlands of Moonlight and all Shoto Press books can be ordered through the Shoto Press web site (URL: www.shotopress.com), Diamond Previews, through Cold Cut Comics Distribution, local bookstores, and at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble Online.

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