Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama Inducted Into Eisner Hall of Fame at San Diego Comic-Con 2026

Late manga legend Akira Toriyama has been inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame during San Diego Comic-Con 2026, honoring the creator whose work helped shape modern manga and anime worldwide.

The announcement was made ahead of the 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony, where Toriyama was selected from a list of 16 nominees. He was inducted alongside Chris Ware, Colleen Doran, and Jeff Smith, while legendary manga creator Go Nagai entered the Hall of Fame as one of this year’s Judges’ Choice honorees.

According to San Diego Comic-Con’s website, Toriyama’s induction recognizes decades of influence on comics and popular culture. He first rose to prominence with Dr. Slump in 1980 before creating Dragon Ball, which ran from 1984 to 1995 and became one of the best-selling manga series of all time.

Dragon Ball remains one of the best-selling and most influential manga series ever created by Akira Toriyama. (Image via Shueisha)

The franchise inspired multiple anime adaptations, films, games, and sequels, while its protagonist Goku became one of the world’s most recognizable fictional characters. Beyond manga, Toriyama also served as the character designer for iconic games including Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon.

This marks another major posthumous honor for Toriyama, who was also inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame in 2024. His addition to the Eisner Hall of Fame places him among celebrated Japanese creators such as Osamu Tezuka, Rumiko Takahashi, Katsuhiro Otomo, Shigeru Mizuki, and Junji Ito, further cementing his legacy as one of manga’s most influential creators.