Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama Inducted Into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame

Akira Toriyama has been inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame, adding another prestigious honor to the legendary creator’s lasting influence on the comic and manga industry.

Best known as the creator of Dragon Ball, Toriyama helped shape generations of manga and anime fans through his unforgettable storytelling, expressive artwork and iconic character designs, while also leaving his mark on gaming as the character designer behind Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger and Blue Dragon.

The announcement was made during San Diego Comic-Con 2026 ahead of this year’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony, with Toriyama selected as one of four creators inducted through the public nomination process.

He was chosen from a shortlist of 16 nominees alongside Chris Ware, Colleen Doran and Jeff Smith.

The Hall of Fame also welcomed 19 Judges’ Choice honorees this year, including manga creator Go Nagai, who had already been selected for induction earlier in the year.

Toriyama’s induction places him among an elite group of Japanese manga creators recognized by the Eisner Hall of Fame, joining Osamu Tezuka, Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima, Katsuhiro Otomo, Rumiko Takahashi, Moto Hagio, Keiji Nakazawa, Shigeru Mizuki and Junji Ito.

Although Toriyama was previously nominated for the Eisner Hall of Fame in 2019 alongside Naoki Urasawa, he was not selected that year.

His influence on popular culture stretches back more than four decades, beginning with Dr. Slump in 1980 before reaching worldwide success with Dragon Ball, which ran from 1984 to 1995 and later inspired Dragon Ball Z, numerous sequel series, movies, video games, and one of anime’s most recognizable heroes in Goku.

The recognition follows another major posthumous achievement for Toriyama after he was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame in 2024, further cementing his place as one of the most celebrated manga creators of all time.