Sanho’s “Purgatory Funeral Cakes,” originally published in Korea as “Funeral Cake Shop Yeonokdang,” won the award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia at the 38th Eisner Awards, according to Comic-Con International. The English edition was translated by Danny Lim and published by Dark Horse.
The category honors the best Asian comics published in English in North America. Korean works such as Kim Dong-hwa’s “The Color of Earth,” Keum Suk Gendry-Kim’s “Grass” and Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok’s “Hellbound” had previously been nominated, but this is the first time a Korean comic has won the award.
The Eisner Awards, often described as the Oscars of the comics industry, were presented during San Diego Comic-Con on July 24. The awards are regarded as one of the world’s three major international comics prizes, along with France’s Angouleme International Comics Festival and the Harvey Awards in the United States.
“Purgatory Funeral Cakes” is a fantasy graphic novel about a mysterious cake shop that makes cakes for the dead. The cakes help the souls of the deceased complete their 49-day journey through purgatory before moving on to their next life.
The book was published in Korea by Munhakdongne and released in the United States by Dark Horse in 2025.
Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young sent a congratulatory message to Sanho, saying the award showed that the artist’s originality and body of work had been recognized globally.
“Sanho has continued to produce outstanding works, including winning Today’s Korean Comics Award in 2021 and the Korea Creative Content Agency President’s Award at the Korea Content Awards in 2022,” Choi said. “This award is the result of global recognition of the artistic achievement and original worldview built through those efforts.”
“I hope Sanho will continue to move readers around the world with works filled with outstanding imagination and deep resonance,” he added. “The government will provide full support so that more achievements like this can be made in the comics sector.”
Korean comics have previously won major international honors, including Ancco’s “Bad Friends” at Angouleme in 2017, Park Yoon-sun’s “The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear” at Angouleme in 2024, Ma Yeong-shin’s “Moms” at the Harvey Awards in 2021 and Keum Suk Gendry-Kim’s “Grass” at the Harvey Awards in 2020.
With Sanho’s Eisner win, Korean comics have now been recognized at all three major international comics awards.
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