The 2026 Ignatz Awards, recognizing the best in small press comics, were presented last night during the Small Press Expo. The event featured a keynote by cartoonist Lisa Hannawalt, which you can watch in the replay of their livestream. I’d also recommend checking out Carol Tyler’s heart-felt acceptance speech at the end as well.
The winners list includes some (now) multiple Ignatz Award winners, including Lee Lai, Jesse Lonergan and Michael DeForge. While many of the winners were self-published, Drawn + Quarterly took home two awards, the most of any publisher.
The Ignatz Awards have been presented since 1997 and celebrate the outstanding achievements of independent comics, graphic novels and minicomics. They are named for the brick-throwing mouse that appeared in the Krazy Kat comics by George Herriman.
Congratulations to this year’s winners:
OUTSTANDING ARTIST
- Colin Lidston, Move-In Day (Paper Rocket Minicomics)
- Ben Passmore, Black Arms To Hold You Up (Pantheon Books)
- J. Marshall Smith, Testament (Bulgilhan Press)
- Winner: Carol Tyler, The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief (Fantagraphics)
- Rob Woods, Barbecue Block Party (Self-Published)
OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY
- A Queer Prisoner’s Anthology Vol. 9: Beautiful Regrets ed. Casper Cendre, Oliver Mills, Brett Thomas Gonzalez (A.B.O. Comix)
- Goof #2 ed. Marc Jackson (Self-Published)
- Winner: LAAB: A Comics Anthology No. 3 ed. Ronald Wimberly (Beehive Books)
- Revenge #2 ed. Samandal (Beehive Books)
- So Buttons #15 ed. Jonathan Baylis (So Buttons Comix)
OUTSTANDING COLLECTION
- A Strong Woman and Other Stories by Valentine Gallardo (Fieldmouse Press)
- Winner: All the Cameras in My Room by Michael DeForge (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Box Garden Beetle by Akino Kondoh (Glacier Bay Books)
- The Past is a Grotesque Animal by Tommi Parrish (Fantagraphics)
- Wisps by Amanda Baeza (kuš!)
OUTSTANDING COMIC
- Antimatter #1 by Dean Haspiel (Self-Published)
- Fizzle #6 by Whit Taylor (Radiator Comics)
- Girls Gone Wild by Katie Lane (2dcloud)
- Utzy and Dusty by Josh Bayer (Domino Books)
- Winner: Zoo #5 by Anand Shenoy (Self-Published)
OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC NOVEL
- Black Arms to Hold You Up by Ben Passmore (Pantheon Books)
- Winner: Cannon by Lee Lai (Drawn &Quarterly/Giramondo Publishing)
- Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters and Me by Mimi Pond (Drawn & Quarterly)
- More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey (Top Shelf Productions)
- The Weight by Melissa Mendes (Drawn & Quarterly)
OUTSTANDING MINICOMIC
- If She Was Beholden, Could She Ever Be the Beholder? by Erika Rier (Self-Published)
- Secret Black Woman: American Virtues by Ingrid Pierre (Self-Published)
- To Bleed Stone Dry by R. D. “Reyookah” Yoon (Self-Published)
- Two Snakes by Suerynn Lee (Alright Editions)
- Winner: Uncoiling: A Japanese-American Family History by Yoko O.K. (Self-Published)
OUTSTANDING ONLINE COMIC
- Anywhere but Barbun by Sinan Demirer
- Appleguy & Beefwood by Cedar Van Tassel
- Winner: Blind Alley by Adam de Souza
- I Thought I Heard Your Voice Just Then by Hagai Palevsky and Justin LaGuff
- Island by Lucy Haslam
OUTSTANDING SERIES
- Coin-Op No. 10: Wet Cement by Peter and Maria Hoey (Coin-Op Books)
- Fizzle #6 by Whit Taylor (Radiator Comics)
- Hacienda by Dave Ortega (Self-Published)
- My Pockets are Juicy! by Lonnie Milsap (Self-Published)
- Winner: Wedding Juice and Other Melodramas by Sanika Phawde (Self-Published)
OUTSTANDING STORY
- Before We Wake by Sophia Glock (Little, Brown Ink)
- Winner: Drome by Jesse Lonergan (23rd Street)
- Mudhouse by Glynnis Fawkes (Paper Rocket Minicomics)
- Suicidals by Michael R. Barton (Self-Published)
- While We Wait by Sorina Vazelina (Self-Published)
PROMISING NEW TALENT:
- Winner: A Scientific Study Of Transsexuality by Oscar Woodiwiss (Fieldmouse Press)
- Creamthing In His Golden Year by Sam Hensley (Self-Published)
- Electric Cowboy by Ansel Kite (Silver Sprocket)
- The Witch’s Egg by Donya Todd (Avery Hill Publishing)
- Upwards Incursion by Padraig Campbell (Driftwood Press)
One thought on “Carol Tyler, Lee Lai, Jesse Lonergan + more win at the 2026 Ignatz Awards”