The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill and fun of comics, largely centring on the American publishing industry, and voting for the fifth year is open now to to all comic creative professionals from around the world.
Nominees, spanning comic creative fields from writing to lettering, and various comic genres and forms, include Jacob Phillips in the Best Colourist category and Kevin O’Neill, for Best Cover Artist.
The annual awards will make a welcome return as part of the Baltimore Comic-Con, which has an absolutely massive list of top creator talent on this year’s guest list, with top honours to be announced at the Ringo Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, 23rd October 2021.
Michael Lance “Mike” Wieringo was known to fans and friends as “Ringo”, which is how he signed his artwork. His comics art graced the pages of DC Comics’ The Flash, Adventures of Superman, Batman, and Robin, Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four, Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man, Sensational Spider-Man and Rogue, and his co-creation Tellos. He sadly passed away on 12th August 2007 at the young age of 44 from an apparent heart attack.
Nominations were determined by fans and pros alike earlier this year, which were then tallied independently, and the combined nomination ballot compiled by the Ringo Awards Committee. The top two fan choices became nominees, and the jury’s selections filled the remaining three slots for five total nominees per category.
Comic creative professionals can vote for their favourites here. Votes must be cast by 22nd September 2021. Congratulations to all of the nominees!
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Voting is open exclusively to comic book creative professionals. If you are a comic book creative professional, please vote on the ballot and respond to the confirmation email to complete your ballot.
Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
- Derf Backderf
- Mongie
- Stan Sakai
- Rachel Smythe
- Adrian Tomine
- Sophie Yanow
Best Writer
- Penelope Bagieu
- Anthony Del Col
- Jason Douglas
- N.K. Jemisin
- Marjorie Liu
- James Tynion IV
- Ram V
Best Artist or Penciller
- Josh Adams
- Jamal Campbell
- Elsa Charretier
- Hanza Art
- Sana Takeda
Best Inker
- Sanford Greene
- Brett Hobson
- Jjolee
- Gabriel Hernandez Walta
- Tonci Zonjic
Best Letterer
- Deron Bennett
- Aditya Bidikar
- DC Hopkins
- Micah Myers
- Chas! Pangburn
Best Colourist
- Toyin Ajetunmobi
- Laura Allred
- Tamra Bonvillain
- Aladdin Lee Grant Rutledge Collar
- Jacob Phillips
- Joe Todd-Stanton
- Christian Ward
Best Cover Artist
- Gian Carlo Bernal
- Stephanie Hans
- Maan House
- Steve Lieber
- Peach Momoko
- Kevin O’Neill
- Joe Todd-Stanton
Best Series
- The Department of Truth, Image Comics
- Far Sector, DC Comics
- Lore Olympus, WEBTOON
- My Deepest Secret, WEBTOON
- Usagi Yojimbo, IDW Publishing
- Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, DC
Best Single Issue or Story
- All-America Comix #1, Image Comics
- Firefly: The Outlaw Ma Reynolds (BOOM! Studios)
- Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx, Flying Eye Books (US) / Nobrow Press
- “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” from Ice Cream Man Present Quarantine Comix Special #1, Image Comics
- The O.Z., self-published
- Parallel, Source Point Press
Best Original Graphic Novel
- Buried But Not Dead, Source Point Press
- Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, Abrams Books
- The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist, Drawn & Quarterly
- Moms, Drawn & Quarterly
- Pulp, Image Comics
Best Anthology
- Be Gay, Do Comics, IDW Publishing
- Hey, Amateur! Go From Novice to Nailing It in 9 Panels, IDW Publishing
- Maybe Someday: Stories of Promise, Visions of Hope, A Wave Blue World
- Pandemix: Quarantine Comix in the Age of ‘Rona, self-published
- Votes for Women: The Battle for the 19th Amendment, Little Red Bird Press
Best Humour Comic
- Akissi: Even More Tales of Mischief, Flying Eye Books (US) / Nobrow Press
- ArkhaManiacs, DC
- Billionaire Island, AHOY Comics
- Love and Capes: The Family Way, Maerkle Press/IDW Publishing
- Metalshark Bro 2: Assault on Hamzig Island, Scout Comics
- Moms, Drawn & Quarterly
- Wicked Things, BOOM! Studios
Best Webcomic
- DPS Only! (tapas.io/series/dpsonly/)
- Fangs (tapas.io/series/fangscomic/)
- Heart of the City (gocomics.com/heartofthecity/)
- Midnight Poppy Land (webtoons.com/en/romance/midnight-poppy-land/list?title_no=1798)
- Shiloh (webtoons.com/en/thriller/shiloh/list?title_no=1649)
- Totally Under Control (insider.com/comic-how-united-states-lost-control-of-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-9)
Best Humour Webcomic
- The Abominable Charles Christopher (karlkerschl.com/abominable/)
- Bagel High (instagram.com/yoyorobot/)
- Beware of Toddler (bewareoftoddler.com)
- Cassandra Comics (tapas.io/series/CassandraComics/)
- Cursed Princess Club (webtoons.com/en/comedy/cursed-princess-club/list?title_no=1537)
- The Middle Age (steveconley.com/the-middle-age/)
- Sarah’s Scribbles (tapas.io/series/Doodle-Time/)
- xkcd (xkcd.com)
Best Non-fiction Comic Work
- Banned Book Club, Iron Circus Comics
- Chasin’ the Bird: Charlie Parker In California, Z2 Comics
- Come Home Indio, Street Noise Books
- Dancing After TEN, Fantagraphics Books
- Grateful Dead – Origins, Z2 Comics
- Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, Abrams Books
- We’ll Soon Be Home Again, Dark Horse Comics
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel
- Akissi: Even More Tales of Mischief, Flying Eye Books (US) / Nobrow Press
- Cat Kid Comic Club #1, Scholastic Graphix
- Jupiter Jet and the Forgotten Radio, Action Lab Entertainment
- Max Meow: Cat Crusader, Random House
- The Perhapanauts: First Blood, Scout Comics
- Twins, Scholastic Graphix
Best Presentation in Design
- Crescent City Monsters, Dream Fury Comics
- Dave Cockrum’s X-Men Artifact Edition, IDW Publishing
- The Electric Black, Scout Comics
- The Harrowing of Hell, Iron Circus Comics
- Heavy Metal #300, Heavy Metal
- Impossible Jones, Volume 1: Grin & Gritty, Panic Button Press
- Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx, Flying Eye Books (US) / Nobrow Press
The final ballot represents an aggregate of jury and fan top nominations.
Comic creative professionals can vote for their favourites here. Votes must be cast by 22nd September 2021.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
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.
Categories: Comics, Creating Comics, Events, US Comics