San Diego Comic-Con InternationalMedia Release -- Comic-Con International, the largest comic book and popular arts event in the United States, is delighted to announce that the title sponsor for the 2009 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (or The Eisner’s as the event is affectionately referred) is Darksiders, the upcoming video game from THQ.

Darksiders, created by comics artist Joe Madureira, is set in a post-Apocalyptic world in which players representing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse battle evil forces. Madureira is well known for his work on Marvel’s X-Men and his own title Battle Chasers.

The Eisner Awards, considered the “Oscars” of the comics industry, will be presented in a gala awards ceremony on Friday, July 24 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. Named for the acclaimed comics writer, artist, and creator, the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards have been in existence since 1987.

In addition to Darksiders as the Title Sponsor, principal sponsors for the 2009 Eisner Awards include Gentle Giant, Isotope Comics of San Francisco, Lebonfon Printing, LongBox, and UCLICK. Supporting sponsors are Alternate Reality Comics of Las Vegas, Atlantis Fantasyworld of Santa Cruz, CA, Century Guild, comicsunlimited.com, Diamond Comic Distributors, Flying Colors Comics and Other Cool Stuff of Concord, CA, Mel Thompson and Associates, and mycomicshop.com.

Baby Tattoo, publishers of books for kids and adults, will be sponsoring the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award. This award is given to an individual retailer who has done an outstanding job of supporting the comics art medium both in the community and within the industry at large and will be presented to the winner during the gala ceremony at the Hilton.

The Eisner Awards are part of, and underwritten by, Comic-Con International: San Diego, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture.

More information about the Eisner Awards can be found at http://www.comic-con.org