The 2026 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards Nominees have been announced with the release of the Final Ballot. The awards are to be presented at the Ringo Awards Banquet and Ceremony in conjunction with the 2026 Baltimore Comic-Con on the evening of Saturday 26th September 2026.
Voting on the 2026 Final Ballot is now open, but do note it is restricted to the comic book industry creative community – anyone involved in and credited with creating comics professionally.
Final ballots can be submitted directly or via the Ringo Awards website, and voting will close on 26th August 2026.
Congratulations to all the nominees, including just some of those closer to home than others – Liam Sharp, and publishers Avery Hill Publishing (publishers of nominee The Corus Wave by Karenza Sparks) and Aces Weekly (publishers of “Before We Sail” by Carlos Yacolca & Michelle Lino, featured in Volume 75).
2026 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards Final Ballot
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Best Cartoonist (Writer and Artist)
• Caroline Cash
• Scott Chantler
• Anders Nilsen
• Ben Passmore
• Tiffany Petitt
• Mimi Pond
• Craig Thompson
• Paige Walshe
• Ben Wickey
Best Writer
Deniz Camp
Joseph Schmalke
James Tynion IV
Robert Venditti
Mark Waid
Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team
• Becky Cloonan
• Werther Dell’Eera
• Jay Fosgitt
• Javier Rodriguez
• Liam Sharp
• Hayden Sherman
• Stefan Tosheff
Best Letterer
• Taylor Esposito
• Rob Leigh
• Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
• Troy Peteri
• Nate Piekos
• Ben Wickey
Best Colourist
• Jordie Bellaire
• John Kalisz
• Javier Rodriguez
• Alejandro Sanchez
• Stefano Simeone
• Dave Stewart
Best Cover Artist
• Gabriele Dell’Otto
• Colm Griffin
• Tula Lotay
• Daniel Parent
• Javier Rodriguez
• Riley Rossmo
Best Series
• Absolute Batman, DC Comics
• Absolute Martian Manhunter, DC Comics
• Coexistence, self-published
• FML, Dark Horse Comics
• Granite State Punk, Orange Cone Productions
• Murder Podcast, Ignition Press
Best Short Story
• “Chest Face”, self-published
• “Pied Piper” in Cthulhu Invades Fairy Tales, Orange Cone Productions
• “The Knife and Gun Club” in Detective Comics #1100, DC Comics
• The Fire Breathing Duckling, Astra Books for Young Readers
• “Red Snapper in the Rea” in Milk White Steed, Drawn & Quarterly
• Model Five Murder, Silver Sprocket
Best Original Graphic Novel
• Black Arms To Hold You Up, Pantheon Books
• The Corus Wave, Avery Hill Publishing
• David Dastmachian’s Through, Z2 Comics
• Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me, Drawn & Quarterly
• Drome, Macmillan – First Second and 23rd Street
• The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief, Fantagraphics
• Gamemasters: The Comic Book History of Roleplaying Games, Clover Press
• Herobear and the Kid Volume 1 – The Inheritance, Papercutz
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel – Ages 11 and Under
• Brume Volume 1, Astra Books for Young Readers
• The Fire Breathing Duckling, Astra Books for Young Readers,
• The Lost Sunday, Oni Press
• Magda, Intergalactic Chef: The Big Tournament, Lerner Publishing Group
• Max, A Little Axolotl, Scholastics Inc.
• The Mighty Bite #3: Hog Rocket Ruckus, ABRAMS
• The Patchwork Girl of Oz Volume 1, Image Comics
• Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean, Fantagraphics
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel – Ages 12 and Up
• Angelica and the Bear Prince, Penguin Random House/Random House Children’s Books
• Dracula’s Brunch Club, Oni Press
• Hello Sunshine, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Hunger’s Bite, Union Square & Co.
• Raised by Ghosts, Fantagraphics
• Wynd Book Four: The Power of the Blood, BOOM! Studios
Best Anthology
• Bowling with Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown, Dark Horse Comics
• Flash Gordon Adventures Volume 2, Papercutz
• Jim Henson Presents, BOOM! Studios
• Knapsack Magazine Volume 2: Butter, Lucky Pocket Press
• unSEEN/unHEARD: Disability & Neurodivergence Comic Anthology, self-published
• Young Men in Love: New Romance, A Wave Blue World
Best Humour Comic
• The Blues Brothers – The Escape of Joliet Jake, Z2 Comics
• Everything Sucks: Kings of Nothing, Silver Sprocket
• The Goon: Them That Don’t Stay Dead, Albatross Funnybooks/Dark Horse Comics
• How to Survive an Affair, self-published
• Physics for Cats, Drawn & Quarterly
Best Webcomic
• Battle Mage Farmer, Tapas Entertainment Inc.
• Before We Sail, Aces Weekly
• Daughter of a Thousand Faces. Tapas Entertainment Inc.
• The Mafia Nanny, WEBTOON Entertainment
• Marionetta, WEBTOON Entertainment
• Neon Pantheon, neonpantheoncomic.com
Best Humour Webcomic
• The Bathroom Ghost, WEBTOON Entertainment
• Evil Inc., evil-inc.com
• Harley Quinn in Paradise, DC Comics / DC Go!
• I Am the Chief, iamthechiefcat.com
• My Little Warlord, DC Comics / DC Go!
• Nothing Butt Nightwing, DC Comics / DC Go!
• Taste of Justice, DC Comics / DC Go!
Best Non-Fiction Comic Work
• Fela: Music is the Weapon, Amistad
• Ginseng Roots, Pantheon Books
• Love Letters Every Day, Background Noise
• Lucas Wars, Macmillan – First Second and 23rd Street
• Muybridge, Drawn & Quarterly
• Surrounded: America’s First School for Black Girls, 1832, Ablaze Publishing/NBM Graphic Novels
Best Comics-Related Publication
• Becoming Frazetta – The Early Years of a Fantasy Art Master, Thrilling Nostalgia Comics
• COMICS! The Magazine #0, Prana Publishers
• Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier, Scholastic Inc.
• Graphic Samurai: The Art of Denys Cowan, Gizmoe Press
• Making Your First Comic, self-published
• Messiahs, Meshugganahs, Misanthropes, and Mysteries, Fantagraphics
Best Presentation in Design
• Beasts of the Four Nations: Creatures From Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dark Horse Comics
• Becoming Frazetta – The Early Years of a Fantasy Art Master, Thrilling Nostalgia Comics
• Cry Wolf Girl, Silver Sprocket
• Ginseng Roots, Pantheon Books
• The Hero Trade: Hero for Sale TPB, Bad Idea
• Land of Mirrors, Drawn & Quarterly
• Lone Wolf and Cub Deluxe Edition Volume 1, Dark Horse Comics
• The Smurfs Archives Volume 1, Papercutz
• Tongues, Volume 1, Pantheon Books
The final ballot represents an aggregate of jury and fan top nominations. Comic pros can submit their votes now
Michael Lance “Mike” Wieringo was known to fans and friends as “Ringo”, which is how he signed his artwork. His comics artist graced the pages of DC Comics’ The Flash, Adventures of Superman, Batman, and Robin, Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Sensational Spider-Man, and Rogue, and his co-creation, Tellos. He passed away on 12th August 2007, at the young age of 44 from an apparent heart attack.
The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill and fun of comics. The Ringo Awards recognise outstanding achievements in over 20 categories, and are the only industry awards nominated by fans and pros alike, with final voting by the comic professional community. Launched in 2017, the awards ceremony is held annually at the Baltimore Comic-Con. Further details are available at ringoawards.com.
The Baltimore Comic-Con is celebrating its 27th year of bringing the comic book industry to the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. For more information, visit baltimorecomiccon.com.
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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.
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