75th annual NCS Reuben Awards nominees announced

The National Cartoonist Society has trickled out the nominees for this year’s Reuben Award and the accompanying NCS Divisional Awards over the last few months, as they prepare for the big awards ceremony in October.

The divisional awards include categories that cover comic books, webcomics, political cartoons and more. I’ve included the nominations that are relevant to the world of comics, but you can find the complete nominations lists here and here.

2020 NCS Cartoonist of the Year, aka the Reuben Award

• Ray Billingsley, creator of the comic strip Curtis
• Bill Griffith, Underground comix pioneer and creator of Zippy the Pinhead
• Terri Libenson, bestselling children’s book author and creator of the comic strip The Pajama Diaries
• Hilary B. Price, creator of Rhymes With Orange
• Mark Tatulli, creator of Liō and Heart of the City

Magazine / Newspaper Illustration

• Tom Chitty
• Peter Kuper
• Bob Lizarraga

Comic Books

• Brahm Revel – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Jennika
• Stan Sakai – Usagi Yojimbo
• Walter Simonson – Ragnarok: The Breaking of Helheim

Graphic Novels

• Jared Cullum – Kodi
• Thibault Balahy –Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band
• Zoe Thorogood – The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott

Online Comics – Long Form

• Tom Parkinson Morgan – Kill Six Billion Demons
• Ariel Ries – Witchy Comic
• Tom Siddell – Gunnerkrigg Court

Online Comics – Short Form

• Mia Nie – Lone Shadow
• Rosemary Mosco – Bird and Moon
• Nick Seluk – Heart and Brain

Gag Cartoons

• Kendra Allenby
• Robert Leighton
• Ellis Rosen

Newspaper Comic Strips

• Brian Crane – Pickles
• Jeff Parker & Steve Kelley – Dustin
• Ricardo Siri – Macanudo

Newspaper Panels

• Bill Abbott – Specktickles
• Dave Blazek – Loose Parts
• Mark Parisi – Off the Mark
• Bill Whitehead – Free Range

Editorial Cartoons

• Darrin Bell
• Bruce MacKinnon
• Nancy Ohanian
• Christopher Weyant

Winners will be chosen based on a vote from the general NCS membership. They’ll be announced the weekend of Oct. 15-17 during NCSFest, which will be streamed online again this year.