The Will & Ann Eisner Family Foundation has announced that the annual Will Eisner Week will take place on March 1-7, 2026. Hundreds of venues around the world will host events at universities and colleges, art schools, libraries, museums, bookstores, comic shops, and online.

Eisner was a pioneering comic creator who was a pivotal figure when the comics industry was taking shape in the 1930s. He created The Spirit in the ‘40s, created comics for training and education in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and in ’78, he released his first graphic novel, A Contract with God. It was followed by several more graphic novels and comic textbooks in a career that spanned almost eight decades. The Eisner Awards (given annually during San Diego Comic-Con) were named after him and are considered among the highest honor in the comics industry.

This year’s theme, Read a Graphic Novel!, will be the foundation for events that honor Will Eisner and his contributions to comics, along with celebrations of graphic novels, sequential art, and free speech. Will Eisner Week is set during the artist’s birthday on March 6.

Will Eisner Week is an annual event that is meant to celebrate the indelible impact Eisner had on comics and pop culture, and to promote comics and sequential art and graphic novel literacy. It began in two locations in New York in 2009 and has since expanded to hundreds of events held around the world in-person and virtually.

“In 2025 we had almost two hundred Will Eisner Week events worldwide celebrating sequential art and we’re on track to break that record in 2026,” Will Eisner Week Chair Danny Fingeroth said. “There’s time to organize and present your own event in person or virtually. All organizations receive the Will Eisner Week Playbook, 18” x 24” posters, letter size flyers, and social media support.”

The playbook is free to download, featuring posters for the event, suggestions programming, like workshops, panel topics, and lecture ideas. There’s a recap of programming from previous years, resources for help, an in-depth biography on Eisner, and a bibliography of selected works. Organizers also have access to the playbook addendum that offers suggestions on creating a virtual event and video resources. Venues can include videos from the Will Eisner YouTube channel that include creators like Gene Luen Yang, Jerry Craft, Todd McFarlane, Paul Levitz, Denis Kitchen, Dan Schkade, and others.

Organizations can find more information and register for the event at surveymonkey.com.