Being an Eisner Awards judge has to be one of the coolest gigs in comics—I know this because I was one last year. Comic-Con International has just announced the names of the 2013 judges, and as always, they represent a mix of the different sectors of the business — creation, criticism, retailing, journalism, and of course, Comic-Con itself. Here's the lineup:

Michael Cavna, a writer, editor and artist for The Washington Post and the man behind the newspaper's Comic Riffs blog, which is an important part of my daily reading.

Charles Hatfield, professor of English at California State University, Northridge and the author of Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby, which won an Eisner Award last year, and Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature, as well as a contributor to The Comics Journal and a member of the Modern Language Association’s Discussion Group on Comics and Graphic Narratives.

Adam Healy, co-owner of Cosmic Monkey Comics in Portland, Oregon.

Dr. Katie Monnin, assistant professor of literacy at the University of North Florida and author of four books on the use of graphic novels in the classroom; her new book, Get Animated! Teaching Children's Cartoons in the Elementary Classroom, is due out next year.

Frank Santoro, creator of the graphic novel Storeyville as well as other comics, columnist for The Comics Journal, and co-founder (with Dan Nadel and Timothy Hodler) of the sadly defunct (but stil online) magazine ComicsComics.

John Smith, co-coordinator of the Attendee Registration Department of Comic-Con International, a judge for the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award for the past five years, and a lifelong lover of comics.

The judges have a formidable task before them, as I well know; like last year, this was a very good year for comics. Best wishes to all of them!