Category: Awards

Nominees announced for the 33rd GLAAD Media Awards

Nominees include ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ ‘Wynd,’ ‘Superman: Son of Kal-El,’ ‘The Secret to Superhuman Strength’ and more.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, have announced the nominees for their 33rd annual Media Awards, which recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBTQ+ community and the issues that affect their lives.

This year GLAAD doubled their recognition of the comic industry by expanding to two categories — one for comics books and one for graphic novels. DC led the pack with seven nominees across the two categories, followed by Marvel and Dark Horse with three each.

Doctor Aphra, the Marvel comic featuring the character from the Star Wars universe, won the comic book award two years ago and is nominated again this year. Last year Marvel’s Empyre event won the award. The graphic novel category is very competitive in its first year, featuring projects by Molly Ostertag, Alison Bechdel, Mariko Tamaki and more.

Here are the nominees in the two comics-focused categories:

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‘Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation’ wins the Hugo Award

Writer Damian Duffy and artist John Jennings adapted Octavia Butler’s dystopian novel into a graphic novel last year.

The graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower has won the Hugo Award for “Best Graphic Story or Comic.”

The book was adapted by writer Damian Duffy and artist John Jennings, and published by Abrams Books. The story is set in the year 2024 after unattended environmental and economic crises lead to social chaos. Lauren Olamina, a preacher’s daughter living in Los Angeles, sees a vision of the future and goes on to establish her own religion, Earthseed, and gathers a diverse community of believers.

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Paige Braddock receives the Mississippi Author Award

The author was honored for her essential collection of her long-running ‘Jane’s World’ comic strip, which wrapped up in 2018.

The Mississippi Library Association has awarded Jane’s World creator Paige Braddock with its Mississippi Authors Award for 2021, in the fiction category.

The award as presented to Braddock for the graphic novel collection Love Letters to Jane’s World, which was published by Oni Press. It collects “the most quintessentially Jane storylines from the strip’s early, middle and later years, and pairs them with ‘love letters’ and notes of appreciation from notable fans.”

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Winners announced for the 2021 Ringo Awards

The winners were announced in a ceremony that was livestreamed from the Baltimore Comic-Con this weekend.

The winners for the 2021 Ringo Awards were announced last night at the Baltimore Comic-Con, marking the fifth year for the awards program named for artist Mike Wieringo, who passed away in 2007.

Nominees were chosen by fans, along with a panel of judges that included retailer and online host Amy Dallen, Teaching Graphic Novels author Dr. Katie Monnin, podcaster/broadcast journalist John Siuntres, cartoonist Steenz and artist Brain Stelfreeze.

In addition the Ringos, a few other awards were presented during last night’s ceremony:

  • Artist Gene Ha was presented the Hero Initiative’s Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award.
  • Marvel’s Joe Quesada received the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • The Mike Wieringo Spirit Award, which is voted on by the professional jury as well as three additional, perennial jurors: Matt Wieringo, Todd Dezago, and Mark Waid, went to Folklords by Matt Kindt and Matt Smith.

You can find the replay of the event’s livestream on YouTube. The rest of the winners are:

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Ray Billingsley wins the Reuben Award

The creator of the comic strip ‘Curtis’ is the first African-American cartoonist to win the Reuben Award.

Ray Billingsley, creator of the long-running comic strip Curtis, has won the 2021 Reuben Award. He’s the first Black man to win the award since it was first established in the 1940s.

“This has been a huge step for me, and also a momentous step for the NCS because I’m the first Black guy to win the prestigious Reuben Award, and for that I’m very grateful,” Billingsley said in his acceptance speech. “This has been a very long journey, and I have literally lived my life on a deadline.”

Billingsley started his career drawing for KIDS Magazine when he was 12. After college and an internship with Disney, he went on to work on the nationally syndicated strip Lookin’ Fine, which ran from 1980 to 1982. He has also worked in animation, advertising and for various magazines and greeting card companies. Curtis launched in 1988 at King Feature Syndicate and is still published today. You can read it on the Comic Kingdom website.

You can watch the announcement of Billingsley’s win below, which includes his acceptance speech:

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Walt Simonson, Jared Cullum win 2021 NCS Divisional Awards

French cartoonist Boulet received the Sergio Aragones International Award for Excellence in Comic Art.

This weekend is NCS Fest, the annual event hosted by the National Cartoonists Society that includes, among other activities, the NCS Divisional Awards and the annual presentation of the Reuben Award.

This year’s event is being streamed online, and the NCS has interspersed some of the awards presentations throughout the stream. Yesterday Hellboy artist Duncan Fegredo presented the award for best comic book, which went to Walt Simonson’s Ragnarok: The Breaking of Helheim. The comic is published by IDW, which also publishes the other two nominees in the category, Usagi Yojimbo and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Jennika.

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‘The Magic Fish,’ ‘Lore Olympus’ and more win 2021 Harvey Awards

The awards were given out this year in conjunction with the New York Comic Con.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Harvey Awards, which were announced tonight in conjunction with the New York Comic Con.

The Harvey Awards were given out in the six categories they reintroduced in 2018, as chosen by a nominating committee of “diverse industry voices including creators, publishing professionals, retailers, educators and librarians.” The winners were chosen by creators and other industry professionals.

Check out all the winners below:

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‘The Legend of Auntie Po’ nominated for a National Book Award

Shing Yin Khor’s story of a girl who tells stories in a 19th century logging camp about ‘Auntie Po’ was nominated in the Young People’s Literature category.

The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor has been nominated for a 2021 National Book Award in the Young People’s Literature category.

The graphic novel, which was published by Penguin’s Kokila imprint in June, is about a girl who works at a logging camp in the late 19th century, where she tells stories about “Auntie Po,” a mythical lumberjack similar to Paul Bunyan. So the story combines historical fiction with magical realism.

“Khor ties this all together with some really solid cartooning, playing with panels and negative space, and sometimes adding a decorative touch that’s also part of the story,” our own Brigid Alverson said in a review of the graphic novel. “At the top of the page, we see tiny silhouettes of a character, say, running and slowing down as she approaches her house. The story is straightforward enough for middle-graders to enjoy but sophisticated enough to intrigue older readers as well.”

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CXC recognizes first recipients of the Tom Spurgeon Award

Mollie Slott, Orrin Evans and Kim Thompson were recognized for supporting cartoonists and enhancing the field ‘in a last and measurable way.’

Cartoon Crossroads Columbus has announced the honorees of the inaugural Tom Spurgeon Awards. Named after the CXC Executive Director and The Comics Reporter founder, who passed away in 2019, The Tom Spurgeon Award will be awarded to “someone who is not primarily a cartoonist and whose support of cartoonists and cartoon art enhanced the field in a lasting and measurable way.”

Lucy Shelton Caswell, CXC board member and the founding curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (who also has an award named after her), announced the recipients in a video:

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Lee Lai, Michael DeForge, Pa-Luis and more win 2021 Ignatz Awards

Annual awards typically presented at the Small Press Expo honor excellence in independent comics, graphic novels and minicomics.

The Small Press Expo, or SPX, has announced the winners for the 2021 Ignatz Awards.

The Ignatz Awards, which have been handed out since 1997, celebrate the outstanding achievements of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons. Named for the mouse that appears in the Krazy Kat comics by George Herriman, the logo changes each as a new artist draws the mouse and his weapon of choice, the brick. This year’s logo was created by Theo Stultz, last year’s winner in the “Most Promising Newcomer” category.

Nominees were determined by a jury that included Sunmi, Daniel Elkin and Nguyên Khôi Nguyễn. Anyone could register online to vote for the winners.

Congratulations to all the winners:

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‘X-Men,’ ‘The Magicians: New Class’ win at the 2021 Dragon Awards

Congratulations to this year’s winners.

The 2021 Dragon Awards were announced this past weekend during Dragon Con, recognizing science fiction and fantasy books, movies, video games and comics.

The awards, which have been presented annually since 2016, recognize comics in two categories — “Best Comic Book” and “Best Graphic Novel.” After a jury selected the nominees, the winners were selected in an open vote from the general public.

The winners are:

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Nominees announced for the 2021 Ignatz Awards

The annual Ignatz Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in independent comics and cartooning.

The Small Press Expo, or SPX, has announced the nominees for the 2021 Ignatz Awards.

The Ignatz Awards, which have been handed out since 1997, celebrate the outstanding achievements of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons. Named for the mouse that appears in the Krazy Kat comics by George Herriman, the logo changes each as a new artist draws the mouse and his weapon of choice, the brick. This year’s logo, seen above, is by Theo Stultz.

Nominees were determined by a jury that included Sunmi, Daniel Elkin and Nguyên Khôi Nguyễn. Anyone can vote on the winners, and SPX has said more details on the process will be shared soon.

Congratulations to all the nominees:

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