The world’s best comic shop is officially in Eugene: Books With Pictures Eugene has won this year’s top prize in the world for a comic book store. 

On Friday, July 24, the store received the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, the lone retail category in a competition considered the “Oscars” of the comics world, during the annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards at San Diego Comic-Con International.

The award is the top recognition in the industry for a comic book store, intended to recognize a store supporting comics arts both in their own community and the industry at large. 

“This award is an incredible honor for all of us,” said store co-owner Andréa Gilroy in a press release sent Monday morning. “Winning the Spirit of Comics Retailer Award is deeply humbling. Every day, we get to watch someone discover a story that changes how they see the world—or simply makes them smile. That’s why we’re here. This award belongs to our staff, our customers, our creator partners, and the Eugene community that has embraced us from day one.”

Gilroy and Jack Sager working in Books With Pictures Eugene on July 22, 2026. Sager said he wished he had a store like Books With Pictures Eugene when he was growing up in the city. Credit: Annie Aguiar / Lookout Eugene-Springfield
Books With Pictures Eugene prides itself on accesible labeling for their comic titles, which are split by genre instead of publisher, and feature magnetic labels for things like variant covers, reprints, and more. Credit: Annie Aguiar / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Books With Pictures Eugene, located in the Fifth Street Public Market, was nominated by an unknown fan. The store made its way through the nomination and finalist process by submitting a packet of materials and a video for judges to peruse.

“We share this recognition with everyone who has ever walked through our doors,” Gilroy added in the press release. “Our customers, creators, and neighbors have helped make Books With Pictures Eugene the community it is today. We’re honored to be part of such an amazing comics family.”

The win means that two of the world’s best comic shops are in Oregon. Books With Pictures Eugene won the award four years after its sister store, Books With Pictures in Portland, took home the prize in 2022. 

“I will always feel like the little sister,” Gilroy said on July 22 of being one of five global finalists for the prize, years after the Portland store won. “That’s just inevitable. But it is fun to kind of feel a little bit like I’m coming into my own.”

To celebrate the win, the store announced that it is planning on having a community celebration in mid-August.

Annie Aguiar is the Arts and Culture Correspondent. She has reported arts news and features for national and local newsrooms, including at the Seattle Times, the Washington Post and most recently as a reporting fellow for the New York Times’ Culture desk covering arts and entertainment.