2018 Ignatz Awards shortlist announced

By John Freeman on August 28, 2018

The 2018 Ignatz Awards shortlist was announced this week, and the full list of nominees reflects a huge range of diverse comics talent.

Congratulations to everyone nominated.

Launched in 1997, the Ignatz Awards – the name inspired by the brick-throwing mouse Ignatz from George Herriman’s “Krazy Kat” – are intended to recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers.

Past winners include Tillie Walden, Michael DeForge and Jaime Hernandez.

Now in their 21st year of existence, the Awards form a part of America’s annual weekend-long Small Press Expo. Ballots will be handed out to attendees at the Festival.

The nominees were decided by panel of judges consisting of Leila Abdelrazaq, Kevin Czap, Mita Mahato, Carolyn Nowak and Taneka Stotts.

This year’s categories and nominees are:

Outstanding Artist

Yvan Alagbé for Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures
Ivy Atoms for Pinky & Pepper Forever
Tommi Parrish for The Lie and How We Told It
Richie Pope for The Box We Sit On
Sophie Standing for Anxiety is Really Strange

Outstanding Collection

Beirut Won’t Cry by Mazen Kerbaj

Blackbird Days by Manuele Fior

Language Barrier by Hannah K. Lee

Sex Fantasy by Sophia Foster-Dimino

Super Late Bloomer: My Early Days in Transition by Julia Kaye

Outstanding Anthology

La Raza Anthology: Unidos y Fuertes ed. by Kat Fajardo & Pablo Castro

Comics for Choice ed. by Hazel Newlevant, Whit Taylor and Ã˜.K. Fox

Ink Brick #8 ed. by Alexander Rothman, Paul K. Tunis, and Alexey Sokolin

BOTTOMS UP! Tales of Hitting Rock Bottom ed. by J.T. Yost

Lovers Only ed. by Mickey Zacchilli

Outstanding Graphic Novel

Why Art? by Eleanor Davis

Run for It: Stories of Slaves Who Fought for Their Freedom by Marcelo D’Salete

Uncomfortably Happily by Yeon-sik Hong

The Lie and How We Told It by Tommi Parrish

Anti-Gone by Connor Willumsen

Outstanding Series

Ley Lines from Grindstone Comics & Czap Books

Nori by Rumi Hara

Bug Boys by Laura Knetzger

Gumballs by Erin Nations

Frontier from Youth in Decline

Outstanding Mini-Comic

Dog Nurse by Margot Ferrick

Greenhouse by Debbie Fong

Common Blessings & Common Curses by Maritsa Patrinos

Mothball 88 by Kevin Reilly

Say It With Noodles: On Learning to Speak the Language of Food by Shing Yin Khor

Outstanding Mini-Comic

Recollection by Alyssa Berg

How to Be Alive by Tara Booth

Hot Summer Nights by Freddy Carrasco

Whatsa Paintoonist? by Jerry Moriarty

Baopu by Yao Xiao

Outstanding Online Comic

Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal

The Wolves Outside by Jesse England

A Fire Story by Brian Fies

Lara Croft Was My Family by Carta Monir

A Part of Me is Still Unknown by Meg O’Shea

Promising New Talent

Iasmin Omar Ata for Mis(h)adra

Tara Booth for How to Be Alive

Xia Gordon for The Fashion of 2004

Rumi Hara for Nori and the Rabbits of the Moon

Tommi Parrish for The Lie and How We Told It

Outstanding Story

Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures by Yvan Alagbé

Why Art? by Eleanor Davis

Rhode Island Me by Michael DeForge

How the Best Hunter in the Village Met Her Death by Molly Ostertag

The Lie and How We Told It by Tommi Parrish

SPX takes place in Bethesda, Maryland from the 15th – 16th September 2018. More details can be found here

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.