The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill, and fun of comics. The awards return for their ninth year on Saturday, September 26, 2026 as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, Baltimore Comic-Con.
Unlike other professional industry awards, the Ringo Awards include fan participation in the nomination process along with an esteemed jury of comics professionals.
More than 20 categories will be celebrated with top honors being given at the awards ceremony in October.
Fan and Pro Nominations
Fan and pro-jury voting are tallied independently, and the combined nomination ballot is compiled by the Ringo Awards Committee. The top two fan choices become nominees, and the jury’s selections fill the remaining three slots for five total nominees per category. Ties may result in more than five nominees in a single category. Nominees will be listed on the ballot alphabetically. Nomination ballot voting is open to the public (fans and pros) between March 13, 2026 and May 28, 2026.
Final Ballot Voting
After processing by the Ringo Awards Committee and Jury, the Final Ballots are targeted to be available to comic creative professionals for voting on July 29, 2026 and will be due by August 26, 2026 for final tallying. Presentation of the winners will occur at the Baltimore Comic-Con on the evening of Saturday, September 26, 2026.
Nomination Eligibility
Eligibility for creators and creative works is determined by publication in the preceding calendar year (January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025) – print publication date takes precedence over electronic publication date. For electronic works, the date of publication is time-stamped with most publications and at least 3 episodes/installments of continuing works must have appeared during the eligibility period.
Updated Categories
New in 2026, we have mad a number of updates based on juror, publisher, and voter submissions:
Best Single Issue or Story is renamed Best Short Story
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel is now divided into subcategories for Ages 11 and Under and Ages 12 and Up
Added the Best Comics-Related Publication category, recognizing outstanding non-comic works that explore, analyze, or document the art, history, and/or culture of comics
These updates reflect clarity of category intent, rationalizes the dichotomy between early reader and young adult titles within the kids’ category, and supports publications found at your local comic shop or bookseller about comics but not presented as a comic.
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
Best Writer
Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team
Best Letterer
Best Colorist
Best Cover Artist
Best Series
Best Short Story
Best Original Graphic Novel
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel — Ages 11 and Under
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel — Ages 12 and Up
Best Anthology
Best Humor Comic
Best Webcomic
Best Humor Webcomic
Best Non-fiction Comic Work
Best Comics-Related Publication
Best Presentation in Design
Perennial Jury-Only Nomination
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 Ringo Awards nomination features the participation a jury as well as the voting public. Fans and comic book professionals alike showed strong support in promoting the voting process on their websites and social media feeds.
Voting on the 2025 Final Ballot was restricted to comic book industry creative community — anyone involved in and credited with creating comics professionally.
Stan Sakai was recipient of this year’s Dick Giordano Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Spirit Award was awarded to Welcome to Maynard by written by James Robinson, art by J. Bone, color by Ian Herring, lettering by Jim Campbell, and published by Dark Horse.
Kevin Nowlan received the The Lifetime Achievement Award.
The winners below are marked in bold with “winner” noted and you can watch the event. Congrats to everyone!
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Best Cartoonist (Writer and Artist)
Arechan
Megan Grey
Patrick Horvath
Mikaël
Eric Powell – WINNER
Best Writer
Jason Douglas
Tom King
Oscar Osorio
Scott Snyder
Kelly Thompson – WINNER
James Tynion IV
David F. Walker
Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team
Bilquis Evely
Kate Flynn
Daniel HDR
Eduardo Risso
Chris Samnee – WINNER
Best Letterer
Aditya Bidikar
Clayton Cowles
Amal Desai
DC Hopkins
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Richard Starkings – WINNER
Best Colorist
Michael Adams
Jordie Bellaire – WINNER
Lee Loughridge
Sabine Rich
Dave Stewart
Best Cover Artist
Oliver Barrett
Evan Cagle
Francine Delgado
Bilquis Evely – WINNER
Francesca Fantini
Greg Smallwood
Best Series
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, IDW Publishing
The Blood Brothers Mother, DSTLRY
Helen of Wyndhorn, Dark Horse Comics
Masters of the Universe: Revolution, Dark Horse Comics
The Pedestrian, Magma Comix – WINNER
Best Single Issue or Story
Batman and Robin Year One #1, DC Comics – WINNER
“A Blue Flame” in Second Hand Love, Drawn & Quarterly
The Crying Boy, Keenspot Entertainment
Death Ratio’d, AWA Studios
FML #1, Dark Horse Comics
Helen of Wyndhorn, Dark Horse Comics
Navigating with You, Maverick
A Never-Ending Adventure, Oscar Osorio
Trinity Special: World’s Finest #1, DC Comics
Best Original Graphic Novel
Big Jim and the White Boy, Ten Speed Graphic
The Deep Dark, Scholastic/Graphix
ERASED: An Actor of Color’s Journey Through the Heyday of Hollywood, NBM Grpahic Novels
Homestead, Source Point Press
Jane American, self-published – WINNER
Best Anthology
DC Power 2024, DC Comics
EC Cruel Universe, Oni Press
Hello Darkness, BOOM! Studios
The Savage Sword of Conan, Titan Comics
Tales from the New World, Oscar Osorio
Transphoria, Lifeline Comics – WINNER
Best Humor Comic
Action Philosophers: Omnipotence for Dummies, Rocketship Entertainment
Archie: The Decision, Archie Comics
Forces of Nature, Drawn & Quarterly
Kids Are Still Weird: And More Observations from Parenthood, NBM Graphic Novels
Smut #1, self-published – WINNER
Space Circus, Dark Horse Comics
Best Webcomic
The Croaking, WEBTOON Entertainment
Daughter of a Thousand Faces, Tapas Entertainment
The Mafia Nanny, WEBTOON Entertainment
Novae, WEBTOON Entertainment
Renaissance of Raven, DC Go!/DC Comics – WINNER
Under the Oak Tree, Manta
Vampire Family, WEBTOON Entertainment
Best Humor Webcomic
Dealing with Demons, Manta
Harley Quinn in Paradise, DC Go!/DC Comics
High Class Homos, WEBTOON Entertainment
Nothing Butt Nightwing, DC Go!/DC Comics – WINNER
Rosebuds, Comics Kingdom
Wanna Be Friends?, WEBTOON Entertainment
Best Non-fiction Comic Work
Adrift on a Painted Sea, Avery Hill
Brittle Joints, Street Noise Books
Djuna, Street Noise Books
Feeding Ghosts, MCD
In the Shadows of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones, Oni Press – WINNER
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel
Double Booking, Papercutz/Mad Cave Studios
Dudley Datson and the Forever Machine, Dark Horse Comics
Hilda and Twig Hide from the Rain, Flying Eye Books – WINNER
The Legend of Tiger and Tail-Flower, Levine Querido
The New Girl, Scholastic/Graphix
Night Stories, Astra Books for Young Readers
ZOR, Keenspot Entertainment
Best Presentation in Design
Coins of Judas, Orange Cone Productions/Band of Bards
David Mazzucchelli’s Batman Year One Artist’s Edition, IDW Publishing – WINNER
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff and Bram Stoker’s Dracula starring Bela Lugosi Casket Edition, Rocketship Entertainment
One Bite at a Time: The First 20 Years of Elephant Eater Comics, Elephant Eater Comics
Scott Pilgrim 20th Anniversary Hardcover Box Set, Oni Press
Warm Fusion, DSTLRY
Fan Favorite Awards
Fan Favorite Villain – Mister Barnaby – Warn Fusion (DSTLRY)
Fan Favorite Hero – Alex – Senorita Cometa (Webtoons Entertainment)
Fan Favorite New Series – The Pedestrian (Magma Comix)
Fan Favorite New Talent – Annie Wright – Jane American
The 2025 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards will be presented at the Ringo Awards Banquet and Ceremony in conjunction with the 2025 Baltimore Comic-Con. A limited number of tickets are available to the public to attend the Banquet and Award Ceremony and spend a fun evening, share a drink, and enjoy a meal with the comic book professional community. This is a unique opportunity to meet and network with industry creators, publishers, and professionals.
Ringo Awards tickets include a full cocktail hour (cash bar), a full service dinner (featuring a Baltimore crab cake), the awards ceremony, and a gift bag, and are now available for $154.48. You can purchase a ticket now.
The Ringo Awards Committee has announced the addition of industry veteran executive Mike Pellerito to the 2025 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards ceremony as the Keynote Address speaker!
Mike Pellerito is currently the President and Editor in Chief of Archie Comics. During his tenure at Archie, he has held several varied roles across the company, including expanding Archie’s distribution in the direct, bookstore, newsstand, and digital markets. His most notable achievement is leading the editorial team in a bold revitalization of the Archie universe. The massive project boasted Archie by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, Betty & Veronica by Adam Hughes, and Jughead by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson, Ryan North, and Derek Charm. Pellerito was also a producer of the live-action movie The Archies from Netflix and instrumental in the deal for the upcoming live-action Archie movie from Universal, written by Tom King with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directing. Additionally, he is a co-owner of Aw Yeah Comics in Harrison, New York, chosen as “Best Comic Shop” by the prestigious Best of Westchester magazine.
The Ringo Awards are thrilled to announce the 2025 nominees. The nomination process was completed with the participation of our esteemed 2025 jury as well as the voting public. Fans and comic book professionals alike showed strong support in promoting the voting process on their websites and social media feeds.
Voting on the 2025 Final Ballot is restricted to comic book industry creative community — anyone involved in and credited with creating comics professionally.
We now present the 2025 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards Final Ballot. Congrats to all of the nominees and good luck!
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Best Cartoonist (Writer and Artist)
Arechan
Megan Grey
Patrick Horvath
Mikaël
Eric Powell
Best Writer
Jason Douglas
Tom King
Oscar Osorio
Scott Snyder
Kelly Thompson
James Tynion IV
David F. Walker
Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team
Bilquis Evely
Kate Flynn
Daniel HDR
Eduardo Risso
Chris Samnee
Best Letterer
Aditya Bidikar
Clayton Cowles
Amal Desai
DC Hopkins
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Richard Starkings
Best Colorist
Michael Adams
Jordie Bellaire
Lee Loughridge
Sabine Rich
Dave Stewart
Best Cover Artist
Oliver Barrett
Evan Cagle
Francine Delgado
Bilquis Evely
Francesca Fantini
Greg Smallwood
Best Series
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, IDW Publishing
The Blood Brothers Mother, DSTLRY
Helen of Wyndhorn, Dark Horse Comics
Masters of the Universe: Revolution, Dark Horse Comics
The Pedestrian, Magma Comix
Best Single Issue or Story
Batman and Robin Year One #1, DC Comics
“A Blue Flame” in Second Hand Love, Drawn & Quarterly
The Crying Boy, Keenspot Entertainment
Death Ratio’d, AWA Studios
FML #1, Dark Horse Comics
Helen of Wyndhorn, Dark Horse Comics
Navigating with You, Maverick
A Never-Ending Adventure, Oscar Osorio
Trinity Special: World’s Finest #1, DC Comics
Best Original Graphic Novel
Big Jim and the White Boy, Ten Speed Graphic
The Deep Dark, Scholastic/Graphix
ERASED: An Actor of Color’s Journey Through the Heyday of Hollywood, NBM Grpahic Novels
Homestead, Source Point Press
Jane American, self-published
Best Anthology
DC Power 2024, DC Comics
EC Cruel Universe, Oni Press
Hello Darkness, BOOM! Studios
The Savage Sword of Conan, Titan Comics
Tales from the New World, Oscar Osorio
Transphoria, Lifeline Comics
Best Humor Comic
Action Philosophers: Omnipotence for Dummies, Rocketship Entertainment
Archie: The Decision, Archie Comics
Forces of Nature, Drawn & Quarterly
Kids Are Still Weird: And More Observations from Parenthood, NBM Graphic Novels
Smut #1, self-published
Space Circus, Dark Horse Comics
Best Webcomic
The Croaking, WEBTOON Entertainment
Daughter of a Thousand Faces, Tapas Entertainment
The Mafia Nanny, WEBTOON Entertainment
Novae, WEBTOON Entertainment
Renaissance of Raven, DC Go!/DC Comics
Under the Oak Tree, Manta
Vampire Family, WEBTOON Entertainment
Best Humor Webcomic
Dealing with Demons, Manta
Harley Quinn in Paradise, DC Go!/DC Comics
High Class Homos, WEBTOON Entertainment
Nothing Butt Nightwing, DC Go!/DC Comics
Rosebuds, Comics Kingdom
Wanna Be Friends?, WEBTOON Entertainment
Best Non-fiction Comic Work
Adrift on a Painted Sea, Avery Hill
Brittle Joints, Street Noise Books
Djuna, Street Noise Books
Feeding Ghosts, MCD
In the Shadows of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones, Oni Press
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel
Double Booking, Papercutz/Mad Cave Studios
Dudley Datson and the Forever Machine, Dark Horse Comics
Hilda and Twig Hide from the Rain, Flying Eye Books
The Legend of Tiger and Tail-Flower, Levine Querido
The New Girl, Scholastic/Graphix
Night Stories, Astra Books for Young Readers
ZOR, Keenspot Entertainment
Best Presentation in Design
Coins of Judas, Orange Cone Productions/Band of Bards
David Mazzucchelli’s Batman Year One Artist’s Edition, IDW Publishing
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff and Bram Stoker’s Dracula starring Bela Lugosi Casket Edition, Rocketship Entertainment
One Bite at a Time: The First 20 Years of Elephant Eater Comics, Elephant Eater Comics
Scott Pilgrim 20th Anniversary Hardcover Box Set, Oni Press
Warm Fusion, DSTLRY
In addition to Final Ballot categories, both Fan-Only Favorites from the nomination ballot and Hero Initiative Awards (The Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award and The Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award) will be presented at the Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards ceremony the evening of October 18, 2025.
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 18, 2025 as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con. The Ringo Awards is currently in the midst of the 2025 nomination process, which is inclusive of fans and comic book professionals alike. Submit your nominations before voting closes at midnight on June 19, 2025.
An esteemed jury of comics professionals will participate in the nomination process, selecting favorite works in over 20 categories. The 2025 jury was chosen as a representative cross-section of the comic book industry, with members representing seasoned and venerated retailers, educators, and creators across numerous genres.
Becky Cloonan began her career making minicomics as part of the Meathaus collective. Since then, she’s gone on to write and draw on titles like Dark Agnes, Conan the Barbarian, The Punisher, True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, Gotham Academy, Detective Comics, and Batman, and working on creator-owned books like Southern Cross and the critically acclaimed collection of short stories, By Chance or Providence. When she’s not making comics, she illustrates album art, and gig and movie posters for My Chemical Romance, Black Sabbath, Adult Swim, and Mondo. She enjoys old movies, true crime podcasts, and still tries to self-publish new minicomics when she can. Becky currently lives in Portland with her partner Michael, two weird cats, and a couple dozen plants.
Steve Leaf started reading comics in 1959 with his first comic book, Adventure Comics #264, along with his first movie, Hercules Unchained.
Influenced by Jack Davis having attended the University of Georgia and being a Dawgs fan, he attended the school for an art degree, eventually getting a Bachelor of Visual Art from Georgia State University. While he never had the opportunity to attend, he did get to interview and was accepted for the inaugural class of the Joe Kubert School.
Steve was part of the local Atlanta comics club that put together the first Atlanta Comics and Fantasy Fair, bringing in Stan Lee as a guest for their first convention in 1974, which had dealers like Steve Geppi and Chuck Rozanski among the local comic collection dealers. In those early days, he helped bring the direct market to the area, selling new comics from Phil Seuling’s Seagate Distribution at The Book Nook in Atlanta. He continued working on conventions with The Atlanta Mini Comic Con in 1977 and then expanded shows, including creators during the run of the show like Mike Grell, Bill Sienkiewicz, Mike Kaluta, Paul Gulacy, Bob McCloud, John Beatty, Steve Oliff, Dave Sim, and George Perez (who became a good friend and attended his son Scott’s bar mitzvah and did drawings for everyone).
After years at the Book Nook, Steve became the buyer for comics and pop culture product for a regional distributor, Southern Fantasies, that became CIB and Associates and, in 1995, was purchased by Diamond Comic Distributors. As an opening in their purchasing department was not available, Steve was in the customer service department in those days, which included the Heroes World purchase by Marvel and the subsequent exclusive arrangements between distributors and publishers. This led to warehouse consolidation and moved CS to the home office where he ran the southeastern CS team as he moved to Baltimore. When the opportunity arose, he became part of the purchasing team and eventually the assistant manager working with publishers like Dark Horse, IDW (their first brand manager), Wizard Magazine, Archie Comics, Crossgen, Slave Labor Graphics, AC Comics, Abstract Studios, Zenescope Entertainment, and numerous publishers from small indie to Premiere over his 30+ years with Diamond.
Having been an Eisner judge, he is looking forward to seeing all the items up for consideration this year.
A longtime comics pro, Mark Morales has worked for many companies, including Image, Dark Horse, Chaos, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics, mostly as an inker. Past projects from Mark include Thor, Daredevil, Batman, X-Men, Avengers vs. X-Men, Spider-Man/Deadpool, and Astonishing X-Men. Currently, he is working on Weapon X-Men from Marvel Comics.
Whether it’s creating new characters or reinventing older ones, Amy Reeder is here to remind us that great characters are what keep us hooked on comics. Her cover work spans many of the DC and Marvel characters we all love, but she’s especially known for her interior work on titles like Madame Xanadu, Batwoman, Amethyst, and Wonder Woman. Amy co-created Rocket Girl through Image Comics, as well as Moon Girl from Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur–who now stars in her own cartoon on Disney! These days, Amy tends to write what she draws, which includes her recent work on DC’s Amethyst. Currently, she’s working on an unannounced romance graphic novel, while balancing cover gigs for the Big Two.
Born in Rockford, Illinois, raised in Memphis, Tennessee, matriculated in Tacoma, Washington, and broadcasting live from Los Angeles, California, Hannibal Tabu is a writer, a brother, a misanthrope, a son, an emcee, an uncle, a poet, a father, a designer, a nephew, a romantic, a storyteller, and by God, a fan.
He spent more than twenty years doing the journalist thing for Vibe, Slave Trade, MTV Online, The Los Angeles Wave Newspaper, Rap Pages, America Online, the Los Angeles Sentinel, the now-defunct Spinner Rack website, Speak, and The Source.
Hannibal has worked as a web designer/producer and graphic artist for American Honda, eHobbies.com, Quicken.com, L.A. Care Health Plan, the now-defunct DVD Express, the California Association of REALTORS, Disney Channel, NextPlanetOver.com, Toyota Motor Sales, Kaiser Permanente, California Bank & Trust, and many more.
As a poet, Hannibal has been published in The Drumming Between Us, (sic) Vice Verse, Drumvoices Review, Voices From Leimert Park, and other anthologies, as well as being author of the collection Born Beneath an Angry Star and co-author of Flight Manual.
In terms of prose fiction, he’s written short stories for Stranger Comics and The Operative Network and the novels The Crown: Ascension and Faraway (both available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Smashwords), plus the upcoming sci-fi political thriller Rogue Nation.
From 2003 to 2022, Hannibal did comic book reviews under the banner The Buy Pile, which was also syndicated on the iHeartRadio podcast Nerd-O-Rama with Mo and Tawala. Hannibal was also the Head Comics Reviewer at one of the comics’ industries leading online outlets, Bleeding Cool, and is still a regular panelist and moderator at comics conventions, including multiple appearances in multiple years at San Diego’s Comic-Con International.
Hannibal was the winner of the 2012 Top Cow Talent Hunt, writer of New Money for Canon Comics, Waso: Will To Power for Stranger Comics, four issues of Project: Wildfire for Legends Press, three issues of Menthu for Hometown Studios, and co-writer of an issue of Watson & Holmes (alongside 2 Guns writer Steven Grant) for New Paradigm Studios. In 2015, he wrote the Aspen Sourcebooks for the makers of Fathom, Soulfire, and Executive Assistant Iris.
Hannibal was the winner of the 2018-2019 Cultural Trailblazer award from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
For six years, he was the editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch group of newspapers, is currently the co-owner and editor-in-chief of the Black geek channel Komplicated at the Good Men Project.
In 2023, Hannibal entered the world of table top role playing games (TTRPG) with The Sundering: The Nation Beneath Our Feet, a book created with actor Damion Poitier that achieved 453% funding on Kickstarter to the tune of over $54,000. He has since been running paid Dungeons & Dragons games set in his fictional world and working on a sequel. With accolades from Eberron creator Keith Baker, legendary actor Phil LaMarr, and Critical Role cast member Taliesin Jaffe, the DND community has embraced Hannibal’s efforts in this regard.
Hannibal uses this website to publish his poetry, market what he’s doing, rant at the world, and emit strangled cries for help.
In addition to all that, Hannibal collects comic books, has scores of action figures, DJs private parties, is a Mac OS zealot, sings and sometimes even hosts karaoke, practices a form of spirituality based on ancient Egyptian belief, and goes to bed every day secretly hoping that half the world will commit suicide in his honor.
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
Best Writer
Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team
Best Letterer
Best Colorist
Best Cover Artist
Best Series
Best Single Issue or Story
Best Original Graphic Novel
Best Anthology
Best Humor Comic
Best Webcomic
Best Humor Webcomic
Best Non-fiction Comic Work
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel
Best Presentation in Design
Perennial Jury-Only Nomination
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 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill, and fun of comics. The awards return for their ninth year on Saturday, October 18, 2025 as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, the Baltimore Comic-Con.
Unlike other professional industry awards, the Ringo Awards include fan participation in the nomination process along with an esteemed jury of comics professionals.
More than 20 categories will be celebrated with top honors being given at the awards ceremony in October.
Fan and Pro Nominations
Fan and pro-jury voting are tallied independently, and the combined nomination ballot is compiled by the Ringo Awards Committee. The top two fan choices become nominees, and the jury’s selections fill the remaining three slots for five total nominees per category. Ties may result in more than five nominees in a single category. Nominees will be listed on the ballot alphabetically. Nomination ballot voting is open to the public (fans and pros) between April 4, 2025 and June 19, 2025.
Final Ballot Voting
After processing by the Ringo Awards Committee and Jury, the Final Ballots are targeted to be available to comic creative professionals for voting on August 20, 2025 and will be due by September 17, 2025 for final tallying. Presentation of the winners will occur at the Baltimore Comic-Con on the evening of Saturday, October 18, 2025.
Nomination Eligibility
Eligibility for creators and creative works is determined by publication in the preceding calendar year (January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024) – print publication date takes precedence over electronic publication date. For electronic works, the date of publication is time-stamped with most publications and at least 3 episodes/installments of continuing works must have appeared during the eligibility period.
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
Best Writer
Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team
Best Letterer
Best Colorist
Best Cover Artist
Best Series
Best Single Issue or Story
Best Original Graphic Novel
Best Anthology
Best Humor Comic
Best Webcomic
Best Humor Webcomic
Best Non-fiction Comic Work
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel
Best Presentation in Design
Perennial Jury-Only Nomination
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
Publisher Submissions
Publishers wishing to submit works for review by the Ringo Jurors can submit up to five submissions per “Fan and Pro Nomination” category that they feel are worthy of consideration. To participate in this process, publishers are asked to have a single representative send an email to contact@ringoawards.com for information on how to send in your submission.
During the Baltimore Comic Con, taking place this weekend, the winners of the the 2024 Ringo awards was announced. The ceremony took place Saturday night. The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill and fun of comics.
Congrats to all of the nominees and winners of this year’s awards. The winners are marked in bold with “winner” next to their entry.
The 2024 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards will be presented at the Ringo Awards Banquet and Ceremony in conjunction with the 2024 Baltimore Comic-Con. A limited number of tickets are available to the public to attend the Banquet and Award Ceremony and spend a fun evening, share a drink, and enjoy a meal with the comic book professional community. This is a unique opportunity to meet and network with industry creators, publishers, and professionals.
The Ringo Awards Committee has announced the addition of industry veteran executive Filip Sablik to the 2024 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards ceremony as the Keynote Address speaker!
Filip Sablik is a publishing industry executive with nearly 25 years experience in distribution, editorial, marketing, sales, business development, and operations as well as occasional comic writer and artist. With prior stints at Diamond Comic Distributors and Top Cow, Sablik was most recently BOOM! Studios’ President of Publishing and Marketing for 12 years. Sablik was a central member of the leadership team that grew BOOM! Studios to one of the preeminent publishers in the space leading up to its acquisition by Random House Publishing Group, quadrupling the publisher’s annual revenue and tripling its market share during his tenure. Sablik was also instrumental in building multiple comic book franchises including BRZRKR, Something Is Killing The Children, and Lumberjanes; developing and overseeing the company’s direct-to-consumer BOOM! Direct Reserve program; and developing and running the company’s industry-leading and award-winning retail partner support programs. News recently broke that he’ll be part of a team launching a new comic publishing venture that will see its first release in 2025.
The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill, and fun of comics. The awards return for their sixth year on Saturday, September 21, 2024 as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con.
Unlike other professional industry awards, the Ringo Awards include fan participation in the nomination process along with an esteemed jury of comics professionals.
More than 20 categories will be celebrated with top honors being given at the awards ceremony in September.
Fan and Pro Nominations
Fan and pro-jury voting are tallied independently, and the combined nomination ballot is compiled by the Ringo Awards Committee. The top two fan choices become nominees, and the jury’s selections fill the remaining three slots for five total nominees per category. Ties may result in more than five nominees in a single category. Nominees will be listed on the ballot alphabetically. Nomination ballot voting is open to the public (fans and pros) between March 8, 2024 and May 23, 2024.
Final Ballot Voting
After processing by the Ringo Awards Committee and Jury, the Final Ballots are targeted to be available to comic creative professionals for voting on July 24, 2024 and will be due by August 21, 2024 for final tallying. Presentation of the winners will occur at the Baltimore Comic-Con on the evening of Saturday, September 21, 2024.
Nomination Eligibility
Eligibility for creators and creative works is determined by publication in the preceding calendar year (January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023) – print publication date takes precedence over electronic publication date. For electronic works, the date of publication is time-stamped with most publications and at least 3 episodes/installments of continuing works must have appeared during the eligibility period.
Updated Category
New in 2024, we have changed two categories based on juror, publisher, and voter submissions: The “Best Inker” category has been combined with the “Best Artist or Penciller” category to form a combined “Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team” category. This update reflects the changing way comics are being created, with more artists working digitally and going directly to inks. When a nominated Penciller/Inker Team wins the final ballot, both individuals will receive separate awards.
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
Best Writer
Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team
Best Letterer
Best Colorist
Best Cover Artist
Best Series
Best Single Issue or Story
Best Original Graphic Novel
Best Anthology
Best Humor Comic
Best Webcomic
Best Humor Webcomic
Best Non-fiction Comic Work
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel
Best Presentation in Design
Perennial Jury-Only Nomination
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
Publisher Submissions
Publishers wishing to submit works for review by the Ringo Jurors can submit up to five submissions per “Fan and Pro Nomination” category that they feel are worthy of consideration. To participate in this process, publishers are asked to have a single representative send an email to contact@ringoawards.com for information on how to send in your submission.
Voting on the 2023 Final Ballot was restricted to comic book industry creative community — anyone involved in and credited with creating comics professionally.
During the ceremony, Louise Simonson presented Chris Claremont with the “Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award,” well deserved.
Presented at the show was the “Spirit Award” given to a comic/graphic novel that embodies the spirit of Mike Wieringo. This year’s selection was Batman/Superman: World’s Finest written by Mark Waid with art by Dan Mora.
The “Dick Giordano Hero Initiative Humanitarian of the Year Award” was awarded to Al Milgrom.
Winners are noted in bold with “winner” next to their name.
Best Cartoonist (Writer and Artist)
Kate Beaton – Winner
Wes Craig
Alexis Deacon
Jenny Jinya
Snailords
Stan Sakai
Zoe Thorogood
Best Artist or Penciller
Fahmida Azim
Kate Flynn
Molly Mendoza
Nicola Scott
Evan “Doc” Shaner – Winner
Best Colorist
Daniela Barisone
Jordie Bellaire – Winner
Chris O’Halloran
Jacob Phillips
Dave Stewart
Ellie Wright
Best Cover Artist
Wylie Beckert
Jason Muhr
Bryan Silverbax
Greg Smallwood – Winner
JH Williams III
Best Writer
Ed Brubaker – Winner
Anthony Del Col
Drew Edwards
Scott Snyder
Brian K. Vaughan
Best Inker
Gigi Baldassini
Scott Hanna
Sandra Hope
Klaus Janson – Winner
Mark Morales
Best Letterer
Justin Birch
Jerome Gagnon
Todd Klein
Micah Myers
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou – Winner (tie)
Stan Sakai – Winner (tie)
Fan Awards
Favorite Hero – Sam Young, Let’s Play – Rocketship Entertainment – Winner
Favorite Villain – Adam, The Guy Upstairs – Webtoon – Winner
Favorite New Series – Nevermore – Webtoon – Winner
New Talent – Ellie Wright – Winner
Favorite Publisher – Dark Horse Comics – Winner
Best Series
Fractured Shards, Comics2Movies
Parker Girls, Abstract Studios
Saga, Image Comics
Season of the Bruja, Oni Press
Something is Killing the Children, BOOM! Studios – Winner
Best Single Issue or Story
88 Days of Hell: One Ukrainian Man’s Experience in the Russian Filtration, Insider
A Hunter’s Tale, Elephant Eater Comics
Finding Batman, DC Comics
Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters, Oni Press – Winner
Punisher #1, Marvel Comics
Thieves, Nobrow
You Were My Joker That Night, Anatola Howard
Best Original Graphic Novel
Chivalry, Dark Horse Comics
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, Drawn & Quarterly
It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth, Image Comics – Winner
Tokyo Rose—Zero Hour: A Japanese American Woman’s Persecution and Ultimate Redemption After World War II, Tuttle Publishing
