The Sweetest Comic Con on Earth, the Hershey Comic Con, will host the annual Inkwell Awards ceremony, set to take place today July 19th, 2025. This will be their second hosted show for the non-profit organization following the pandemic. In advance of that, Inkwell founder and director Bob Almond is announcing three new ambassadors as the 17th season comes to a close: fan-favorite writer Gail Simone, modern master Dan Panosian, and the multi-talented Bill Morrison.
In the announcement, Almond stated:
We try to invite the high profile, all around great talents in our community to join our prestigious roster. Many think this role would include all ink artists or artists in general when in fact that’s not the case. We want to display solidarity for the mission of promoting and educating about the artform and its artists, from all talents and skill sets, not just the converted. Their recognition, reputation and endorsement help the Inkwell with exposure, credibility and, ultimately, fundraising, their lifeblood.
Gail Simone is a writer best known for her work in comics on DC’s Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Dynamite Entertainment’s Red Sonja, and for being the longest running female writer on Wonder Woman to date. She enjoyed a long-running stint on The Simpsons comics and has also written for television and video games. Orbit Books published her debut novel Red Sonja: Consumed in 2024. That same year, Simone was announced as the first solo female writer for Uncanny X-Men. In April 2025, it was announced that she will write a Rebel Moon prequel series for Titan Comics, featuring the film’s cyborg sword master, Nemesis. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards, including the GLAAD Media Award, and she is the recipient of an Inkpot Award in 2017.
Dan Panosian is a comic book artist with extensive credits as both a penciller and an inker as well as additional credits as an advertising and storyboard artist. Circa 1990, he was working for Continuity Studios and Marvel Comics and became a prolific inker on the X-Men line of titles, among others. He was offered and took on work from Image Comics after they established themselves. Since then, he has focused on more solo interior rendering with his pencils, inks and colors, including as a cover artist and has expanded to more concept developing and writing. Panosian has also done work for Dark Horse Comics, Boom! Studios, and Dynamite Entertainment. He illustrated a series of graphic novels for Le Lombard called John Tiffany. For the Inkwells, he designed their treasured logo in late 2007 and has acted as Keynote Speaker for their first live awards ceremony at Heroes Con 2011 and was brought back to act as Presenter for their last hosted ceremony there in 2018.
Bill Morrison has spent his career as an artist and writer working with the most iconic characters in popular culture, including Mickey Mouse, The Simpsons, Alfred E. Neuman, and The Beatles. Morrison began his career painting movie posters, including many for Walt Disney, such as The Little Mermaid, Bambi, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book. Bill has also spent several years drawing The Simpsons for all kinds of merchandise, and writing, drawing and editing The Simpsons and Futurama comics and books for Bongo Entertainment. He was also Art Director on the Futurama TV series and character artist on the Netflix series Disenchantment. In recent years, Morrison wrote and drew a graphic novel adaptation of The Beatles Yellow Submarine, and was Editor-in-Chief of MAD Magazine. Morrison currently operates a bustling freelance studio and teaches classes in various aspects of animation and comic book art at his alma mater, the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
These new ambassador creators are the first to be added to the lineup since Dan DiDio in 2022. Their full full statements can be found at the Inkwell Awards site’s Ambassadors page. Public voting took place last spring March 23 until April 6. The awards ceremony at Hershey Comic Con will take place Saturday, July 19 from 6-8pm at the Great American Grill with various show guests in attendance. Hosted by promoter Joe Figured, it will be MC’d by Almond with the multi-award-winning artist/teacher Scott Hanna acting as Presenter of the ballot award categories and Mark Sinnott acting as Presenter of the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Awards after his late father, Joltin’ Joe Sinnott. There will also be a live, surprise guest to speak on one of the Hall of Fame recipients and a surprise, honorary award announced for a living legend as well as a 15th anniversary celebration of the non-profit’s spokesmodel character, Ms. Inkwell, with all three active spokesmodels in attendance.
The Inkwell Awards is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and educate regarding the art form of comic-book inking, as well as annually recognize the best ink artists and their work. Established in 2008, the Inkwells are overseen by a volunteer committee of industry professionals and assisted by various professional ambassadors and contributors. They sponsor the Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Fund for the Kubert School and host the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award. Their annual awards ceremony host is the Hershey Comic Con since 2024.
