Meet the 2019 Ringo Awards Jury
The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill, and fun of comics. The awards will be presented on Saturday, October 19, 2019 as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con. The Ringo Awards is currently in the midst of the 2019 nomination process, which is inclusive of fans and comic book professionals alike. Please submit your nominations before voting closes at midnight on June 20, 2019.
An esteemed jury of comics professionals will participate in the nomination process, selecting favorite works in over 20 categories. The 2019 jury was chosen as a representative cross-section of the comic book industry, with members representing seasoned and venerated educators, retailers, press, and creators across numerous genres.
Dr. Christina Blanch cannot imagine a world without comic books. She owns and manages Aw Yeah Comics in beautiful downtown Muncie, Indiana where she also teaches using comic books as educational tools. Additionally, she writes comic books, most recently Tales from the Crypt and The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood. She attends comic conventions as a writer, educator, and panel moderator. When she isn’t working, she stays in her cozy home trying to write with constant interruptions from her two dogs, Luna and Poe.
Tim Lenaghan began working at Diamond Comic Distributors in 2010 after managing the Supplier Operations department for CSN Stores LLC, now Wayfair, a Boston based e-commerce company. He graduated from Connecticut College in 2005 and has BAs in both Philosophy and Classics. As a lifelong comic book enthusiast, Tim also contributed weekly reviews to IGN.com, and participated in Emerson College’s Graphic Novel Certificate program. Tim has been working closely with publishers and vendor clients for years while successfully overseeing the management of all categories of Diamond’s Purchasing Department since July of 2015.
Afua Richardson is an American comic book illustrator best known for her work in the Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series, Black Panther: World of Wakanda. Other works include Attack on Titan, and cover work for X-Men ’92, Captain Marvel, Captain America & the Mighty Avengers, and All-Star Batman. In addition to illustration, Afua is a musician, songwriter, and voice actor. She has been aptly called the Jane of all trades.
Bob Schreck is an award-winning editor who has worked in comics since 1975. His publishing career began at Comico in 1985. By 1991, he joined Dark Horse and was the editor of creator-owned titles and the Legend line, where he shepherded Frank Miller’s Sin Cityand Dark Horse Presents, among many others. In 1997, along with Joe Nozemack, he launched Oni Press, best known for Kevin Smith’s Clerks comics. In 1999, Schreck joined DC Comics, becoming Group Editor of the Batman franchise. He shepherded projects including, DK2, Batman: Hush, Sweet Tooth, Batman: Year 100, Daytripper, and Green Arrow. After working briefly at IDW, he landed at Legendary Films as Senior VP-Editor-in-Chief. He has served as the editor for such talents as Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison, Bernie Wrightson, Fiona Staples, Frank Miller, Jeff Lemire, Guillermo del Toro, Lynn Varley, Paul Pope, Len Wein, Amy Reeder, Dave Gibbons, Scott Morse, Grant Morrison, and many others. Currently, Schreck is semi-retired, doing freelance editing and consulting and living in Oregon with his husband, Randy, and their dog, Bandit.
Tom Spurgeon is a longtime comics industry journalist and the current Executive Director at the Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) festival. He was editor at The Comics Journal from 1994-1999 and has performed a similar function producing the commentary, criticism, and news web site The Comics Reporter from 2004 to present. He has won or shared in eight Eisner Awards for his editorial work and writing. Spurgeon has co-authored three books about comics: Stan Lee And The Rise And Fall Of The American Comic Book (Chicago Review Press, 2003), The Romita Legacy (Dynamite, 2010), and We Told You So: Comics As Art(Fantagraphics Books, 2016). He co-wrote the syndicated newspaper strip Wildwood for King Features from 1999-2002. Spurgeon has been Executive Director at CXC since 2015.
Check out all of the categories below:
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
- Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
- Best Writer
- Best Artist or Penciller
- Best Inker
- Best Letterer
- Best Colorist
- Best Cover Artist
- Best Series
- Best Single Issue or Story
- Best Original Graphic Novel
- Best Anthology
- Best Humor Comic
- Best Comic Strip or Panel
- Best Webcomic
- Best Non-fiction Comic Work
- Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel
- Best Presentation in Design
Jury-Only Nomination (with four bonus jurors) - The Mike Wieringo Spirit Award
Fan-Only Favorite Categories - Favorite Hero
- Favorite Villain
- Favorite New Series
- Favorite New Talent
- Favorite Publisher
Hero Initiative Award (selected by the Hero Initiative) - The Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award
- The Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award
The 2018 
Michael Cavna is a cartoonist and creator of The Washington Post’s Eisner-nominated 
Marty Grosser is the Editor of Diamond Comic Distributors’ 
Karla Marsh-Southern is the Event and Exhibitor Coordinator for 
Rob Stull is an accomplished illustrator, curator, teacher, penciler, inker, designer, and creator of comic books. In addition to working through his own studio, Ink on Paper, he has worked over two decades for every major publisher in the industry, including Marvel and DC Comics, where his projects include: Spider-Man Adventures, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Iron Man, X-Force, Wolverine, Nightwing, 52, Firestorm, and more. He was a member of the original Tellos creative team with Todd Dezago, Mike Wieringo, and Paul Mounts, and inked Mike’s pencils on the initial series run published by Image Comics. He also inked the covers for the Mike Wieringo Tellos Tribute books and drew a chapter in Volume 1. He created and curated Sequential Art: The Next Step, a 10-year traveling exhibition spotlighting the work of African American comic book artists and their contributions to the industry and popular culture, and his work has been exhibited in galleries throughout the United States. He is featured in the ground-breaking books Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art and Culture and The History of American Graffiti. “I have always believed that all art is relative,” says Stull. “Sequential Art is a storytelling medium, but most visual art is telling a story of some kind.”
Gus Vazquez is an illustrator who has worked in nearly every field, including comic books, trading cards, storyboarding for music videos, commercials, animation and film, logo design, character and toy design, and more. He started his career in comic books working as an assistant to comic book artists Adam Pollina on X-Force, and Kevin McGuire on Trinity Angels. He got his first solo gig at Marvel Comics drawing the covers and interiors for Sunfire and Big Hero 6, the series that introduced the characters featured in Disney’s Oscar winning Big Hero 6. He has worked on such Marvel titles as Deadpool, X-Force, Spider-Man, What If? Civil War, What If? Back in Black, The Official Handbook if the Marvel Universe, and more. For DC, he has worked on such titles as Green Lantern, JLA, Blue Beetle, and most recently on Flash, Suicide Squad, and Green Arrow. Gus was the artist on several issues of Claudio Sanchez’s (of rock music group Coheed and Cambria) The Amory Wars, and was instrumental in helping bring together the creative team of his friends, David Atchison (writer) and Tony Shasteen (illustrator), and his niece, film and TV actress Rosario Dawson on 12 Gauge’s The O.C.T. Currently, Gus has been working for DC Comics on The Sasquatch Detective, a backup story which can be found in the pages of Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, as well as DMC(Daryl Makes Comics) and on La Borinqueña. He is also working on his creator-owned book, Fang.
The 2017 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards will be presented on the evening of Saturday, September 23, 2017 as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con. A limited number of tickets are now available for purchase by the public.
David is a cartoonist and children’s book illustrator who began his career in 2004 with the release of Voices, a self-published anthology from ComiXpress. Possessing a distinctive art style reminiscent of A.A. Milne (creator of Winnie the Pooh), Petersen has worked on such comics as The Dark Crystal, Snowy Valentine, and Muppets & Fairytales from Archaia, as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series from IDW. His artwork also graced the cover for the 2012 Baltimore Comic-Con program, as well as the show-exclusive t-shirt.
