SINGAPORE — Singaporean comic artist Andrew Tan, known by his pseudonym Drewscape, has bagged a nomination at the Eisner Award.

The 39-year-old’s story, Moving Forward, which forms part of his graphic novel Monsters, Miracles, & Mayonnaise, was chosen for the Short Story category for the prestigious awards, which is considered the comic book industry’s equivalent to the Oscars. The winners for the 2013 edition will be announced at the Comic-Con event in July.

“I feel very happy, of course. It was also a bit surreal that a local name would be alongside other American big boys like Marvel,” shared Tan, a freelance illustrator, who described himself as new to the comics industry.

“I used to print my own handmade comics and sold them in indie bookstores like Books Actually and Cat Socrates,” he said.

Tan’s graphic novel Monsters, Miracles, & Mayonnaise, a “best of” collection from his indie works, was published last year by Epigram Books, which is also the first Singapore publishing house to be nominated. It was part of a slew of local graphic novels, including one from previous Eisner Award nominee Sonny Liew.

The nominated story, Moving Forward, is about Tan’s experiences taking his driving exam. “It was about feeling that I couldn’t move forward in life,” said Tan. MAYO MARTIN