The Small Press Expo (SPX) has announced the 2023 nominees for the annual presentation of the Ignatz Awards, a celebration of outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning.

Voting for the Ignatz Awards is open to anybody on the SPX email lists and anyone requesting a ballot. There will be no in-person voting at the show, as voting for the prestigious Ignatz Awards is open to all fans of indie comics.

• Ballots will be emailed on Monday August 14 to everyone on SPX’s email lists.
• Voting ends on Friday September 8 at 5:00PM (EDT).

Ignatz Awards nominees are determined by a panel of comics professionals. This year’s team of jurors includes:

• Ellen Lindner
• Juniper Kim
• L. Nichols
• Ally Shwed
• Jason Little
• Kotaline Jones

The Ignatz Awards ceremony will be held at 9:30PM on Saturday September 9 in the White Oak Room of the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.

Congrats to all of the nominees and we wish them luck.

2023 IGNATZ NOMINEES

OUTSTANDING ARTIST

• Caroline Cash, PeePeePooPoo issue no. 420 (Silver Sprocket)
• Curt Merlo, That Distant Fire. (with J.R. Hughto, writer) (Black Eye Books)
• Benjamin Schipper, Joe Death and the Graven (Image, Dark Horse Comics)
• Olivia Stephens, Darlin’ and Her Other Names (self-published)
• Noah Van Sciver, Joseph Smith and the Mormons (Abrams Comic Arts)

OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY

• Cram Comics Issue no. 1, Andrew Alexander, ed. (Cram Books)
• Glaeolia, Emuh Ruh, ed. (Glacier Bay Books)
• Home: a comics anthology on belonging in Ireland today, Katherine Foyle, ed. (Dublin Comic Arts Festival)
• NOW no. 12, Eric Reynolds, ed. (Fantagraphics Books Inc.)
• Shades of Fear, Allison O’Toole & Ashanti Fortson, eds. (Balustrade Press)

OUTSTANDING COLLECTION

• Boodle Fight, Ashley Topacio (self-published)
• Cankor, Matthew Allison (self-published)
• Griz Grobus and the Tale of Azkon’s Heart, Simon Roy, Jess Pollard & Sergey Nazarov (self-published)
• Upside Dawn, Jason, (Fantagraphics Books Inc.)
• Who Will Make the Pancakes? Megan Kelso, (Fantagraphics Books Inc.)

OUTSTANDING COMIC

• Gordita: Built Like This, Daisy Ruiz (Black Josei Press)
• Lemon Yellow, Ciari Quilty-Harper (Kus!)
• Platonic Love, A ee mi (Paradise Systems)
• Forget Me Not. Gabriel Howell (Secret Acres)
• Live Rock Part 1: Aquarium Life (Issue #1), Ross Jackson (Secret Room Press)

OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC NOVEL

• Ducks, Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Mimosa, Archie Bongiovanni (Abrams ComicArts)
• Last Chance to Find Duke, Shang Zhang (PEOW)
• Nervosa, Hayley Gold (Street Noise Books)
• The Man in the McIntosh Suit, Rina Ayuyang (Drawn & Quarterly)

OUTSTANDING MINICOMIC

• Farewell, Joao Fazenda (self-published)
• Death Bloom, Yasmeen Abedifard (self-published)
• Sacred Grove, Celine Loup (self-published)
• Hares on the Mountain, Lee Dean & Salvador Aguilera (self-published)
• You’re the Center of Attention, Gina Wynbrandt (Kus!)

OUTSTANDING ONLINE COMIC

• Growing Up and Getting Out, Lonnie Comics
• The God of Arepo, Reimena Yee
• whale fall, Mara Ramirez
• Adversary, Blue Delliquanti
• Trans Classic Movies, Jett Allen

OUTSTANDING SERIES

• Fizzle no. 4, Whit Taylor (Radiator Comics)
• Maple Terrace no. 1, Noah Van Sciver (Uncivilized Books)
• Venomyths, Joshua Ray Stephens (self-published)
• Tales of Old Snake Creek, Drew Lerman (self-published)
• Viewotron Comics and Stories, Sam Sharpe & Peach S. Goodrich (Radiator Comics)

OUTSTANDING STORY

• Weeds, Kit Anderson (Parsifal Press)
• The Impatient Ms. S, Koyubi (self-published)
• I Owe It to My Parents to NOT Come Out, Richard Mercadi (self-published)
• Wash Day Diaries (chapter: “Ride or Die”), Jamila Rowser & Robyn Smith (Chronicle Books)
• Inversion, Lily Thu Fierro & Generoso Fierro (self-published)

PROMISING NEW TALENT:

• Grayson Bear, Pokey (Bred Press)
• Leo Fox, My Body Unspooling (self-published)
• Deb J.J. Lee, In Limbo (First Second)
• Richard Mercado, I Owe It to My Parents to NOT Come Out (self-published)
• Shanti Rai, Sennen (Avery Hill Publishing)