By Brandy Dykhuizen. The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards – affectionately referred to as The ‘Ringo Awards – are upon us, with announcements ready to roll at this year’s Baltimore Comic-Con.
The awards, named after a much-loved artist whose sudden death took him in the prime of his career, is in its inaugural year. It may not even begin to fill the giant hole he left behind, but the ceremony will do well to honor the spirit of a clear fan favorite.
The ‘Ringo Awards, the successor to the recently discontinued Harvey Awards, rely on both professional and fan votes to determine the ballot, which celebrates this year’s most creative and well-loved comics.
Fan participation sets this distinction apart from other industry accolades, giving open nomination control over two out each category’s five nominees. Once the nominees are locked in, the jury of industry professionals will take it from there, ranking top runners by a point system to determine 2017’s most innovative and popular visionaries.
With emphasis almost solely on new work and categories such as “Best Non-Fiction Comic Work,” “Best Cartoonist” and “Best Comic Strip or Panel,” The Ringo Awards are far from just an echo of the recently announced Eisners. With the lion’s share of the votes closing over the course of SDCC week, we’re curious to see just how much of an Eisner overlap there will be.
Will Saga make a similar (and well-deserved) sweep? Will fan and expert opinions align overall? With an exciting ballot chock-full of both new and established talent (we’re casting our gaze over at Jody Houser (Faith) and Tom King (The Sheriff of Babylon), just to name a few), it’s clear the praise will be warranted, no matter where it falls.
A full list of nominees is below. Comics pros would do well to cast their votes here.
What names would you like to see come out on top? Let us know in the comments!
Image: The Ringo Awards
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
Daniel Clowes
Steve Conley
Hernandez Brothers
Aydin Anh Huynh (Snailords)
Kaitlyn Narvaza (instantmiso)
Skottie Young
Best Writer
PJ Haarsma & Alan Tudyk
Jody Houser
Tom King
Robert Kirkman
Jeff Lemire
Alan Moore
Mark Waid
David Walker
Gerard Way
Best Artist or Penciller
Kaare Andrews
Cliff Chiang
Rafael de Latorre
Mitch Gerards
Jason Johnson
Jason Latour
Dustin Nguyen
Fiona Staples
Best Inker
Mark Brooks
Jeremy Freeman
Jonathan Glapion
Jason Latour
Jae Lee
Danny Miki
Sean Murphy
Victor Olazaba
Best Letterer
Clayton Cowles
Taylor Esposito
Todd Klein
Troy Peteri
John Workman
Best Colorist
Jordie Bellaire
Tamra Bonvillain
Elizabeth Breitweiser
Laura Martin
Rico Renzi
Sarah Stone
Matt Wilson
Best Cover Artist
Frank Cho
Mike Del Mundo
JG Jones
Phil Noto
Ryan Sook
Fiona Staples
Sana Takeda
Best Series
Faith, Valiant Entertainment
Paper Girls, Image Comics
Saga, Image Comics
Spectrum, Automatic Pictures
Vision, Marvel Comics
Best Single Issue or Story
Deadly Hands of Criminal, Image Comics
DC Universe Rebirth #1, DC Comics
Emancipation Day, www.redistrictedcomics.com
Faith #1, Valiant Entertainment
Locke & Key: Small World, IDW Publishing
Best Original Graphic Novel
Ghosts, Scholastic/Graphix
March: Book III, Top Shelf Productions
Patience, Daniel Clowes, Fantagraphics
Tetris: The Games People Play, First Second
Wonder Woman: The True Amazon, DC Comics
Best Anthology
Dark Horse Presents, Dark Horse Comics
Island, Image Comics
Love is Love, DC Comics/IDW Publishing
ReDistrictedComics.com
Wonder Woman 75th Anniversary Special, DC Comics
Best Humor Comic
Adventures of God, Line Webtoons
Blue Chair, Line Webtoons
Giant Days, BOOM! Studios
I Hate Fairyland, Image Comics
Jughead, Archie Comics
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Marvel Comics
Best Comic Strip or Panel
Bloom County, Berkeley Breathed, Universal Uclick
Dick Tracy, Joe Staton & Mike Curtis, Tribune Media Services
Foxtrot, Bill Amend, Universal Press Syndicate
Mutts, Patrick McDonnell, King Features Syndicate
Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis, Universal Uclick
Best Webcomic
Girl Genius, Phil Foglio
Siren’s Lament, Kaitlyn Narvaza (instantmiso)
The Middle Age, Steve Conley
The Red Hook, Dean Haspiel
unOrdinary, uru-chan
Best Non-fiction Comic Work
Cooking Comically
Dark Night: A True Batman Story, DC Comics
March: Book III, Top Shelf Productions
ReDistrictedComics.com
Rolling Blackouts, Drawn and Quarterly
Tetris: The Games People Play, First Second
Best Presentation in Design
Aliens 30th Anniversary: The Original Comic Series, Dark Horse Comics
Al Williamson’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Artist Edition, IDW Publishing
Britannia, Valiant Entertainment
Legacy of Luther Strode, Image Comics
Mike Mignola’s Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects: Artist’s Edition Hardcover, IDW Publishing
Moebius Library: The World of Edena, Dark Horse Books
The ODY-C: Cycle One Hardcover, Image Comics
Spectrum, Automatic Pictures
